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Love, Keyness and Impending Marriage by Ariel Dawn
 
Back to School
 
Disclaimer: Spike’s not mine...*pout*

Author’s Note: Some dialogue taken from Lessons. I dedicate this chapter to Redwulf50, for being possibly Second Youth’s biggest supporter. Wulfie also helped with the plot of this fic, (it was a long time ago, he might have forgotten) which actually doesn’t show up for a few chapters. Thanks to BTL for the great betaing. Italics are thoughts

Recap of Second Youth: After Once more With Feeling, Willow did a spell which unintentionally brought 122 year old Buffy from her deathbed into her 21 year old body. Spike and Buffy are mated and engaged. Dawn has fun key powers. Tara didn’t die. Anya rejected Xander at the altar. Andrew, Warren and Jonathan are all in jail. Giles didn’t go to England. Buffy, who has fun magical powers, did a spell that made it so there is only one Slayer, making herself and Faith into ‘Master Slayers’.
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Chapter 1: Back to School

Buffy Anne Summers-Bradford-Blakely-Corbett-Wyndham-Price-Botelli-Darcy, and soon Darlington, took the book list offered by the TA standing outside the history building of Sunnydale U. The list was long but half of the textbooks she had already read...in another life...her life.

Buffy looked around at all the rest of the random students littering the campus. Late teens and early twenties, a lot like how she looked. Twenty two. It was such a small number. It certain didn’t express her amount of life experience. Or the actual age of her soul.

One hundred and twenty three.

And she had Willow to thank for that, well along with the not being dead, cause that would suck.

Willow was happily in England at a coven working on controlling her magic, with Tara by her side. Willow should have been enrolling for classes along with her today. Buffy missed Willow.

Not that her summer wasn’t great. Spike had been exposing Dawn to the wonders that was British cooking; every meal was an adventure of grossness (Blood Pudding so did not go over well). Mostly she enjoyed the very mundane family life they had set up. Patrolling as a family, eating as a family, discussing what changes needed to be made to expand their family.

Buffy was well aware that she would never have kids; she was 123, she was too old and having raised three, she didn’t much care to add on to that number, though she was still raising Dawn. The two additions to their family were going to be: Andrew, former guestage of life #1, nerd, reformed criminal and fast becoming Dawn’s best friend, and Molly, former potential, now Slayer, who was not good with squishy. Andrew was going to housed in the basement. Molly, well she assumed that they’d have a solution to her housing problem when she arrived. Xander was talking about an extension to the house.

She didn’t know when Molly was going to arrive. It was hard to train a Slayer if said Slayer did not arrive on one’s doorstep. And the Council? Ya they weren’t forthcoming at all, but was that new? No, not even in the days when she had been the head of the Council.

So Doctor Buffy Summers (and all those last names) walked off the campus of Sunnydale U, holding the book list for a second year history class eager for her family life to continue as it had been, hoping that in some small way everything she had done the year before, changing the Slayer line, was going to make 2002/2003 a much happier year in the land of Buffy than the last time she’d experienced it.
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The noon sun high in the sky, Buffy returned home toting the massive load of books she was required to read this semester. Good thing they didn’t take that Slayer strength away thought Buffy pleasantly.

Setting her books down on the dinning room table Buffy turned to see Dawn step out of the closet.

“Dawn!” How many times do I have to tell you that portal opening and dimension hopping are not things you should be doing in the house! You could bang someone’s head in with those doors!” huffed Buffy.

Over the summer, Dawn had been under Anya’s constant tutelage, and now could open any door pass into another dimension and then open another door into her own dimension somewhere else, like the hallway of their house.

“Come on Buffy! It’s fun, besides I’m not going anywhere dangerous. Arashamahar is so beyond doomsville.”

“Doomsville?” asked Buffy cynically.

“They can’t all be winners,” responded the teen. “I just came down stairs to tell you that I’m going over to Janice’s,” she stated loudly.

“By way of Arashamahar?” asked Buffy.

“Well if someone would get up off their undead ass and teach me to drive like he promised, then I could drive to Janice’s”

Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister. “You only got your learner’s permit yesterday!”

“So?”

“Whatever, go to Janice’s. Just make sure you are home in time to get a goodnight’s sleep for school tomorrow.”

“You just want me out of the house so you can make out with your fiancé while I’m gone,” Dawn commented.

“Can you blame me?” asked Buffy gesturing to the couch on which Spike sat watching TV. “He’s yummy.”

“And we delve into the realm of TMI once again. I’m out,” said Dawn grabbing the closet doorknob.

Buffy watched with eagerness as her little sister and magical key departed this dimension. Starting a new high school the next day was only slightly worrying to the Master Slayer. She had after all gone through this years before.

Buffy smiled, knowing that things would be very different this year.

“Nibblet gone?” came Spike’s voice from the living room.

Buffy opened her mouth to answer in the affirmative when she was suddenly flooded with naughty thoughts from her mate’s head.

With a smirk, Buffy took a running leap onto her vampire’s lap, forgetting about all the reading she had to do for her first classes. There were many, much funner things to do with Spike.
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In the name of family togetherness, Buffy cajoled Spike into driving Dawn to school, after Xander’s ’here’s where the hellmouth is’ blueprint session.

“Why do I have to be in a car with you two?” asked Dawn from the back seat of the Desoto. “You still haven’t taught me how to drive yet, and I could so get to school faster. It’s icky with all the PDAs going on in the front seat and eww Spike do you ever clean back here?”

“It’s a museum back there Dawn, some of that garbage is older than you,” responded Buffy with a smile. “Besides isn’t it good to know that your parents love each other?”

Dawn rolled her eyes in the back seat. “Right...You frighten me in new and disturbing ways. You are really liking this whole ‘Dawn’s really my love child with my vampire lover’ thing aren’t you?“

“Hardly call you a love child bitsize, since neither of us were in love or even knew it was happening at the time,“ noted Spike from the driver’s seat.

“That’s right Dawnie, you’re test tube baby,“ quipped Buffy.

“You people scare me,“ she repeated with a shake of her head.

Spike pulled his car up in front of the new Sunnydale High. All three occupants looked at the edifice with combined awe and worry. Spike heard his mate gulp and he rubbed her leg to comfort her.

“I’m gonna take her to class, have a look around,” she finally said, reaching to open the door handle.

Spike leaned over and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. “I’ll be here, luv.“

“Ewww! Get a room! God, we so need a car with four doors. I’m trapped in the love mobile,“ observed Dawn. “When you buy me my car for Christmas, it needs four doors.”

Buffy broke off from the kiss, arching her eyebrow. “What makes you think that you are getting a car for Christmas?”

“Spike’s loaded, why wouldn’t you get me a car? What? He can be your sugar daddy but I can’t get a car?”

“You frighten me in new and disturbing ways,” retorted Buffy. “Be back soon,” she told her mate, opening the door to the car, letting the frantic teenager out of the back seat.

“Now remember, if you see anything strange or, you know… dead,” started Buffy as they walked into the main entrance of the school, passing various students.

“I got it,” answered Dawn slightly annoyed.

“And stay away from hyena people or any lizardy-type athletes. Or if you see anyone that’s invisible...”

“Hey, Buffy, I think it’s pretty safe to say I’m not going to see anybody that’s invisible.”

“You know, you could still drop out. Only nerds finish high school.”

“You know, I don’t really think it’s fair for you to try and scare me on my first day of high school… ’cause it is so redundant.”

Buffy cringed as they entered the school itself. Standing in the hallway, Buffy’s thoughts turned vocal. “This place is evil.”

“Tough to let ’em go, huh?” came a familiar voice behind her.

Buffy spun around to find herself facing someone she hadn’t seen in such a long time. She couldn’t help but smile. There was also an overwhelming need to hug him.

“Hi…” she started, deciding that the hug probably wasn’t the best way to go in this situation. She so didn’t need her sister’s principal to think she was nuts. Social services was on their case enough.

“I’m Robin Wood, new principal,” he said as he held out his hand to her to shake.

With a smile, Buffy grabbed his hand eagerly and shook. It wasn’t a hug but it was something.

“Oh, Buffy Summers. This is Dawn,” she introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” said the principal pleasantly.

“Hi,” greeted Dawn.

“So you’re the new principal. You are just how I expected you to look actually. You know some people like the principal of their child’s school to be all old and crotchety, but I like that spry young look you’ve got to you. Probably makes the kids think you can relate to them. That’s good.” Oh God I’ve slipped into the old lady babble talk! she thought with a mental cringe. At least I didn’t mention my teeth.

The principal laughed. “You seem a bit young to have such a grown-up daughter.”

“Thanks,“ came Buffy’s first response. He thinks I look young...Oh wait I am young. Twenty two, you are supposed to be twenty two! “No!” she quickly back peddled. “Uh, no. Sister.”

“Oh, right. Of course.”

“I actually have heard of you, Miss Summers. You graduated from the old high school, am I right?” asked Wood.

“Yeah. Read my file did you?”

“Well, I better get back to work. Got to start deadening young minds. It’s really nice to meet you,” he said avoiding Buffy’s question. “You have fun,” he noted to Dawn as he walked off.

Buffy watched Wood as the man walked off with purpose.

“I babbled, I drove him away...“ she pouted.

“Yes, yes you did. Your old lady tendencies made the creepy principal leave, go you. Bye!” said Dawn heading off down the hall.

“Oh, Dawn...” called Buffy after her retreating sister.

Dawn turned around, walking backwards as she answered her sister. “I know! You never know what’s coming, the stake is not the power, ‘To Serve Man’ is a cookbook. I love you. Go away!”

With a sigh, Buffy turned back down the hall towards the entrance. She just hoped that Dawn would be ok on her first day at the school that sat on the entrance to hell. Buffy stopped her trek down the hallway and stepped into the bathroom for a moment. She remembered doing this before, the last time. She inspected her hair in the mirror for a moment, before her gaze fell on a strange object on the counter.

Oh ya...

Buffy pushed the bone like thing to the ground, raised her foot and ground the object into the floor. Well, at least that was taken care of.
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“Bit get to class ok?” asked Spike, as Buffy slid in beside him cuddling up in the privacy of the Desoto, it’s darkened windows keeping prying eyes away.

“Yep, she was very teenage about it,” noted Buffy.

“She told you to go away didn’t she?”

“You know it.”
__________________________________________
Buffy strode back into the school, her heart a flutter. She hadn’t heard a thing from Dawn all day and was hoping that that meant she was alive and well. They had agreed that Dawn would meet them outside the school after the final bell had rung, but she just couldn’t wait anymore.

“Miss Summers, back again?“ asked Principal Wood, walking up behind her.

“Here to pick up Dawn,“ supplied Buffy. “Nothing horrible happened today right?“

He laughed. “Not that I’m aware of. Dawn didn’t even get sent to the office. You know, I’ve read your file, the school board recommended it. It’s… quite a page-turner. Kind of a checkered past...”

“More like a plaid. Kind of a clan tartan of badness, really. But there were factors...”

“Well, it’s clear your sister looks up to you, which I think is great...”

“Thanks, I think. She‘s her own little bundle of energy. For the longest time I wondered why the hell she was that annoying, but then I just had to realise that her father is like that too. And I‘m babbling again aren‘t I?” she asked with a sheepish smile.

“Little bit.”

“Right.“

“What surprises me, Miss Summers is that you are a college student, and yet raising your sister into a bright young lady. From your file I would have never guessed you had become so responsible.“

“Oh I’m just responso-gal. It comes with the job.“

“And what job would that be?“ he asked.

“Oh the same one your mother had,“ she deadpanned.

He looked back at her with shock and it was her turn to smile.

“See I do my research too, Mr. Wood. You’ll find me full of surprises. Also you might want to remove those nick knacks of yours from that cabinet in your office. Pointy things over the Hellmouth, never good.“

Buffy turned to see Dawn walking up to them.

“You couldn’t wait in the car could you?“ asked the teen.

“Now why would I do that when I could have a fabulous moment with your delightful principal Dawn?“ answered Buffy.

“You are determined to make me the most uncool kid at school, aren’t you?“ whined Dawn.

“Well I was here to tell you that Spike is going to give you your first driving lesson, but if that is the way you feel about it, I could make Tuna Noodle casserole for dinner.“

Dawn had disgusting look on her face. “I’ll drive, I’ll be attentive driving student. You seriously can’t dangle driving lessons in front of me and yank it back with Tuna Noodle casserole. Even Spike doesn’t like that crap.“

“Spike?” asked Principal Wood.

“Oh, he’s Buffy’s fiancé,” supplied Dawn.

“Congratulations,” Wood added, his confused face becoming even more apparent as he pondered her earlier statement. “When you said you have the same job as my mother did...”

“Slayer,” interrupted Buffy. “Your mother was Niki Wood, Slayer, killed in 1977 by...”

“William the Bloody,” interrupted Wood.

“I was going to say we shouldn’t go there, but there you went.”

“No, way!” gasped Dawn. “Does he know? That, you know...well wow.” The teenager was left with an awed expression, her mind trying to process everything.

“Dawn, babbling,” said Buffy.

“Right, no more babbling. Can we please go? I don’t want the whole nostalgia thing to get in the way of my driving lesson. If you stake my instructor, I’m so not going to ever learn how to drive. Buffy is terrible at it.”

“Huh?” asked a confused Wood.

“Right, lets go,” said Buffy turning. “I know it’s sudden to have all this info piled on you, but once it filters through, if you could not go all vendetta on him that would be great,” she said with a smile. “I protect what’s mine. They’d never find your body.”
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tbc...


 
Mortal Danger
 
Author’s note: Dialogue taken from ‘Beneath You’. Thanks to Bloodytearsoflife for the betaing. *hugs*

Disclaimer: Joss owns them all, not me. *pout*

Thanks to Jacquie, Vladt, Tasha, Ct114, Lou, Neo, Chanel 5, OHolly, Idk, Jane and Pin for the fab reviews!
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Chapter 2 : Mortal Danger

“Did you just threaten the Principal?” Dawn asked as they walked away from the school.

Buffy shrugged. “I suppose I did. I mean, I don’t want Spike dust floating in the wind, now do I?”

Buffy pulled open the door of the Desoto and ushered Dawn into the back seat.

“Hey I thought that I was going to be all student driver today?” Dawn whined.

“Um, well not in Spike’s baby and not before Spike can drive the other car without the flamey death,” explained Buffy.

“How was school ‘Bit?” asked Spike, pulling the car away from the curb.

“Ok, intensely embarrassing, ooh and Buffy threatened the Principal.”

Spike turned his head to look at his mate and raised a single eyebrow, silently asking his question.

“Yes, possibly a bad move on my part, but he was going to be all grr and seeking of the revenge.”

“What did you do?” he asked.

“It’s more what you did,” she whispered.
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Dawn flounced into the house eager to get away from the two superheroes whose animated conversation in the car was really starting to dampen her first day of school/driving lessons happy.

Buffy had refused to discuss the whole why she threatened the principal thing in the car, so as to avoid Spike getting mad and driving off the road. Now he was all grr and she was avoidy. The combination of which spelled Buffy/Spike fight in the near future.

Yes, her house was a war zone two out of five days a week.

But she had a family, a real honest to goodness family, and she was ok with that.

Dawn bounced into the kitchen to find Xander sipping coffee and reading the paper.

“First day at Hellmouth High. Give me the low down,” ordered Xander, very seriously.

“Buffy threatened the Principal,” said Dawn as she opened the fridge grabbing some juice.

“Sounds like high school alright. Ahh the memories,” sighed Xander as Buffy and Spike entered the room.

“I thought you hated Sunnydale?” asked Dawn.

“Yes and no. With an emphasis on the yes. But at least then I was dating,” responded the carpenter.

“You could be dating now,” offered Buffy, who was leaning against the island, her arms crossed.

“I don’t know what’s not clicking for me right now,” Xander shrugged.

“Well, there’s that thing with Anya,” Buffy reminded.

“The hesitating at the altar when she was turned into a demon again thing?”

“Yeah, that one. It’s not something you just bounce right back from.”

“Sure it is,” exclaimed Xander. “She bounced back to being a vengeance demon and I bounced back to being a dateless nerd.”

“Do you guys talk at all?” asked Dawn.

Xander frowned around his coffee cup. “I’ve seen her at the Bronze a couple of times. I guess there’s a lot of scorned women there making vengeance wishes on their exes...” explained Xander. His tone turned mocking as he did a southern accent and continued. “That’s where I go to get my scorn on.”

“You guys really need to ease up on the whole ‘dating demons‘ thing,” chuckled Dawn.

“Hello, I’m sorry… wasn’t that you having the smoochathon with teen vampire last Halloween?” started Buffy, “Besides, I love my demon.” Buffy cuddled up against Spike who was standing stiff as a board against the wall. “My demon with whom I must have a small discussion, excuse us,” Buffy said as she grabbed Spike’s hand.
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Buffy stood in the middle of their bedroom facing a surly vampire.

“I really wish you wouldn’t be all petulant, I just didn’t want you to go all grr when you were driving...”

“So tell me already. Quit dangling it about,” Spike barked at her. He was tired of being in the dark about whatever it was she was hiding.

Buffy sighed. “Ok, the Principal, you killed his mother.”

“Is that all?” he asked. “Killed a lot of people’s someone or others. Evil...” he said pointing at himself. “Well at least I was until I met you.”

“She was a Slayer, Spike. Principal Wood’s mother was Niki Wood.”

Spike sat down on the bed. “That’s why you threatened the git? Afraid he’s gonna want his revenge?”

“No,” she said sitting down beside him. “I know he wants revenge Spike, I’ve met him before, a hundred years ago, the first time around. He tries to kill you.”

“But he doesn’t...”

“No,” she said quickly. “He doesn’t and I’ve been mad at him for a century for trying,” she admitted. “He’s skilled, a demon hunter, and he could be an ally if we let him. You are more important to me than any demon hunter whose mother just happened to be a Slayer,” she said planting a kiss on his cheek.

Spike responded by rolling the two of them on the bed, covering her body with hers.

“Can I safely assume I’ve averted world war three here?” she mumbled between kisses.

Spike chuckled. “For now love.”
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Dawn and cars equalled badness, Buffy knew that now. Dawn had not inherited the ability to drive from any competent driver, that much was clear. Buffy sat in the back seat of her mother’s Ford Explorer gripping the fabric of the seat with desperation, her knuckles white.

Yes, they were cruising around the parking lot of one of Sunnydale’s many churches, not a car in sight, not a pedestrian available to award Dawn that terror of the road title she was clearly going to claim one day soon. But given all these facts, Buffy still felt her life was going to end, again, very soon.

“Don’t step on the gas and the break at the same time Dawn!” barked Spike from the front passenger seat.

Dawn looked down at her feet trying to figure out which was which.

“Eyes on the road!” Buffy yelled from the backseat.

“There’s too many things to pay attention too!” cried Dawn, as she finally hit the break and skidded the SUV to a stop. “Why is driving so hard?” asked Dawn.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as the car stopped. She unlatched her seat belt and exited the car post haste.

“So I guess this means portal opening and walking for me...” trailed off Dawn looking forlornly at the steering wheel.

She peeked an eye at Spike who was searching for his cigarettes. In one fluid motion, Spike exited the car and lit up, taking a long drag of the calming smoke.

“If we find those monk people and ask for another glowy ball of green energy disguised as a kid, can we ask that this one get my driving genes?” asked Spike to the night sky.

Buffy started to giggle. She hadn’t even thought about the monks that made Dawn for a long time. It started ideas in her head. “Absolutely, Spikey. It can even be a boy if you want,” she purred, sidling up to him.

“Hey!” shouted Dawn from inside the SUV. “Did you know these mirror thingies are just at the right angel to see you two about to have a smooch fest?”
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Buffy, Spike and Dawn returned home from the night’s driving excursion to find that Xander had brought a woman to their house.

Xander on the rebound? thought Buffy bitterly.

“So a wormy monster thingy ate your dog?” asked Spike who had been questioning the woman who was occupying his home.

“Well whatever it was, it was big and strong. Stronger than… I mean, I don’t know how it’s possible. You hear things in this town, living here in Sunnydale, but nobody actually believes them. You’d have to be crazy and… you guys think that I’m crazy, don’t you?” asked Nancy.

“I don’t,” declared goo goo eyed Xander.

“We’ve seen things, too, Nancy,” Buffy confirmed, giving Xander the evil eye for flirting with the random stranger.

“And we’re going to take care of this. It’s your lucky night. Considering that your dog just got all ate up and stuff. Hey, can I freshen up your tea?” he asked, motioning to her empty teacup.

“No, that’s okay. Thanks,” answered the woman.

“So you say this thing just came up out of the ground? I mean, without any warnings or signs or anything?” asked Dawn.

“Just this kind of rumbling. You know, like just before an earthquake?” added Nancy.

“It’s sounding monsterific, all right,” said Xander.

Buffy and Spike rolled their eyes simultaneously.

“Should we round up the gang?” asked Dawn.

“Good thinking, except… this is the gang,” noted Xander.

“Giles is visiting some shaman friend in New Mexico,” shrugged Buffy.

“Look, Nancy, we’re going to get into this. And I promise you, if you’re dog is alive, we’ll find him. I say two pairs. Whatever this creature is, it’s burrowing through solid ground. That means a strength and power that we don’t usually deal with but we may have to get used to now that the Hellmouth is getting all perky,” Buffy commanded, all Slayer mode.

Spike looked on proudly, holding her coat for her.

“Xander, take Nancy home. Drive, don’t walk, and try not to stop till you get there.”

“Understood,” nodded Xander.

“Is your girlfriend always this commanding?” asked Nancy.

“Who?” asked Xander as Nancy pointed to Buffy.

“Buffy? Oh, no, no! I mean, she’s a girl and she’s a friend but she’s not my girlfriend..” stammered Xander.

“Xander… little drool,” said Dawn, as she wiped imaginary drool from her own chin.

“Spike and I will check out the scene,” added Buffy, grabbing Spike’s hand. Buffy smiled at Nancy and placed a kiss on Spike’s cheek.

A look of realisation passed over Nancy’s face.

“I’m command central so everybody check in with me,” said Dawn with authority. BUffy raised an eyebrow at her and Dawn pouted. “Okay, I’ll be here doing my homework but the other one sounded cooler.”
__________________________________________
“I’m so grr at Xander!” Buffy vented as they walked, flashlights in hand. “I mean he’s all ‘let me freshen your tea’ to this Nancy chick and Anya’s still in the picture.”

“Is Anya still in the picture though pet?” asked Spike. “Doesn’t look to me like either of them are putting in the effort.”

“He’s the one that screwed it up!”

“Buffy, love, you can’t make the whole world do what you want, even if you have seen the future,” said the wise vampire.

“But...I have all this extra stuff in my brain and it seeps out!”

“Think this here’s our spot?” asked Spike, pointing his flashlight at a hole in the grass.

“How’d you guess?” she shot back sarcastically.

“I don’t fancy sticking my head in there.”

Buffy nodded. She didn’t want her fiancé to be suddenly decapitated either. They both knelt down examining the hole.

“Hold the torch, will you?” He handed her his flashlight.

“You can’t honestly think that it’s Anya’s fault that Xander’s being all drooly over the other women...”

“Is there a right answer to that question love?” he asked. “Xander’s your friend, Anya’s your friend...I don’t see how this can end up good for me in any scenario.“ Spike turned his attention back to the hole. “And there’s nothing here. Just a bit of slime, mounds of displaced dirt and such. Whatever our beastie is, he’s gone.”

“Bronze?” asked Buffy.

Spike nodded.
__________________________________________
Buffy and Spike walked into the Bronze hands clasped. The good mood that been developing since Buffy suggested they go to the Bronze faded from Buffy’s face once she saw Xander, Nancy and Anya talking.

“You guys, I am working here,” said Anya right away, annoyed at the interruption to her business.

“We noticed,” observed Buffy, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“That’s why we’re here,” added Spike.

“Right. Did you turn this nice lady’s ex into a giant worm monster?” asked Xander referring to Nancy.

“Yes,” laughed Anya.

“No way! Are you saying that that thing was Ronnie?” Nancy asked with disbelief.

“You wish it, I dish it. I thought we were clear on this. I didn’t think you were gonna go all narc on me,” Anya scolded, eyeing the girl coldly.

“You wished your ex was a worm?” Buffy asked Nancy.

“We were just talking.”

“Anya has a way of making things happen,” explained Xander.

“It was an interesting wish. I don’t grant them all you know. The guy had it coming. What’s the big?” asked Anya.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” muttered Nancy.

“Anya, that thing you created burst through solid pavement and ate her dog,” explained Buffy.

“Oh, puppy!” Anya clutched her hand to her chest, her eyes wide with horror.

“Wait! That gets your sad noise? People’s lives are in danger and you give it up for the Yorkie? “ asked Xander.

“You never understood me, Xander,” complained Anya.

“Xander, who is this woman?” asked Nancy.

“Anya? She’s… Anya. My ex,” explained Xander.

“Oh.”

“Hey, nobody’s bragging here!” exclaimed Anya, getting up from her bar stool.

“You know it would have been nice to let your friends in on the memo that you were officially kaput, you know,” said Buffy annoyed. “But seriously Anya, this Ronnie, okay, he wasn’t a worm. Worms are like this big.” Buffy held up her fingers an 2 inches apart. “This thing was like...”

“A Sluggoth demon,” Spike filled in for Buffy. “Am I right?”

“Maybe,” Anya sighed with a scowl.

“Wait. I didn’t wish for that. I mean, I don’t even know what this whatchamacallit demon thing is,” cried Nancy.

“Sluggoth demon. It’s a very large, very nasty, natural predator who died around the Crusades,” explained Spike.

“Same phylum. It’s not cheating. I just embellished..” shrugged Anya.

“Well, you can un-embellish now,” ordered Xander.

“Bite me, Harris! I have rules to work with. Vengeance demon codes of conduct, which you’ll never understand because you’re all still so… human,” argued Anya.

“Yes, yes, human men are little boys that never grow up,” added Buffy. “I’m all for the demony, can we turn Ronnie back now?”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Look I’m sorry that your dog got eaten, but really do you want your ex back?” she asked Nancy.

“I think he’s learned his lesson.”

Anya nodded. “Fine, it’s undone,” she said as she slumped back down on the bar stool.

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief and sat down beside her friend at the bar. She slapped down some money on the bar and called to the bartender.

“I need 2 Fuzzy Navels stat!”
__________________________________________
tbc...
 
Worried? Shop!
 
Disclaimer: Joss, he is the Master of this Universe, I just play in it.

Author’s note: BTL is fab and beta’d this chappie for me. *hugs* THanks to Tasha, Jane, Marzbar, Kat and Karyn for the great reviews
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Chapter 3: Worried? Shop!

“So I’m getting a car for Christmas right?” asked Dawn for like the 50 millionth time. The teen reached to turn up the radio, her eyes leaving the road and the whole vehicle swerving on the desert road.

“Eyes on the road!” shouted Spike, his hands gripping the dashboard of the Ford Explorer.

“Yeesh! Chill already!” muttered Dawn. “It’s not like there’s anyone else out here...”

“For which I am supremely thankful,” answered the vampire, whose pallor seemed a shade lighter.

“Hey! You were the one that was all ‘Nibblet I think you are ready for the road’.”

“That parking lot was starting to appear in my dreams,” Spike grumbled. “Stay on this side of the yellow line, Dawn!”

Dawn rolled her eyes as she swerved back into her lane.

“Are you gonna fight with Principal Wood?” asked Dawn, changing the subject from her poor driving.

“Why would I do that?” Spike asked back. “Not like I haven’t caused enough suffering in the man’s life.”

“Are you saying that you would have not killed his mother if you knew he existed?”

“No, good fight it was and all. Didn’t know Slayers ever had bits of their own.”

“Do you think Buffy and you will ever have kids? Besides me that is...”

“You are more than your share of a handful Nib. Gotta wait for your littl’uns now don’t we?”

Dawn scrunched up her nose. “I don’t think having kids with Andrew is such a good idea, I mean he’s a great guy, love him to bits, but totally in a friend way. I don’t know, his DNA, the human race might be better off if he doesn’t reproduce.”

“Don’t know about that Bite Size, I want grandchildren.”

Dawn laughed, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
__________________________________________
It was unreasonable. It was unwarranted, stupid and completely irrational, but Buffy was worried. This was the first driving lesson Dawn had taken without her in the car and Buffy was near panic. It was silly, Dawn was with Spike, safe and...with Spike. And yet every fibre of her being wanted to be in that car with Dawn and Spike, making sure that they didn’t crash, that they didn’t get pulled over, or any other odd series of events that could happen.

She had arrived home from her history class, to find that the pair had left the house, the Ford Explorer gone from the driveway.

The plan had been to do a short lesson before picking up Willow and Tara at the airport. They were coming home today and Buffy had planned a whole reunion with family night, complete with board games, cake, and Tara and Willow sneaking away to sleep off their jet lag.

And now Spike and Dawn were gone with the car, throwing her whole plan out the window. Just what was she supposed to do now? Buffy looked at the stack of textbooks piled on the island in the kitchen. She had meant to take them up to her room to get them out of the way, but now...Now she had nothing better to do than study. It was completely groan worthy. She didn’t feel like studying. She didn’t feel like cleaning. She didn’t feel like being a grown up. She certainly didn’t feel like her 123 years.

“Anya!” Buffy called out into air, hoping to get her demon friend’s attention. “I’m going shopping!”

Suddenly Anya teleported into the house, smoke swirling around her, practically bouncing with glee.

“Did you say shopping?”
________________________________
“I think it’s completely unfair. So what if I’ve been lax in going for the kill? I’m not on the payroll anymore. I do what I do, because it comes naturally,” complained Anya.

“Well, I for one am glad that you haven’t been all nasty with the killing,” replied Buffy holding up a blouse from the rack before her. “Not that I’d kill you anyway, but there would be that sense of obligation and general grr for the fact that one of my friends was on the list of the must be made dead.”

“Well,” started Anya, walking over to a nearby rack of belts and scarves, “I was the cause of puppy murder...poor puppy,” she noted sadly. “So have you decided who’s gonna be your maid of honour?”

Buffy gave her friend a look.

“You were mine...I think that should be taken into consideration. I have so many ideas for your bachelorette party.”

“Anya,” Buffy said gently, “Dawn’s going to be my maid of honour. She is my sister...”

“But she’s a minor, and can’t be expected to have the same experience. Let me do it! Please?”

“You can be bride’s maid in charge of events Dawn can’t plan?” offered Buffy. “But you have to discuss it with her! I’m not getting in trouble over this.”

Anya nodded enthusiastically.

“Any idea who the best man/demon is going to be?” continued Anya.

“None, which is scary. I’m just waiting for Spike to announce that he’s got some cousin that’s going to show up to do it and then try to drain Dawn on the dance floor. You know he has a cousin that’s married to a regurgitating frovlax demon?”
________________________________
Buffy stepped out of the change room, sporting a pair of leather pants and turned to inspect herself in the mirror. Turning, she glimpsed Dawn staring back at her.

“Where the hell have you been?” asked the angered teen.

“I might ask you the same thing!” retorted the not quite a slayer.

“You weren’t at home when we came back...”

Buffy whirled around and pointed a finger at her. “When you came back from the driving lesson that you were supposed to wait for me before you went on!”

“Spike’s all worried.”

“He is not,” explained Buffy, her hands still on her hips, tilting her head, furrowing her brow in concentration. “He’s eating at the moment.”

“He told me to go look for you! Why wouldn’t he be looking for you too?” asked Dawn.

“Cause he’s hungry?” suggested Buffy. “And you two left me! So Anya and I went shopping!”

Anya stepped out of a change room stall. “Dawn! Your voice is rather loud and angry. We have been enjoying shopping goodness. You are being loud and irritating voice, ruining the happiness.”

“We have to go pick up Tara and Willow from the airport,” muttered Dawn. “It’s time to come home Buffy.”

Buffy sighed, giving Anya a disappointed look. Dawn rolled her eyes and opened a stall door, disappearing into another dimension.

“I wonder what the store’s security staff is going to think about that?” asked Anya, turning to head into her own stall.

“Spike’s gonna get it when she gets home,” Buffy noted, stepping back into her own stall.
________________________________
Dawn stepped into the kitchen from the back door and glared at her biological father/future brother in law/sister’s mate. Spike looked up from his glass of blood quizzically, an eyebrow raised.

“Thought it’d take you longer than that,” he admitted.

“She was at the mall,” Dawn snarked. “And just why was I the only one looking for her?” she asked.

Spike shrugged. “You were all excited about being able to look for your sis with the dimension hopping, didn’t want to spoil your fun, Nibblet.”

“Sure...” she intoned, disbelievingly. “You knew that she was fine, thanks to your mating claimyness, and you didn’t think to tell me? Spike!”

Spike chuckled. “She’s on her way home, and then we can go get the witches. And you can tell them just how evil I really am,” he continued with a grin.

“If by evil you mean lame, then totally,” she replied exiting the kitchen.

There was a puff of smoke and Anya teleported into the kitchen.

“And just what the bloody hell makes you think you can teleport into my kitchen without so much as a knock?” Spike spoke up, almost given up on the idea of eating anything before leaving for the airport.

“You think I was getting into a car with death on wheels? I don’t care if she’s had a hundred so years to learn how to drive. Your mate is a menace in that car. And she drives like an old lady.”

“She is an old lady, demon girl. And ‘sides, you shouldn’t be one to cast stones. Not so young yourself. And she doesn’t drive that badly.”

“Her improvement over the past hundred years is marginal. It was safer to teleport.”

“You’re bloody immortal Anyanka,” he noted with incredulity. “Makes little difference if you get banged up in a car crash now don’t it?”

“So? Doesn’t mean I want ugly bruises and wounds marring my body. I have a date this weekend and I don’t intend to be all limpy and sore for it either.”

The back door opened, allowing Buffy to step into the kitchen.

“You have a date? Why didn’t I hear about this before? There wasn’t a point during the two hours of shopping bonding that you couldn’t slip it into conversation?”

Anya shrugged.

Spike peered over at his mate curious as to how she arrived home so quickly from the mall.

“So spill already! I want details!” continued Buffy.

“You can get details in the bloody car,” interrupted Spike. “Nibblet! It’s time to pick up the witches!” Spike called out into the house.

“I can drive right?” asked Dawn, stepping into the kitchen through the back door.

There was a collective groan from the three other people in the kitchen.
________________________________
“I feel like a bloody sardine!” moaned Giles, from his spot pressed up against the passenger side rear door of the Ford Explorer.

Buffy looked back into the back seat, and grinned at the four bodies pressed together in the back seat. They had taken the Explorer because more people could fit into it, and the fact being that Xander’s car had an unfortunate incident involving a furry brown demon in heat the other night, this was the only way they were all getting to the airport.

“Xander! You’re squishing me!” shouted Dawn, wriggling to get more room. “Spike pull over! I want out!”

“Not bloody likely, Bit,” responded the vampire.

“Did anyone think just how we are going to get 2 more people into the back of this car?” asked Xander.

“I vote big butt Xander gets thrown in the trunk,” suggested Anya from against driver side rear door.

“Why are you even in the car Anya?” asked Xander annoyed. “Demon like you can teleport all over the place. Why sully your demon status with human modes of transportation?”

Anya stuck out her tongue at Xander.

“Hey!” protested Buffy from the safety of the front seat. “There will be no fighting! This is a happy time, and there will be no ruining of the happy time! Tara and Willow are going to be tired and cranky from their flight and you two,” she noted glaring pointedly at the formerly engaged, “are not going to make me regret taking you to the airport to greet them. You got me, Xander?”

“Hey! She started it!” whined the carpenter. “You always take Anya’s side.”

“That’s cause Anya and Buffy had shopping fun this afternoon,” explained Dawn.

“That’s right,” added Buffy. “Xander, you should take me shopping too. This girl needs a new pair of shoes,” she exclaimed happily.

“Oy!” barked Spike. “You don’t need new shoes. You’ve got a thousand of them!”

“And we spent all that time looking at pants...Buffy you should have told me you wanted to go shoe shopping!” replied Anya.

“Oh I needed a new pair of leather pants too Anya.”

Spike snorted.

“You be quiet, Mr. ‘I’ve got ten sets of the same outfit’.”
________________________________
Buffy stood behind a large ‘Welcome Home Willow and Tara’ sign, her back pressed longingly against her mate’s front, Dawn to her right, bouncing up and down as each passenger from the flight passed by the small congregation of Scoobies.

“I don’t see them!” Dawn moaned.

Buffy craned her neck trying to see over the stream of passengers. Without warning, Spike grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulders. From her new vantage point Buffy could see very clearly all of the passengers as they herded out of the gate.

“Not fair Spike!” whined Dawn.

“Hey! I’m shorter than you...You tall person you,” countered Buffy, from her post atop Spike’s shoulders

“Is that Willow?” asked Xander eager to see his friend, a red head passing by on the other side of the crowd.

“No, Xander that isn’t Willow. It’s that nice lady from whom I purchase fresh herbs to stock at the Magic Box,” Anya replied. “Her son lives in England.”

Xander stared at his ex fiancée for a moment.

“Oh! I see them!” exclaimed Buffy over the tops of her family, and waving her arms ecstatically.

Slowly, Tara and Willow approached the group of well wishers, smiling, but suppressing yawns, only to be massively group hugged. There was greetings and ‘missed you’s, Dawn rambled on about her driving skills for a while, while Xander tried to tell Willow about everything that had happened that summer, even though they’d already discussed everything in detail over that invention called the telephone.

Spike stood off to the side, having let Buffy down from her perch, and watched with envious eyes the Scooby huggage that was taking place before him. His girls were happy now that their favourite witches were home again.

Imperceptively, Tara broke away from the group and hugged the vampire with a smile on her face.

Awkwardly, Spike looked down at the blond hugging him. The blond that wasn’t his mate.

“Uh? Glinda?”

Nervously, Tara backed away and smiled. “Missed you Spike.”

Spike smiled back, to find himself wrapped in his mate’s arms again, her hundred watt smile lighting up the small corner of the airport that they were standing in.
________________________________
Luggage picked up from the circular conveyor belt, the Scoobies stood trying to figure out transportation details. Dawn wanted to ‘key’ home, Anya could teleport, but with luggage and extra bags that still meant that the rest of them were going to be squished just like they had been on the way to the airport.

“I’ll find my own way home,” noted Buffy, drawing some interesting looks from the crowd. “Seriously! I can get home on my own. This is Sunnydale? Everywhere can be walked to?”

After some hemming and hawing Buffy’s proposal was agreed to, leaving Dawn, Anya and Buffy standing in the lobby of the airport.

“Well good luck with the walking,” noted Dawn heading for the nearest door.

Anya and Buffy watched the teen walk away, waiting for her to be out of sight before speaking.

“Are you ever going to tell them that you can teleport yourself?” asked Anya.

Buffy shrugged. “It’s just never came up.”

“This isn’t coming up?” questioned Anya, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Buffy clapped her hands loudly, creating a flash of light, and disappearing from the airport lobby.
________________________________
tbc...


 
Take it Back
 
Disclaimer: All hail Joss.

Author’s note: Thanks to the great Bloodytearsoflife for the betaing Thanks to everyone who has been waiting patiently for updates.
________________________________
Chapter 4: Take it Back

Buffy arrived home in an instant and put the kettle on for tea, got out the balloons she had been hiding in closets and started to set out nibblies for snacking once the group got back home. Buffy raced up the stairs and checked to make sure that Willow and Tara’s room was still immaculate as they had left it.

All the while she was trying to come up with an excuse to explain how she’d gotten home faster than Dawn.

What about the truth? she asked herself.

Buffy came out of Tara and Willow’s room contemplating that thought when Dawn opened her bedroom door. The teen nearly jumped three feet into the air, her hand covering her mouth that no doubt would have let out a glass of shattering scream.

“Holy crap, Buffy! How did you get home so fast?” Dawn asked, waiting for an answer as she felt her heart race a mile a minute.

“Um, I can teleport?” Buffy offered weakly.

“Since when?”

“Since I’m more than just a Slayer...”

“Since that thing with the scythe?”

“No, before then,” Buffy answered sheepishly. “There’s a lot about the magic I can do that I haven’t told any of you. I should have, I know. But there was Willow’s problem...” Dawn gave her sister a sharp glare. “Not an excuse, I know,” continued Buffy. “I don’t flaunt it, I’ve had it for a long time, I didn’t want to make a big deal about it.”

“It’s a freakin’ big deal Buffy!” shrieked Dawn.

There was a puff of smoke and Anya appeared, clutching a bag of Cajun fiesta Doritos. “I brought munchies!” the vengeance demon greeted. Anya took a look between Dawn’s angry face and Buffy’s sheepish look and drew her own conclusions. “I told you to tell her before!” noted Anya.

“Anya knew!” shrieked Dawn again.

“I knew!” Anya yelled back. “Where do you want me to put the chips?” asked the vengeance demon to the former but more than slayer.

“I’ll get you a bowl,” bubbled Buffy, eager to leave her sputtering sister behind.

“Why didn’t you tell me? We could have been the fun super power sisters!” Dawn whined, trailing behind her.

Buffy rounded the kitchen island and grabbed an empty bowl out of a cupboard. “Maybe cause I wanted you to be all special? I’ve been super power girl for a long time Dawnie. Maybe it was time to let you have the spot light?” reasoned the eldest Summers.

Dawn plopped down on a nearby stool, her elbows on the island, a pout on her face. “I hate it when you are all smart and wise.”

“Ya, it’s a syndrome. It comes with age. Just make sure you never grow up or you know, learn anything, cause that would really suck.”

“I think it’s ironic that the oldest person in this kitchen is being lectured by the youngest about being old and grown up,” piped up Anya, pouring her chips into the bowl.

Dawn reached for a chip. “Well this sixteen year old girl/ older than time key has had enough of being the baby Scooby. When is Molly getting here? When does she get the ‘I’ve been doing this longer than you, I have to protect you’ speech?” asked Dawn.

“I’ll sit her right down and give it to her as soon as she walks in the door,” Buffy very seriously intoned.

Dawn gave her sister a half smile. “So are there like other things you can do, besides the magic? and the teleporting? Can you fly?” asked Dawn eagerly.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “No, Dawn, I can’t fly. And you don’t need to go spreading this to everyone either.”

“You can’t seriously think I’d keep this a secret. Buffy this is big stuff! Even Willow can’t teleport without a nosebleed.”

“That is true,” noted Anya. “Your teleportation skills are quite advanced for someone who has not had the longest track record. I know it was several years before I could even teleport with accuracy. And Willow is very lucky to get nosebleeds and headaches. I’ve known witches who have tried teleportation only to have their heads explode.”

“Ewww,” observed both the Summers sisters.

“Dawn, please. No telling anyone tell I say it’s okay? Please?”

“Fine,” Dawn huffed. “Spoil all my fun…”

“I personally think you should tell Spike though, I have had quite a few spontaneous orgasms due to teleportation sex play. I highly recommend it,” continued Anya.

“Anya!” protested Buffy, even as Dawn was putting her hands over her ears and singing to herself.

“La la la, I can’t hear you,” sang Dawn as she got up off the stool and sprang towards the stairs and her room.

Anya watched the retreating teen. “I wonder when she’ll get over her fear of orgasms? I bet she hasn’t had any proper ones. She is sixteen. In my day I was already living with Olaf and having boring Baltic sex by then. We should marry her off!” gasped Anya as if a splendid thought occurred to her.

“ANYA!” shouted Buffy, trying to get her friends attention. “We are not marrying off Dawn and that is final.”

“It was just a thought,” muttered Anya, disappointed her idea was rejected.
________________________________
Music was playing, munchies were set out and balloons and streamers graced various areas of the Summers’ house when the Ford Explorer parked in the driveway. Anya looked up from her bowl of chips and rolled her eyes when she saw that Xander was the first person to enter the house.

His notice of course was diverted to Buffy, who, by all evidence presented to him, had been home for a while.

“B..Buffy!” started Xander, surprised at his friend’s appearance in her own house.

“Xander...stop gaping at Buffy and carry Tara and Willow’s bags like a gentleman, oh wait, sorry, I had you confused with someone else,” declared Anya.

“Spike...Giles...Buffy! How did you get home so fast?” stammered Xander, standing in the middle of the open doorway, blocking the entrance.

He was quickly joined by Tara and Willow, standing behind him wondering just why he had stopped right there.

“Xander? Uh, we kinda need in. All grr from the flight and the fact that my body thinks it’s almost tomorrow morning. Move!” ordered Willow.

Xander shuffled out of the way and let Willow and Tara in, followed by Giles and Spike, carrying their bags. Willow took one look at the decorations and the ‘Welcome Home Willow and Tara’ sign and burst into tears.

Buffy rushed to hug her friend, and found that Willow was the creamy filling in a Scooby Twinkie. Slowly the layers of Scooby backed away letting Willow have space.

“She’s just really tired,” Tara explained. “It’s nice that you planned a party for us, but we should really go to sleep. Neither of us slept on the plane.”

Buffy nodded. “I thought you would anyway.”

Hugs were exchanged, and Spike took up Tara and Willow’s bags to their room. Willow and Tara followed him up and shut the door behind them. Returning to the kitchen, Spike found an unusually broody bunch.

“There’s something wrong with her,” noted Xander, bluntly. “She didn’t talk at all in the car. Willow is not like that.”

“Once again, you are jumping to conclusions, Xander,” chastised Giles, as Buffy poured him a cup of tea.

“Or maybe she’s all bummed out about you and your ‘I’m thinking about going back to England’ announcement,” continued Xander. “She just got back and you are abandoning her!”

“You’re ...you’re going back to England?” asked Buffy. This was the first she had heard of it.

“Not permanently. I’ve got a friend celebrating her fiftieth birthday, there’s a rather large gathering planned. I had intended on going,” explained Giles.

“Oh,” said Buffy relieved. “Then why are you so grr about it Xander?” Buffy asked, turning to her friend.

“Cause, he’s reactionary,” butted in Anya, snacking on her Doritos.

Xander pulled a bowl of cheezies towards him and started munching, glaring at his ex fiancée, and for the first time in his life, not saying anything.
________________________________
It was only an hour later that Giles, Xander and Anya went back to their respective homes. The welcome home party without Willow and Tara was pretty blah. Xander offered the excuse of work in the morning, which Giles agreed with.

“Can I expect the mighty Anyanka to stop by the humble magic shop?” Giles asked in an uncharacteristic amount of sarcasm.

Anya smiled and nodded. “Of course! I am always ready to participate in the acquisition of currency!”

Giles smiled back, a motion that did not go unnoticed by Buffy. Suddenly Buffy had an idea of just who Anya’s date had been the week before.

The house now empty of extra Scoobies, Spike suggested patrolling.

Patrolling had been slow over the summer, the odd vampire nest and demon sacrifice, no apocalyptic events, as was the norm for Sunnydale. Badness seemed to happen in the spring and then start up again in the fall.

Well, fall was here, so the badness, it was a comin’. Course the flesh eating demon thing they killed a couple of days ago was probably just the start.

Clad in her new leather pants, cause there was the absolute need to break them in, Buffy stashed a couple of stakes about her clothes and followed her mate into the darkness in search of baddies to kill.

Spike was curiously silent as they traversed the green spaces of the local cemeteries watching Buffy with a more than usual protectiveness. By the time they had entered cemetery number four, Buffy had had enough.

“What!” she barked.

“It’s a feeling, pet, something’s not quite right here.”

Buffy sighed. Since her thing with the scythe and releasing the power of it to make only one slayer, and her transformation into not a slayer but something a little less, Buffy had discovered that she’d been stripped of her ability to ‘sense’ stuff. She knew Spike was near because of their link as mates, but the rest of the vampires where just bodies to her decreased senses. “Tell me about the feeling, Spike,” she asked softly.

“Too quiet, vamps and demons, it’s like they are scared. I haven’t felt this mood since, well, since Whitebread and his tin soldiers were about.”

Buffy scanned the area for any signs of what Spike said was true. She agreed that it was far too quiet, not only that, there was a black SUV parked outside the gates of the cemetery that she didn’t like. Buffy looked back up at her mate and pulled him into a kiss. “I think the Initiative is back,” she whispered.
________________________________
Buffy settled back into her bed, covers pulled up around her, as she watched Spike get ready for bed. He was gorgeous, and she couldn’t help but stare at him. She had let the Initiative's reappearance in Sunnydale slip her mind after they got back home. Spike was chip free, thanks to her fun magic abilities, but there was nothing stopping them from chipping her vampire again. She was not going to let them do that again though.

“So you gonna tell me just how you got back from the airport so quickly?” he asked quietly, folding his jeans and setting them on a chair.

“Teleportation,” she said straight faced. “It’s the first time I’ve used it since Willow’s spell, when I was brought here. I just didn’t mention it. It comes with the whole harnessing of the slayer powers. The ability to do magic and stuff.”

Spike raised the side of the covers and slipped in beside her.

“It never came up until today?” he asked.

“No,” she confirmed. “Dawn was kinda mad that I didn’t tell her.”

Spike wrapped his arms around her. “I can understand that. She’s never in the know, out of the loop. She likes knowing the ins and the outs.”

Buffy turned towards him, the covers rustling as she did so. “You aren’t mad at me for not telling?” she asked, watching his reaction carefully.

Softly Spike shook his head. “No, love, I’m not. Not crazy about magic, you know that, bleedin’ consequences and all. Next time we go to the bleedin’ airport we are taking two cars though.” Spike reached over to turn off the bedside light, but was halted by Buffy’s gaze. It was the curious way she was looking at him that made him pause.

“What?”

“I love you,” she said tenderly.

“But...”

“What? But what? There’s no but! But free here!” she protested.

Spike raised himself up on an elbow and looked at her hard. “It seems to me that this isn’t the only thing that you’ve got to say. What were you thinking about just now?”

Buffy bit her lip. She hadn’t wanted to say much about it, it wasn’t important now. He didn’t need a soul. She loved him without it.

“I was thinking that I love you and that I was a fool before to think that you needed a soul to love,” she whispered.

Spike rolled back on his back. “I bloody could have told you that.”

“And you did,” she observed, sitting up. “Time and time again. But I didn’t listen.” Buffy turned to look at her fiancé, then snuggled down next to him. “I did it better this time. This time I have you. This time I won’t take you for granted. This time no crazy souled Spike.”

“Crazy souled Spike?” he asked but his slayer was already asleep.
________________________________
Spike couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned, his mate lying calmly beside him, sleeping. Her last comment before she drifted off, had bothered him, perplexed him.

Crazy souled Spike

He couldn’t reason himself into any situation where he thought he’d have to get a soul. He gazed at his partner and a sudden thought occurred to him. The only reason he’d ever consider getting a soul was if he’d hurt Buffy.

She breathed sleepily and burrowed into his side, knowing that he needed comfort even while she slept.

He suppressed a growl. He wasn’t the Spike that had hurt Buffy: that was some other Spike in some other time reality. It hurt his head trying to think about it.

He was still awake when Buffy woke up to make sure Dawn had breakfast before heading to school. He watched her dress, her graceful form making his body react in very pleasant ways.

“Why did I get a soul, Buffy?” he asked out of the blue, startling the Master Slayer as she was putting a leg through a pant leg.

Buffy regained her balance and zipped up, exhaling a deep intake of air.

“You hurt me, emotionally. Not that I didn’t deserve it, to be hurt emotionally. I’d done more than that to you. You knew what I was like before I popped into this body. I didn’t want to be here and I took it out on you. For that I’m so sorry.”

“I hurt you and I decided to get a soul?” he asked.

Buffy nodded. “Don’t you go start feeling bad about it!” she chastised. “You didn’t do anything!”

“Not yet, pet,” he replied softly.

“No! Not ‘yet.’ Not ever. You couldn’t hurt me Spike.”

Spike whipped back the covers of the bed and sat up. “Well apparently I did!”

“It wasn’t you!” she started.

“No, maybe not, but it could have been. I’d hate myself if I hurt you. And don’t you start on about the ‘emotional’ bit. Can tell the way you say it, it wasn’t just emotional...”

Buffy slipped on a tank top and approached the bed.

“I love you,” she said tenderly.

Spike opened his mouth to continue, but she raised a hand effectively stopping him.

“I love you, I forgave that Spike a long time ago and you’re brooding,” she warned, smiling.

Spike’s eyes went wide. “You take that back!”
________________________________
tbc...


 
Blood
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns all, I own nothing.

Author’s note: All hail the fab BTL! Wonderful beta extraordinaire!
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Chapter 5: Blood

Buffy bounced down stairs leaving a slightly perplexed vampire, naked in their bed. Today was another beautiful day. She peeked through the blinds in her perpetually shaded house before looking into the fridge to see what to cook her sister for breakfast.

“I am on the verge of barfing so if you decide that I need meat in any shape or form for this meal you are going to have a mess to clean up,” came Dawn’s voice from the kitchen doorway.

“Oh. My. God! Did you use the stairs?” exclaimed Buffy, rushing around the island with mocking interest.

“Ha ha. Laugh it up. I think all the dimension hopping is giving me vertigo,” moaned Dawn, finding a stool to sit on.

“Do you even know what vertigo is?” asked Buffy with a raised eyebrow as she returned to the fridge. “Yoghurt?”

“Nah, I’m good. The thought of food right now is incredibly off putting.”

“Off putting?”

“Too Giles sounding?” asked the teen.

Buffy nodded.

“Got to stop hanging around Giles. All that research he makes me do, it’s so...”

“Fun? Worthwhile? Fulfilling? Stop me when you agree...”

“British...” Dawn added with a frown.

“Oh. But hey, Spike’s British and he hates the research. So it’s probably a watcher thing.”

“But I’m going to be a watcher. You said I was going to be a watcher.”

Buffy leaned across the island and took her sister’s hand. “Dawn, if you want to be a watcher, then you will be a watcher. Just because you were a watcher in my past, doesn’t mean it’s written in stone. I’ve already made so many changes just by telling you guys what’s happened or knowing stuff already. You can make your life into anything you want it to be.” Buffy smiled softly at her sister. “Now you need food, in some form. There are mini quiches left over from last night?” Buffy turned back to the fridge, taking out a pitcher of orange juice.

Dawn wrinkled her nose. “Microwaved nibblies? No thanks.”

“Oooh! I’ll eat ‘em!” bounced Willow into the kitchen. “And! Oh! Morning!”

“Someone looks like they are in a good mood!” observed Buffy.

“Someone is in a very good mood,” responded Willow. “I have no nosy Witch people telling me what to do today, and! oh! Mini quiches to eat for breakfast! With possible Doritos to be consumed for the desert of breakfast.”

Dawn slid from her stool and grabbed the glass of juice Buffy sat before her.

“Nosy witch people?” inquired Dawn.

“Oh they were really cool. But nosy! They were all, ‘Willow have you done this?’ and ‘Willow what are you doing now?’ as if I was smuggling gummybears or something. I miss gummybears. We have to buy gummybears before my tummy goes on strike.”

“We’ll get you gummybears,” laughed Buffy. “Are you coming to campus with me?”

Willow nodded, pouring herself a glass of OJ. “I have to get my books and course outlines that I’ve already missed. I still can’t believe you are going back to school Buffy! I’m so proud of you!”

“I’ll let you decide further into the year if you are still proud of me. I fully expect to be bored to tears at every opportunity. I have a Ph.D, when I was in a much wrinklier body with no teeth and I’m stuck in second year classes.”

“Yes, your second youth is harsh,” said Willow, sarcasm dripping off her tongue.

“Am I going to get driven to school?” cut in Dawn. “I’m seriously thinking that I can’t portal hop today,” putting down her glass of orange juice and looking decidedly green.

“Dawn are you alright?” asked Willow, putting a hand to her forehead. “She feels hot. Do you feel hot?”

“No, I feel like I’m going to barf,” muttered Dawn, her hand flying to her mouth.

Buffy sprang into action and tugged Dawn to the empty sink before the teen could yak on the floor or her new back to school clothes. Buffy rubbed her sister’s back tenderly while Willow handed her a glass of cold water from the fridge.

“You are going right back upstairs, into bed and rest,” ordered Buffy. “No dimension hopping, rest and fluids.”

Dawn nodded.

“I’ll just have to tell Spike he can’t play his music full blast while we’re gone to school today,” continued Buffy.

“Is that what he does all day?” asked Willow with a look of disbelief.
________________________________
The house was silent. Tara, Willow and Buffy were at the university, doing the coed thing and Dawn was peacefully sleeping whatever bug she had off in her room.

Spike was bored.

His plans for the day hadn’t included a sick teenager to care for. And he didn’t mind that. Dawn was his to take care of, ever since he made Buffy that promise before she died that second time. But with the nibblet sleeping, he hadn’t a bloody thing to do. He was a house vamp, using the time that the nibblet and Buffy were away at school to clean the house, do the laundry, run errands that couldn’t be taken care of when it was normal vamp out and about time.

He’d been domesticated. But at least it was by the one woman he’d gladly domesticate for. He was out of Berba weed, had to go to the magic shop for that, and he’d heard about Clem’s new plan for a demon gym, which he wanted information on. Clem was always coming up with crazy ideas about what demons needed to improve their quality of life in Sunnydale.

Course he couldn’t do either of those things with Dawn sleeping soundly upstairs. So he decided to snoop.

His room, and Buffy’s, was still full of little bits of the Slayer that he had yet to discover. When he’d moved in last year she’d told him that she had nothing to hide from him and that he was free to snoop as much as he liked. In fact she’d expected it.

It had made the whole thing seem less appealing.

Now he had nothing better to do. The house was clean. He’d called a company in LA that made special vampire safe glass and they were going to redo the windows in the house and the two cars next week.

Passions wasn’t on for another three hours. And he couldn’t play his music.

Snooping it was then.
________________________________
Buffy returned from her day of tedious History classes that she could have taught herself, to find her living room a mess. Papers, photos and other mementos were scattered about the place. She smiled to herself at Spike’s snooping, but sobered up when she realised that if he had been snooping he would have cleaned up. His days of letting the minions clean up were long over, he had a feeling the minions in this case wouldn’t take too kindly to being ordered to clean up his girls’ mess.

“Spike?” Buffy yelled into the house, worried. She could feel him in the building through their claim. “Spike?”

“Upstairs Goldilocks!” came his voice, an edge to it that made her forgo the stairs and teleport to the second level.

Spike was sitting by Dawn’s bed holding her hand softly, worry etched on his face. Dawn was sicker than she had left her this morning.

“I can barely tolerate touching her. I can’t find that blasted thermometer thing and she’s been talking in her sleep. I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” he admitted.

Buffy touched her hand to Dawn’s forehead and frowned. “She’s about the same she was this morning.” Crouching down beside her mate, Buffy peered into her sleeping sister’s face. “Dawnie?”

Dawn’s eyes flickered a moment, before the teen moaned and rolled away from the pair, her brow moist with perspiration.

“Dawnie?” Buffy repeated, trying to get her sleeping sister’s attention. The look of worry that etched on her face wasn’t reassuring to her mate who had let go of Dawn’s hand. “She’s never been sick. All those false memories that the monks gave us, there’ve been broken bones and she had the chicken pox but she’s never had a fever or even the flu. There is something wrong about this, Spike. She’s not supposed to get sick now.” Buffy’s voice was steady but panicked. “I need Giles, and Willow and Tara and Anya,” she said suddenly. We have to find out what’s wrong with her.”

“I was thinking the hospital, pet,” he offered, standing up and wrapping his arms around his mate securely.

“The hospital? No, no hospitals, Ben worked in a hospital. A hospital didn’t save mom. She’s not a regular kid...”

“No love, she’s not,” he noted reassuringly. “But it can’t hurt. Ben’s gone. No one’s going to hurt our nibblet.”

Buffy sniffed back unshed tears and looked over at her sister, laying haphazardly on the bed. “Why didn’t she tell me she felt his bad? I thought it was because of all her dimension hopping...what if something’s really wrong with her?”

Spike placed a kiss on the top of her head, but she still went on.

“This is all my fault, I should have stayed home...”

Buffy’s self incriminations were interrupted by Willow appearing at the door.

“Dawnie still sick?” she asked.

“We’re gonna take the nibblet to the hospital, can you call the Watcher?” asked Spike.

“Oh, ya sure,” responded Willow, with a frown.

“Get the nibblet ready, carry her to the car, I’ll be out there with the motor runnin’,” Spike directed, forcing Buffy to look at him. Weakly she nodded, allowing him to release her. The sun high in the afternoon sky was not going to make this trip to the hospital any easier.
________________________________
Willow and Spike sat in the waiting room of the emergency department, silently. Buffy had gone in with Dawn. The silence was getting to be uncomfortable. Spike liked Red. He really did, but after what she had done to Dawn, forcing her to experience her key powers before she was ready, he wasn’t all that thrilled to be in her company alone.

“Tara and I have decided to look for another place to live. Molly’s coming and she’s going to need a room,” said Willow, filling in the silence. “It’s too late to find a place on campus, but there’s an apartment that we looked at today...”

Willow was cut off, by Buffy’s arrival into the waiting room, a grim look coming over her face. Both the witch and the vampire stood up, Spike reaching out to soothe her.

“What’s wrong with Dawn?” asked Willow first.

Buffy clasped and unclasped her hands a few times before answering.

“They don’t know. She’s on an IV and they’re moving her to an isolation ward. They think she might be contagious. We’re all going to have to be checked for whatever it is she might have.”

“Well except me,” observed Spike with a grin.

“No, you too. You came in with her. You’ve been on their security cameras. They aren’t letting us leave without it,” whispered Buffy.

“But, it’s Spike! They’re gonna notice the heart not beating and the lack of body heat,” noted Willow.

The doors to the emergency room opened and in walked Giles and Anya, their faces worried as well.

“We were counting the money and doing inventory, completely innocently when Tara phoned us,” explained Anya.

It would have been a perfect time to tease Giles and Anya about other things she suspected they were doing in the Magic Box, but Buffy wasn’t in a mood to tease.

“Are they allowing us to see her?” asked Giles, giving his business partner a queer look.

Buffy shook her head. “She’s been isolated. They think she might have some weird disease, like in that movie with Dustin Hoffman...”

“Outbreak?” supplied Anya. “It was a very entertaining movie. Of course the makeup effects weren’t as accurate as you might think. I was around during the Black Death you know, it was much worse than in the movie. I wasn’t responsible for the plague, well that one anyway, it was D’Hoffryn who did that brilliant piece of vengeance work...What?” she asked once she noticed everyone was staring at her.

“I know you are trying to help, Anya, but this is not the time or place to be regaling us with details of the bubonic plague,” offered Giles.

“There you go again with being like Xander! Telling me what’s not appropriate amongst humans! Well I’m not human! Live with it!” hissed Anya, while the whole group thanked the PTB that she had kept her voice down.

“Miss Summers?” interrupted a doctor who was wearing a facemask and rubber gloves, drawing the group’s attention away from Anya.

“Doctor, can we see her?” asked Giles.

“I’m afraid we can’t allow that, in fact you may all be contaminated. We are testing her blood now, I have to ask that none of you leave the facility and that Miss Summers come with me, for testing.”

“Her blood?” squeaked Willow. “You are testing her blood? Taking it out of her body?”

“Willow’s right, that’s not a good thing to do!” agreed Anya.

“I beg your pardon, but you are not the doctor here, Miss. We know what’s best for the patient. Miss Summers?” The Doctor motioned for Buffy to follow him.

“Why did you bring her to a hospital in the first place?” Anya asked Spike as Buffy was led away.

“Are you implying that Dawn’s blood still has qualities that will effect the dimensional barriers of this dimension?” asked Giles.

Anya squished up her face at the watcher and poked his nose. “Oooh I knew I liked you for a reason! Since Willow got all happy with the power giving...”

“Hey!” protested the witch.

“...Dawn’s blood has been what allows her to pass through dimensions. If they take it out of her, it’s kinda like holding a bottle of nitro glycerine,” noted Anya proud of her analogy.

“Bloody hell,” muttered Spike.

“That’s probably what’s wrong with her anyway. She’s been dimension hopping so frequently that she’s probably burnt out whatever it is that is in her blood that is magical and the imbalance has made her all woozy and sick.”

“So how do we make her better?” asked Willow.

“Blood transfusion,” supplied the demon. “But first we have to get Dawn’s blood back before some stupid intern drops her blood on the floor and we all end up in some dimension vacuum.”

“Just how do you propose we do that?” asked Giles. “We can’t very well storm the isolation ward.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Oh for D’Hoffryn’s sake!” Anya disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared seconds later with a vile of blood in her hand. She held it out to Spike. “Drink this,” she ordered.

“That the nibblet’s?” he asked taking the vile from her.

Anya nodded. “Drink it. I can’t think of what else to do with it. Probably could sell it at the Magic Box, but what happens if there’s an earthquake and a box falls on it? Poof, dimensional vacuum.”

Spike nodded slowly. His nibblet’s blood. He didn’t think he’d ever taste her blood. Spike looked at the faces around him, all watching as he held the vile.

“Do you want us to start chanting ‘chug, chug, chug‘?” asked Anya helpfully.

Spike tipped the vile and let the contents slip down his throat. Dawn’s blood was a mixture of tastes. He could taste Buffy, himself, ancient power, and sickness in her blood.

Willow grabbed the vile from his hands and poofed it out of existence.

“No evidence,” she whispered. “So now what? We have to get Dawn new blood. Won’t the doctors do that?”

Giles shook his head. “There’s no reason for them to do that. She hasn’t lost any blood and now that Spike’s ingested their sample they have no way to test it.”

“There’s got to be another way to put blood into her, without taking blood out,” muttered Willow, trying to wrap her head around the problem. “And we’d still need compatible blood, it can’t be just Joe Smoe’s blood, what blood type is Dawn?”

“Same as Buffy’s,” interjected Spike and every eye landed on him. “What? I just drank her blood! I can tell what type it is from taste.”

“So we need Buffy’s blood then,” observed Giles.

“And we need Willow to do a mind thingy on the doctors and nurses,” added Anya.

Willow shook her head. “No, I mean poofing viles away is one thing, but messing with people’s brains? No, not going there again. That way leads to power crazed and black eyes. Or...or so I’ve been told.”

“Red, it’s Dawn,” started Spike. “Laying in that hospital bed, getting sicker and sicker...”

“And you think that if I do this it makes up for what I did to her?” asked Willow with a sneer. “I didn’t see her complaining, when she was all dimension happy!”

“She didn’t know she would get sick from it!” barked Spike, raising his voice, his demon flickering just below the surface.

All conversation in the emergency room stopped as everyone, nurses and patients alike, turned to look at the four people standing and arguing.

Willow gulped. “Fine, I’ll do it,” she conceded. “When the doctor comes to get me for my testing.”
________________________________
Buffy returned to the group, wondering why they were all standing in silence. Willow sulked back with the doctor, drawing the attention of the three others.

“What’s going on?” asked Buffy.

“Miss Summers?” asked the doctor, turning around, Willow standing right beside him. “We are going to need you again in the back.”

Buffy looked perplexed for a moment but followed the doctor anyway, grabbing onto Willow’s hand as they walked.

They hadn’t let her see Dawn since she’d brought her in, but now the doctor led her straight to her sister’s side. She could feel that Willow was using magic at that very moment, to do what she wasn’t sure, but she was grateful that she now had the opportunity to see Dawn.

Her sister looked horrible. The pale vampire like shade of white did not suit the Californian teen at all.

“Oh Dawnie!” moaned Buffy.

“Miss Summers if you could sit here, we will do the blood transfusion right now,” said the doctor, as if he was in a daze.

Buffy looked at Willow for some inkling about what was going on. All she got was a muttered ‘later’. With little reluctance, Buffy sat down on the offered chair and offered her already poked and prodded arm for the doctor to do what he was going to do. She watched with intensity as the Dawn was hooked up and the blood started to flow down the tube and into her sister.

Seconds slipped away.

“Buffy?” moaned Dawn’s voice.
________________________________
tbc...




 
Childish Pranks
 
Disclaimer: Joss said to write fan fic...so that’s what I’m doing.

Author’s note: BTL, the fabulous friend and awesome person that she is, beta’d this fic. For that she gets hugs.
________________________________
Chapter 6: Childish Pranks

Willow’s telepathic control of the hospital staff let the whole Scooby gang leave the building within a few hours. Buffy had wanted to make sure that Dawn was ok for the drive home. It was surprising what a little blood could do.

The teen protested as Buffy ushered her up into bed once again when they got home.

“But I feel fine!” Dawn protested.

Buffy glared back at her sister. “You are going to sleep the sleep of the not sick, and tomorrow you’ll go back to school. Understand? Someone will bring up your dinner in a bit.”

“Fine,” grumbled Dawn.

Back downstairs, Buffy found Spike cleaning up his mess of photos and other snooping related items.

“It occurs to me that we don’t have nearly enough photos of you around,” she noted softly. “Maybe we should get a family photo done?”

“There’s no need to immortalize me on paper, luv,” he observed standing up. He closed the gap between them and caressed her cheek. “It’s your pretty face that needs be remembered.”

Buffy stared back at her mate sadly. She could feel just how tender he felt towards her, but also an overwhelming feeling of sadness.

“You’re afraid I’ll die and leave you alone for eternity,” she whispered, believing that she was thinking the same thing he was.

“No, Goldilocks. I’m afraid that you’ll die before your time, this time, because you kept me around. The day after I bury you, I’m walkin’ into the sunrise. I know I wouldn’t be able to let you go a second time.”

Buffy felt her eyes well up. She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips.

“I still want a family photo,” she joked, trying to laugh her way though the tears.
________________________________
Dawn was pouting up in her room. She felt fine, but there she was, tucked into her bed like an eight year old.

Anya teleported into her room with a brief ‘poof‘.

“I’m sensing vengeance. What happened?” asked the vengeance demon, sitting down on the bed.

“They are treating me like a child. I’m older than time, and I’m stuck in my room waiting for dinner to be carried up on a tray.”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Well you were all sick, and they worried about you. Clueless, but worried. No more dimension hopping for you unless necessary!” chastised Anya waving a finger at her friend.

Dawn let out a cry of frustration. “That’s totally unfair. I just need to recharge the blood every once in while.” He eyes went wide as a thought came to her. “I’m doomed to be pedestrian girl forever. Spike won’t let me drive on roads with, you know, traffic, until he’s not afraid for his unlife and Buffy agrees with him. It’s like having the most over protective parents ever. Not that I didn’t have them before, but it’s worse! I’m sixteen!”

Anya nodded sympathetically. “You and Buffy can commiserate on the badness of your driving skills.”

“You know what I wish?” asked Dawn looking up at her friend with heated eyes.

Anya perked up at the word.

“I wish that Buffy knew what it was like to be stuck in the body of a child. I bet I’d get all kinds of sympathy,” Dawn finished with a ruthless smile.

Anya nodded, a smile gracing her face. “Got a time frame for that? I mean when I was a vengeance demon years ago, I wouldn’t have asked for a time frame it would have been a forever kind of thing. But this is Buffy, Slayer extraordinaire, with the super strength.”

“A day?” asked Dawn, her eyes happy at the prospect of vengeance on Buffy.

“Wish granted,” intoned Anya.
________________________________
The morning alarm next to Buffy and Spike’s bed went off, filling the room with the sounds of Def Leopard from the Sunnydale’s Classic Rock station, the only one the two mates could agree on to wake them up in the morning.

Under the covers the two bodies moved, waking slowly and reaching for each other. Buffy snuggled in closer and planted a kiss on Spike’s lips, before bracing herself for getting up out of bed.

Spike wrapped his arms around his mate, keeping her under the covers with him for a moment longer when he realised something wrong. This didn’t feel like Buffy. Spike whipped off the covers, exposing the both of them to the cool morning air.

“Bloody hell!” he shouted, staring at his mate, now sporting the body of her eight year old self. He leapt off the bed.

“What the hell are you doing?” barked back Buffy, staring at him. “We snuggle in the morning, you know that. This is not snuggling!”

“Buffy, love, you’ve been...you’re a child!” he exclaimed, waving his hands in front of him.

“Hey! Not! A hundred twenty-three here, Mister. Besides your body is only twenty-seven! Dead yes, but twenty-seven!”

Spike rolled his eyes. “No, luv, look at yourself. You’ve been changed today. You look like a bloody eight year old!” he muttered, reaching for her and tugging her towards the mirror.

Buffy gasped as she inspected herself in the full length mirror. “Oh wow!”

“Wow?” questioned Spike. “Wow? You’re a bleedin’ eight year old and the first thing you say is ‘wow’?”

Buffy poked at her face for a moment, turning her head to inspect and to wonder, then in a sudden realisation her hands went to her very flat and not developed breasts, covered by the tank top she fell asleep in. She frowned. “Well I don’t like this at all,” she muttered to herself, inspecting herself. “Anya!”

Instantly Anya appeared in their room, the smoke from her teleportation filling the room.

“You look so cute!” exclaimed the vengeance demon. “Eight year old Buffy is cute! Don’t you think she’s cute, Spike?” gushed Anya.

“No. Why the bloody hell would I think she’s cute as a child!” shouted Spike, grabbing his jeans to cover himself.

“Anya! Focus!” said Buffy snapping her fingers in front of her friend’s face which was a little difficult with the height difference. “Did someone put a vengeance curse on me? Or is this witchy magic?”

Anya exhaled. “I really shouldn’t tell me, she’ll get mad at me...”

Buffy glared at the demon. “You do remember that I still have my super extra strength, right? And the witchy powers too.”

The two stared off until Anya threw up her hands in resignation.

“Oh ok! God, you don’t have to be so evil eye all of a sudden. It’s a vengeance curse ok? Happy?”

Buffy cocked an eyebrow at her friend. “Did you curse me Anya?”

All of a sudden, Anya looked sheepish. “Ya...But it was a legitimate wish, following all the guidelines that vengeance demons adhere to...”

“I don’t care if Santa Claus himself wished it,” barked the vampire. “Undo it!”

“I can’t,” stated Anya simply. “It only lasts for a day, you’ll turn back tomorrow, to your fun slaying self. No consequences. No nastiness. Think of it as, your second, uh, well, third youth.”

“Anya, I don’t need a third youth! I can’t go to school like this!”

“Vacation, look it up,” noted Anya with an evil smile, as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Both Buffy and Spike stared at the place from which Anya teleported out of for a moment. Then, realising just who made the wish, glowered at the mirror before shouting, “Dawn Eleanor Summers!”
________________________________
There was massive giggling from the teen as she ate her breakfast. She watched her older sister, who looked like an eight year old, use a step stool to do the dishes.

“Why would Anya do something like this?” asked Willow, handing her used glass to Buffy. “And why do I have this urge to tickle you? You are just so cute!”

Buffy glared at her friend, daring her to try. “Not Anya’s fault, is it Dawn? Vengeance demons can’t do anything to you if no one wishes it.”

“Well whoever it was,” started Dawn, who had not yet admitted her guilt in the matter. “They are brilliant. And I’m off to school, on foot, the pedestrian way.”

The slayer and the witch looked at Dawn as she stepped out into the sun.

“Oh I’m so getting her back for this one!” muttered Buffy. “Prank war is on!”

“Scary,” giggled Willow.

“Very,” agreed Buffy, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “And I have all day to plan retribution...I can’t go to school like this.” Buffy waved her hand in front of herself. “I’m like in grade three!”

“I still think little Buffy is cute!” noted Willow. “Ooh, I bet Spike doesn’t though.”

“He’s not too thrilled with it, no,” conceded Buffy.

“Maybe Spike could be in on the pranking then?” added Willow as she headed out of the kitchen. “This house is going to be a war zone.”

“Yep, but it’s not going to be just in the house,” noted Buffy, smiling before she too, headed upstairs.
________________________________
Buffy had bid Tara and Willow a good day as they left for their classes at Sunnydale U and settled herself down on the couch for TV goodness, complete with gummybears and a Toblerone chocolate bar. After flipping through the channels and deciding that daytime television sucked, she started to wonder what happened to her vampire.

Little feet carried her upstairs. She spied her mate on their bed, reading in the muted light coming through the heavy curtains. Slayer speed, and her decreased weight helped her as she launched herself at the vampire, landing on his lap. She tossed the book out of the way and started kissing him.

“Buffy!” he protested, picking her up and holding her away from him.

She pouted. “You’re no fun!”

“Buffy, love,” he started, very seriously. “I know you don’t feel any different, but you’re a child.”

Buffy pouted more.

“Buffy...”

“Fine! If I look like a kid, I might as well go watch cartoons!” she huffed bouncing off the bed and heading out the door.

“Buffy!” he called out after her, following her out the door.

Buffy stopped in the hallway and turned back to face him. Her face was frozen in a very angry expression.

With a sad smile he reached out to touch her cheek only to have her flinch away from him. Looking down at her, and feeling the things she was feeling through the claim, he decided that whatever he was going to say was going to be taken the wrong way.

He dropped to his knees, to look in her eyes and leaned forward to press a kiss to her lips.

“I love, you Buffy Summers,” he started. “I don’t bloody care what you look like, or if you have to grow up again, I’m going to marry you in the spring.”

“That’s nice, Spike. Doesn’t make me not feel used, lied to and unwanted. I like being able to make out with my vampire!” she pouted.

Suddenly, the linen closet door opened and Dawn stepped through.

“You!” she screamed, pointing to Buffy.

“Bloody hell Bit,” started Spike, shocked. “What happened to your hair?”

Buffy turned around with a sinister smile, to see her bald and near tears sister slam the linen closet door. Buffy giggled and took off down the stairs.

“Change me back!” Dawn screamed, running after her diminutive sister.

“No!” yelled Buffy, between giggling and dodging her sister’s grabs, slayer skills and eight year old agility playing a part in her escape.

Unfortunately, she did not take into account the vampire who had had just about enough of the whole thing. He grabbed his mate by the shoulders and lifted the squirming slayer off the floor.

“Buffy, you are acting like an eight year old!” chastised Dawn, while Spike gave Buffy a stern look.

“Why not? I am stuck in the body of one!” noted Buffy before sticking her tongue out at Dawn. “I know you did it Dawn!”

“I will neither confirm nor deny,” said the teen smugly, crossing her arms.

“Then I will neither confirm nor deny your hair back!” retorted the slayer, still squirming in Spike’s arms. “Spike!” she whined. “Let me down!”

“Oh no! Not until this bloody mess gets resolved!” he began. “Dawn, admit you did it, and Buffy will put your hair back.”

“No!” exclaimed Dawn. “She always gets her way, like she’s mom! She’s not! And I don’t care that monks made me out of you two! You always treat me like a kid! I’m sixteen!”

“I think you both need to be soundly spanked,” muttered Spike, under his breath.

Suddenly Buffy stopped squirming. “Ooh, yes please?”

“Ugh! Gross Buffy!” cried Dawn. “You’re eight!”

“No, I’m 123 in an eight year old’s body. I still feel like I’m 123. Old Lady babble talk, wonder that I still have my teeth, the desire to save sugar packets from restaurants, all there, in my head,” explained Buffy.

“And what about me then? I’m older than time!”

“Yes, but you are also sixteen, and two years old, Dawn. You’re my baby...sister. I have this urge to protect you. Added on top of that the whole Slayer must protect everyone on the planet and boom! Over protective me.”

“I hate it when you make sense.”

“It so very rarely happens,” answered Buffy.
________________________________
Dawn’s hair was returned and the teen went back to class, but the pranks were far from over, as far as Buffy was concerned. It was open season as long as she was stuck in an eight year old’s body.

And she was compiling quite the list of things to do once she got changed back.

Spike was involved in quite a few of them.
________________________________
tbc...



 
Inappropriate
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns them, not me, sad but true.

Author’s note: Some dialogue taken from ‘Him’ Thanks and Hugs to the most wonderful beta in the world...*drum roll* Bloodytearsoflife. Thanks to everyone who is still reading this fic after such a long time. *huggles*
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Chapter 7: Inappropriate

Buffy glared at her little sister across the dinner table menacingly. She had spent the day in quiet contemplation...err...pouting because she was still stuck in the body of an eight year old. Spike looked between the two sisters, occasionally shaking his head in despair. No one had bothered to consider what this change in Buffy meant for him. Or how Buffy being genuinely evil for a whole day was going to feel like for him.

He’d been sworn to secrecy on pain of no touchy for a week. She was evil, he’d decided.

“Oh would you relax!” shouted Dawn. “It’ll be over when you wake up in the morning! Stop staring at me!”

“No driving lessons for a week,” announced Buffy with a smug smile.

“You can’t do that!” cried Dawn. “You aren’t even the one giving them! That’s so not fair! Spike!”

Spike looked between his mate and his Nibblet before giving up. He took a final sip of blood before setting his glass down with a thud and pushing away from the dining room table. He grabbed his duster that had been hanging from the back of his chair and moved towards the front door.

“Try not to be too late,” Buffy said to him, catching his eye and smiling, even as Dawn began a whole new onslaught of protests.

“You are leaving me here with her? It’s not safe here with her! You saw what she did to my hair! Spike!”

Spike slammed the front door and stalked off into the night.

“Women!” he growled into the dark sky.
___________________________________
Tara came down from her room to find the two Summers girls engaged in a staring contest.

“Dawn?” asked Tara, “Did you mean to give your stuffed toys a bubble bath for over an hour? I kinda wanted to use the bathtub.”

“What!” shrieked the teen bolting up from her place at the table and thundering up the stairs.

“Spike’s right you know,” observed Tara as she tried to block out Dawn’s caterwauling from upstairs.

“He often is, but enlighten me. How is he right this time?” asked Buffy.

“You are evil.”

Buffy smiled as she listened to Dawn’s wailing from upstairs and Willow trying to console the girl that they would all dry and that maybe they needed to be washed. Tara sat down at the table and looked at her hands for a moment, before speaking.

“I...I was wondering. I know in your future, the one you came from...I know I died, that I’m not supposed to be here. And I wanted to know...No, not know, just wondering...where do I fit in now? What happens when something you’ve changed means the world ends instead of being saved?”

Buffy looked seriously for a moment before giving the white witch a smile, as she reached out and touched her hands. “If the world ends because I made it possible for a good person like you to live out her life, then I think it was worth it.”

The two shared a quiet moment before Dawn came storming down the stairs ruining the mood, her arms holding sodden plush animals.

“You! You nasty evil witch!” declared Dawn.

“You nasty evil wisher!” countered Buffy.

“Ugh! I’m sick of this. Go to bed the both of you!” ordered Tara authoritatively. With a twist of her wrist and a small incantation, Buffy and Dawn made their way upstairs and into their rooms without protest.

Tara was the evil one, Buffy concluded.
___________________________________
Buffy woke up to the sweet feeling of Spike’s lips on her own. She sighed happily that this meant that she was back to normal.

“Spike?” she asked sleepily.

“Hmmm?” he asked between kisses.

“I’m sorry for being all juvenile yesterday...”

Spike broke off his kisses and looked her in the eye. “Never stop surprising me, you do,” he started. “I might be annoyed with you for acting like the eight year old you looked like yesterday, but then again, I don’t think it would have been out of the ordinary to catch you acting like that when you were lookin’ like my Buffy.”

“Spike, no matter what I look like, eight years old, twenty two years old, one hundred and twenty three years old, I’ll always be your Buffy,” she responded.

From downstairs Buffy heard the door slam, indicating that Dawn had gone to school, and was in a snit.

“At least she isn’t keying everywhere anymore...” sighed Buffy as if it was a small consolation.

“Wonder if it will be any different when the nerd moves in...” speculated Spike. “Dawn’ll have a friend all her own.”

Buffy smiled, as if something occurred to her then laughed. “I keep forgetting that you haven’t met Andrew this time around. You’re gonna love Andrew,” she said sarcastically.

“Wonderful,” he muttered rolling over.
___________________________________
The day was of the uneventful type. Buffy went to her college classes, nearly falling asleep as the professor droned on about the Constitution. Been there, done that. She loved her normal life, well as normal as she was going to get. It was the normal type days that she really relished, ‘cause she knew that sooner or later she’d have to deal with not so normal stuff.

Buffy arrived home to Spike cooking dinner for her and Dawn and Anya poofing out of nowhere and slapping down a brochure on the island.

Buffy quirked an eyebrow at her friend. “What’s this?“

“This,“ started Anya, opening up the brochure, “is what I’m getting you for your wedding present. This brochure has dozens of the best other dimensional resorts in it. You just have to choose where you want to go for your honeymoon.“

“Oh Anya!“ gushed Buffy, giving her friend a hug.

Spike turned around from the stove, spatula in hand and glared at ‘demon girl.‘ “Why the bloody hell can’t we honeymoon in this dimension?“ he asked.

“Cause, it’s boring?“ countered Anya. “Buffy’s been married how many times? Do you think there isn’t a place on this earth she hasn’t been?“

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment.

“We’ll think about it,“ Buffy said diplomatically, gathering the brochure up into her pile of books. “You wanna stay for dinner? Xander’s coming over later for movie madness. Not that you have to stay when he comes over, just a warning...no, a heads up. Up with the heads. Oh god, I have to stop talking. Long day,“ she said apologetically.

“I’ll stay for the food,“ declared Anya. “Also, Dawn’s all vengeance seeking again. I might get a wish out of her. Maybe it will be about Xander!“

Buffy looked worried. Dawn and vengeance wishes never ended up in the ‘puppies and Christmas’ category.

“Is Dawn even home yet?” asked Buffy.

As if to answer the question, a loud slam of a door emanated from upstairs.

“She is now...” stated Anya.

With a shrug, Buffy turned towards the hallway with her pile of books. She needed to talk to Dawn before Anya got any more wishes out of the teen. Spike watched his girl go up to the bit and Anya’s reluctance at being left down stairs and away from the vengeance, or potential vengeance.

“So what’s for dinner?” Anya asked Spike.
___________________________________
An hour later Buffy and Dawn still hadn’t come down for dinner. Anya’s constant babbling wasn’t doing anything for his annoyance at the fact that this was one of those things that he couldn’t help the Nibblet with.

Anya had been good for finding out what had happened to Dawn though, that had made her lock herself in the bathroom. It involved a boy. Bloody pimply face wanker no doubt. Made him want to rip off the whelp’s danglies for even looking at Dawn.

“No, she wants him to look at her,” reiterated Anya. “If you remove his quote unquote dangly bits I doubt he’ll look at her again. And then the vengeance will be directed at you. It often is at the parents. So glad I’ll never be a parent. They really get a raw deal, vengeance wise.”

Dinner on hold, Spike left Anya babbling to herself about things she’d done to bad parents over the years. The bathroom door was closed and he could smell the tears Dawn had shed in the course of the hour or so she’d been home.

“Come on, Dawnie. Come out. Dawn, sweetheart, it's not that bad,” soothed Buffy.

The door opened a crack. “How would you even know? R.J.'s never gonna notice me now,” responded Dawn.

“From what you said, I'm sure he already noticed you, I mean with the falling and the...” Dawn shut the bathroom door, “Spirit. Spirit. They said you were spirited, right?”

“Go away!” wailed Dawn.

“Dawn...”

Spike sighed and Buffy looked over at him.

“She’s heartbroken, embarrassed and I if I remember correctly, she’s ripping up my high school cheerleading uniform,” explained Buffy.

“This happened last time too?” asked Spike.

Buffy nodded. “And that means I need you and Xander to work together on something to fix this before it gets worse. ’Cause it’ll get worse.”

“What’ll get worse?” asked Willow. “Why are we standing in the hallway?”

“Is Dawn in the bathroom?” asked Tara.

Buffy turned to see Tara and Willow at her back. How they got past Anya and not gotten the whole story, Buffy would never know.

“Are we having a party in the hallway?” asked Anya perplexed. “Everyone left me in the kitchen. I hate being left in the kitchen. Spike made chicken wings and they are sitting in the oven waiting for people to eat them and it’s making me hungry.”

There was a collective eye roll form the assembled Scoobies. The front door opened and closed beneath them, indicating that either Xander or Giles had arrived as well.

“Do I smell chicken?” came Xander’s voice. “Did the house vamp make spicy chicken wings again?”

Buffy heard a soft growl from Spike. Below them Xander was taking no pains to disguise the fact that he was munching on their delayed dinner.

Chicken wing in hand, Xander scuttled up the stairs and joined the group. Spike gave him an evil look, eyeing the chicken wing that was being sloppily munched on by the carpenter.

“I don't think tonight's gonna be good for videos, Xand,” started Buffy.

A loud sob issued from the bathroom door.

“Right, with the wailing and the crying... Still better than a cozy evening with me, myself and I. Should I order a pizza? Don't teens in a snit like pizza?”

The moment those words were said Dawn nearly ripped the door off its hinges and glared at the male moron. “It is not a snit! I-I finally met him - they guy of my dreams, ok ... and I blew it. R.J. hates me now,” she ended with a wail.

“Teenage angst,” commented Anya softly to Tara.

“My life is over!” continued Dawn pushing past the collective of Scoobies towards her room.

“Remember when she used to have a crush on me?” asked Xander. “I miss the much cuter "me" crush.”

Anya whapped him on the head.

“Ow!” he protested, his hand going up to the injured part of his body.

“You’re a moron Xander, even I know that was inappropriate!” noted Anya.

Buffy followed after her sister urging the others to leave her be for the mean time. With a shrug Spike went down stairs. The whelp was getting to him, and someone had to guard the chicken wings from his greedy fingers.

“Why don’t you guys start dinner without us?“ suggested Buffy her hand poised on the door handle of Dawn’s room.

Reluctantly the girls followed Spike down.

With a deep breath, Buffy entered Dawn’s room. Dawn was lying on the bed, her face buried in the comforter.

“Dawn, I'm sorry that you feel so bad. Ok, but in the morning this won't seem so terrible. You don't even know this R.J. Not really,” said Buffy, sounding so much more like a mom than she had thought she would.

Dawn sat up hurriedly. “I do know him. I know his soul.”

“Really?” asked Buffy surprised. “Dawn, he wasn't even on your radar yesterday.”

Xander sauntered into the room, another chicken wing at his lips. The smacking noises he was making was infuriating, but Buffy held it in. This was not the time or the place.

“He’s a jock, right?“ started Xander. “It's the jacket. It's true,” he added at the girls‘ incredulous look. “Something about the big letter on the chest makes girls get all swoony and crushy. I saw it all the time in school. And you couldn't just pin any old felt letter to your coat and get play... not that I tried.”

“It isn't a crush. It's love. I love R.J,” declared Dawn defiantly.

“Again, since yesterday. Dawn, it's awfully fast,” continued Buffy.

“What?” exclaimed Dawn, incensed. “You're telling me I don't feel what I feel?”

“No, of course not. I believe that you think it's real. It seems real... to you. And maybe it is real. But Dawn, think about this rationally for a moment. The Hellmouth makes us do some weird crap. I just think that you should take some time and make sure that it is as real as you say it is, before proposing marriage to him. And I think Spike would want to meet him.”

“You mean Spike would want to eat him,” interrupted Xander.

“Not helping, Xander!” spat Buffy.

“You know what? Just go. Leave me alone,” said Dawn. “I’m sick of being analyzed cause I live on a hellmouth. Go away.” Dawn flopped back down on her bed,

Buffy nodded and grabbed Xander’s hand, leading him from the room and down into the dinning room where the rest of the scoobies were eating chicken wings and fries, and salad.

“Ok, this R.J. guy, he has to be stopped,” started Buffy looking at the others.

“’Bout bloody time. Leave it to me love, the wanker’ll be chicken feed when I’m done with him,” Spike said standing up from his place at the table.

With a smile Buffy stepped towards her fiancé. “I don’t think it’s necessary to disembowel him, Spike,” she replied gently. “His jacket, his letterman’s jacket? It’s got a spell on it. It’s got to be taken from him and burnt or something. That’s what’s making Dawn crazy with the R.J. love.”

“Stealing the pillock’s jacket?” sneered Spike. “Let the whelp do it. Waste of your talents, love.”

“I can’t do it, Spike, I’d be affected by the jacket too, it’s got to be a male someone,” continued Buffy.

“Or a gay someone?” asked Willow.

“No, it worked on you too. Made you want to magic him into a girl,” continued Buffy.

Tara nodded and took Willow’s hand. “I...I think Xander should do it.”
___________________________________
tbc...



 
Genius
 
Disclaimer: All hail Joss.

Author’s note: Some dialogue taken from “Him.” All hail the wonderfulness that is BTL.
___________________________________
Chapter 8: Genius

In the end Spike decided that he had just better accompany the whelp, and do something hellmouthy other than staking vamps and cooking for the Slayer and their sprog.

With a laugh Buffy agreed, insisting that he let Xander plan what was going to happen.

“Is that some sort of cut at my planning ability, luv?” he asked, as he put on his duster ready for his night out with Xander to get the jacket.

“Not at all!” she protested. “Just I told him to do this, I don’t want you taking all his thunder. He’s self conscious as it is.”

With a nod, Spike swooped in for a kiss goodbye before heading out into the night, to find Xander.

Dawn appeared at the door to the living room and leaned against the doorframe. “How do you even know that RJ is going to be wearing the jacket?” she asked.

“Old lady hunch?” suggested Buffy.

“Just as long as the A535 smell doesn’t make its scent known again.” Dawn wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”

“Hey! It was one time! Once! I don’t smell like an old lady. Do I?” Buffy asked with a pout, trying to inconspicuously smell herself.

“No,” conceded Dawn. “You smell like Buffy.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Buffy asked with her hands on her hips.

“Nothing!” squealed Dawn. “Can we watch them do it? I mean, wow, that sounded bad. Can we watch the plan in action? Like us being in the car and following them? With me driving? Please?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Sure, maybe you can convince Willow and Tara to come too.”
___________________________________
An hour later, Dawn at the wheel of the Ford Explorer, Buffy in the passenger seat and Tara in the back, they cruised down Main Street looking for Xander and Spike.

“I can’t imagine why Willow wouldn’t want to be a part of this,” commented Buffy as Dawn made the SUV lurch through the streets.

“She hasn’t been feeling well since we got back from England,” commented Tara, holding on to the seat around her, trying to keep herself from bouncing too much from Dawn’s seriously bad driving.

“Maybe she should go to the doctor’s,” noted Dawn hitting the windshield wiper switch instead of the turn signal.

“She keeps telling me that she’s not that kind of sick. Her aura is murkey brown all the time. I think it’s a magic thing. She’s been meditating but it doesn‘t seem to be helping. I don’t know what else to do though...” continued Tara.

“Hey! There’s Xander and Spike!” interrupted Dawn, gripping the steering wheel.

Out on the street before them, Xander and Spike walked, trying to act casually as they trailed after a boy with a letterman’s jacket.

“Wow, that RJ is hot,” exclaimed Tara from the back seat.

“Drool worthy,” concurred Dawn.

Suddenly, the two guys rushed the teen, tackling him the ground and taking his jacket and running away.

“And that is our cue to go back to the house and pretend we didn’t see that genius plan,” commented Buffy, poking a giggling Dawn in the arm.

Dawn put the car back in drive. “Ok, we are off, stealth girl.”

“Floor it,” ordered Buffy.
___________________________________
When Xander and Spike arrived back at the house, Buffy, Dawn and Tara were sitting in the living room listening to the radio, trying to act as if they had been having a deep and meaningful conversation.

Xander stepped over the threshold with a triumphant grin, holding the jacket like a trophy.

“The conquering heros are back!” he exclaimed, causing Dawn to burst out into giggles and had to leave the room.

“Ignore her, she’s been giggly all night,” explained Buffy.

“What are you going to do with the jacket now?” asked Tara.

“He’s gonna burn the thing...Make sure it never gets used,” started Spike.

“Fire pretty,” noted Buffy with a smile.

There was a poof of smoke. “What are we burning?” asked Anya suddenly appearing in the living room. “Oh, he’s here,” she added with a pout.

“We’re burning the jacket,” explained Buffy even as Tara set the fire ablaze with a small incantation.

Xander’s triumph continued as he laid the jacket down on logs in the fireplace. “ That, my friends, is the smell of sweet, sweet, victory.”

“Also, burning cotton-poly blend,” observed Anya.

“Xander, be honest. You didn't, you know, think about slipping that jacket on just a little bit?” asked Buffy.

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it didn't fit,” responded the carpenter.

“And now we’ll never know where he got it from,“ added Tara.

“Yeah, welcome to the Hellmouth, where even outerwear isn't safe,” observed Xander grinning at the jacket. “Where’s Willow?” he asked. “Shouldn’t she be here enjoying the burning of enchanted jackets?”

“She’s upstairs,” explained Tara. “She’s not feeling great.”

“Again?” asked Anya.

“Not again, Anya,” said Xander. “This would be a still.”

“This isn’t going to get in your way of moving out is it?” asked Anya without any tact at all. The collective group glared at the vengeance demon. “What?”

“We signed our lease on the apartment,” responded Tara after a second. “We get the keys on the first of the month. If Willow’s not up to moving right away then I won’t push her to help out. I’d like to be moved before Buffy and Spike start to get more house guests though.”

“Take your time, Tara,” answered Buffy. “The Council hasn’t even told me when Molly’s coming. And Andrew’ s getting the basement, so no rush.”

“When does Tucker’s brother get out of jail?” asked Xander.

“Sooner than I’d like to admit,” smiled Buffy vaguely.
___________________________________
Buffy stepped off the stairs of Sunnydale U’s history building oddly unprepared for the massive amount of sunshine outside by leaving her sunglasses at home. She squinted against the bright light and shifted the books in her arms and stepped towards the campus parking lot.

And collided with a body. A male solidery type body.

Buffy put her hand up to shade her eyes to find out just who she ran into that was wearing combat boots and military fatigue pants.

“Buffy?” the male voice questioned.

“Graham?” Buffy asked, shock apparent in her voice.

Riley’s friend stepped back from the girl realizing that he was in her personal space. “Uh, how are you?” he asked.

Buffy hugged her books to her chest. “Not bad. Getting married in the spring. You? Still involved in the government pursuit and capture of demons?”

“That’s classified,” he stated.

“Sure it is, but you can tell me, I’m all with the knowledge. Riley was even here a few months ago.”

“I can’t tell you, Buffy.”

Buffy gave a smile and shook her head. “Hmm just like old times then. Kinda like that time your old boss tried to kill me or when she set a Frankenstein type thing loose on the town. Good times I tell you.”

“Ya...Well it was nice to see you,” he said, extricating himself from situation.

Buffy watched as he walked away and wondered just what he was doing in Sunnydale and how this was going to affect her family.
___________________________________
“So Graham, Riley’s friend?” asked Xander as he lifted a box of Willow’s stuff into the back of the Ford Explorer. “Just popped out of no where?”

“Yep, all wearing of the military gear, complete with regulation hair cut,” replied Buffy, lifting her own burden into the SUV.

“So what’s he doing here?” asked Xander.

“I don’t know, something new though. This didn’t happen before.”

“So no great help from the future on this one? That sucks. Or is new and exciting good? I just don’t want it to be the Initiative part two. I like some variety in life.”

“I promise it’ll be not boring, Xander, just for you,” Buffy added.

“Can’t you just magic all of Tara and Willow’s stuff into the back of the three cars?” he suggested as he stretched out his muscles, walking towards the house once again.

“See that would be too easy, I live to make things difficult,” responded Buffy with a coy smile. “’Sides, I need time to ponder out this whole Graham thing.”

“As long as he keeps away from the Scoobies, I’m fine with him. He can do what he wants to the rest of the demon population.”

Buffy shot Xander a look. “You don’t learn do you?” she asked.

“What’s to learn? Demons bad, except for a select few.”

“What about those few that you haven’t met?” Buffy asked.

“Hey! Stop dilly dallying out there!” ordered Anya from inside the house. “Willow’s being manic again!”
___________________________________
It was only a few weeks after moving Tara and Willow to their new apartment that Andrew was granted parole, throwing the Summer’s household into further chaos as they moved in the nerd into the basement, complete with action figures.

Dawn suddenly became a mother hen over everything Andrew wise.

“Why aren’t you helping with the carrying of heavy objects containing things of a nerdlike nature?” asked Buffy as she bumped Dawn out of the way, carting yet another box of ‘Communicator’ magazines down the basement steps.

Dawn stood in the upstairs hallway, perched over the basement steps with her arms crossed. “He’s my friend and future co-parent, so I get to manage the moving in of stuff.”

“Right,” muttered Buffy heading down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs a rather nervous Andrew stood, his arms crossed and fidgeting.

“Please tell me that you are going to help?” asked Buffy.

Andrew stared across the basement completely ignoring the Master Slayer. She put down her box and stepped towards him, waving her hand in front of his face.

“Andrew? Uh, Andrew? Earth to the starship Andrew? Come in Captain Wells?”

Andrew let out a sigh, and finally Buffy let her eyes drift to just where Andrew was staring. Spike’s ass. Spike and Xander were putting together Andrew’s furniture, Spike‘s back to the nerd.

“Andrew!” shouted Buffy right into his ear.

Finally startled, Andrew turned to look at Buffy. “What?” he asked in that whiny voice of his.

“Spike’s ass, belongs to me. Stop ogling it!”

Xander and Spike turned around, Xander letting his jaw drop. Dawn came thundering down the stairs.

“Andrew!” Dawn yelled. “You promised you weren’t going to do that!”

“Oh this is a promising beginning,” muttered Anya holding up two Star Wars figurines. “So where do you want the toys set up?”

“They aren’t toys!” whined Andrew. “Collectables!”

“Whatever,” muttered Anya. “They’re still small and child like. I call them toys.”

Andrew pouted.

“I think I liked it better when the witches lived here,” noted Spike standing up from his position crouched on the floor, Ikea bits and pieces littering the floor around him.

“Be nice, Spike,” asked Buffy.

“Lay off my friend!” warned Dawn.

With a glare, Spike ascended the stairs, Xander following behind him.

“See what you did now?” asked Anya. “I’m going to have to deal with snarky Xander for the rest of the day. Even though I really shouldn’t have to deal with his ass. It’s not like I married him or anything. Why I can’t just wish him into some hell dimension? It would be so much easier.” Putting down the figurines, Anya followed up after the boys.

“I like her,” observed Andrew.
___________________________________
tbc...

 
Hands in Bad Places
 
Disclaimer: Happy Season seven, brought to you by Ariel Dawn....for the angsty, tortuous, and depressing version, watch Joss’ DVDs. Beta’d by the wonderful Blooytearsoflife.
___________________________________
Chapter 9: Hands in Bad Places

Buffy grabbed the mail from the mailbox and headed into the house, her textbooks in hand.

Bill, junk, bill, Dawn’s copy of teen people, bill, Tara’s...oooh money! Buffy thought as she flipped through the mass of paper.

Buffy dropped the pile of envelopes on the stairs as she stood just inside her house. She grasped the envelope from the Council and tore into it excitedly as if she was opening a present.

The envelope contained not only her pay check, in pounds, but also a letter. Curious, Buffy set aside her check and unfolded the letter.

Dear Miss Summers,

Be advised that the current Slayer, Molly Wade will be travelling to Sunnydale for training on the first of next month, with her watcher. According to our agreement of last year you will be billeting the slayer until such time as you believe her to be trained to your satisfaction. Room and board will be included in your future compensations.

Sincerely,

Olive Webster,
Secretary to Quentin Travers.


“Spike!” Buffy shouted up the stairs.

“You screamed, pet?” he asked, appearing at the top of the stairs,

“We’ve got three weeks before Molly shows up.”

“About bloody time,” muttered Spike.
___________________________________
Dawn watched with a frown as Buffy packed the Desoto.

“Do you realise that you’re leaving me in the house alone for the weekend with Andrew? The guy I’m supposed to have kids with? Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Dawn.

“Spike and I haven’t had a weekend to ourselves, ever. And really? It’s Andrew, Dawn. I think you are safe. Think of this as a test in responsibility. If you are alive, the house is standing and you haven‘t killed Andrew, then I declare you pass,” noted Buffy. “Anya will be around if you need a responsible adult, and Tara and Willow and Xander are just a phone call away if Anya doesn’t respond immediately.”

“I still think it’s unfair,” pouted Dawn as she leaned against the porch posts.

“And here I thought you were all grr about the over protectiveness?” replied Buffy, closing the trunk.

Dawn stuck her tongue out at her sister, upset at this thing called logic that she frequently used to thwart her.

Buffy stepped up to the porch and hugged Dawn tightly. “You’ll do fine. Don’t dimension hop unless you need to, ‘kay?”

Dawn nodded.

“Spike!” yelled Buffy into the house. “Time to go!”

“Don’t you think you should wait until a less flammable time of day?” asked Dawn.

“Nope,” said Buffy with a grin. “I want moonlight strolling along beaches with hand holding. I don’t want driving at night in a car that I can barely see out of in the day time.”

“Why don’t you take the Explorer then?” suggested Dawn. “It has the fun new glass. It’s not Spike’s fault that they have to custom make the windows for the Desoto.”

“You might need the Explorer,” noted Buffy.

Dawn’s eyes lit up. “Really? Do you mean it?”

“With a responsible driver, Willow, or Tara, or Xander, but yes. I mean it.”

Dawn hugged her sister with renewed affection.

“Spike!” yelled Dawn. “Get your undead ass down here! It’s time to go!” Dawn continued at the top of her lungs, giggling.
___________________________________
Dawn walked down Sunnydale’s main drag swinging her purse. She was enjoying Andrew free time. She had told Willow and Tara that she had plans. Xander was doing work related stuff and Andrew had dedicated his day to reorganizing his dvd collection. She was as free as a bird. The sun was shining and all the spending money Buffy left for the weekend was tucked in her purse.

She had plans alright; she had plans for a new pair of jeans and that really cute shirt she had seen in a store window the day before.

Just getting out of Andrew’s space for a time was of the good. Dawn turned into the doorway of the store with the cute top she wanted and ran into, literally the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen.

“Wow,” she muttered, completely taken in by his drool worthyness.

“Hey, are you ok?” he asked, very courteously.

“Yes...” Dawn trailed off looking into his blue eyes.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked with a frown as if trying to place her.

Dawn snapped out of her daze and smiled up at him, ready to get her flirt on. “I don’t think so. I wouldn’t have missed meeting you for a million dollars,” said Dawn batting her eyelashes. “Dawn Summers,” she introduced herself.

“Related to Buffy?” he asked.

Dawn’s smile fell. He knew Buffy, and therefore he wasn’t going to be interested.

“Ya,” she admitted, exhaling the air in her lungs with disappointment.

“I’m Graham,” he said, offering his hand and a smile.

Hesitantly, Dawn took his hand and shook it.

“I had no idea that little Dawnie Summers would grow up into such a beautiful woman,” he added sweetly.

Dawn blushed.

“So, you’re what? Sixteen now?” he asked.

With a nod of her head, Dawn’s brain wrapped around yet another thought that she didn’t want to think about. She was way too young for this guy.

“You’re probably ten years older than me,” she said, disappointment colouring her words again.

“Something like that. I’m a friend of Riley’s,” he added.

“Oh.”

“You out here alone?” Graham asked looking around the crowd of shoppers.

“Yep,” said Dawn trying to sound cheerful. “It’s a bright and sunny day. I’m safe from the vampires and demons while shopping on a Saturday afternoon, right? I mean, unless I missed something. Did I miss a memo?”

Graham laughed and shook his head. “No, there was no memo. I was just wondering if you were out here with your sister or your boyfriend or something.”

“Buffy went to some resort for the weekend, with her fiancé, and I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m thinking that that was way too much information to give to someone who once worked for a secret government agency that is possibly right now pumping me for information,” she rambled off, her eyes wide.

Graham put up his hands defensively. “No! Wouldn’t dream of it! I’ve heard tales of your screech.”

“Funny, very funny,” muttered Dawn.

Graham looked at his watch. “Look, I have to go. It was nice to meet you though,” he said pleasantly. “I’ll see you around?” he asked.

Dawn nodded her head with a smile. Returning her smile, Graham turned away and walked down the street and got into a black SUV type vehicle. Dawn stood there on the sidewalk for a few minutes longer, looking in his general direction.

Dreamy, she thought, before heading into the shop, knowing that she was going to buy so much more than that top and those pants today.
___________________________________
Dawn wanted to know why he was in town, why he had stopped to talk to her. Did he like her? Was he just talking to her for info on Buffy? Maybe he was spying for Riley? As the ideas floated around her head, she missed the appearance of Willow and Tara walking into the store.

“Plans?” asked Willow.

“Shopping plans,” said Tara nodding, as if she understood.

“Shopping with emergency money plans,” added Willow.

“What? It’s an emergency! I need a new top!” protested Dawn.

“Andrew called us,” explained Tara. “He was worried about you. You didn’t tell him where you were going.”

“I don’t have to tell Andrew everything you know! He’s not my boyfriend.”

“True enough,” said Tara.

“And he does have a tendency to panic,” observed Willow. “So how’s Dawnie today?”

“Fine, just fine and dandy. And you! Out of the apartment and everything,” said Dawn.

Willow shrugged. “It’s a beautiful day, plus, the apartment smells like locator spell now.” At Dawn’s puzzled look, she shrugged. “Andrew was really worried.”
___________________________________
“You called Willow and Tara on me???” screeched Dawn as she stormed down the basement stairs.

Andrew looked up from his video game system, surprising Dawn. Normally once he was playing, there was no trying to talk to him.

“Dawn! You left! I didn’t know where you went! I was so worried.” Andrew jumped up from his position on the floor and hugged his friend.

Dawn stood stiff as a post as Andrew draped himself all over her.

“Andrew?” Dawn asked, hoping that he would stop. “Andrew!” His hands had traveled to places Dawn wasn’t willing to explore at present, not with Andrew.

“But...”

“No!” she said backing up. “No, butt! Hands in bad places!”

“But I thought...” trailed off Andrew.

“Bad thoughts!” shouted Dawn. “Ugh!” Dawn rushed up the stairs and out of the house, feeling just a little bit dirty.

She didn’t know where she was going. The overwhelming theme in her thoughts were along the lines of: ‘get away from Andrew’ and ‘oh my god! I have to talk to Andrew.’

“Urg!” Dawn shouted out into the sky. “Andrew’s ruined my day!”
___________________________________
Dawn opened her closet door and looked into her room . She had managed to avoid not going back to her house until late, eating supper at McDonalds and wasting time at the mall. Sadly not seeing another glimpse of Graham anywhere despite her effort of hitting every place she‘d thought he‘d be.

When it started to get dark though, even Dawn knew that she’d not be safe outside by herself. This was Sunnydale after all. So she dimension hopped home.

Andrew wasn’t in her room. Of the good. She carefully locked her bedroom door and got ready for bed.

“Dawn, are you home?” came Andrew’s voice from outside her room.

Dawn stopped and stood perfectly still, waiting for him to leave her alone.

“Dawn?”

Eventually he headed down the stairs and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed her pjs, toothbrush and some other essentials before opening her closet door and disappearing into another dimension.
___________________________________
“I don’t understand!” shouted Dawn, throwing her hands up as she paced the length of Anya’s place. “I mean, Buffy said that I’m supposed to have a kid with this guy and I just feel like he’s wrong for me. I’m not in love with him, friends, that’s all I want.”

“Then you need to tell him that,” said Anya wisely.

“See you make sense, but then, umm, wouldn’t I have to be in the same room with him?” she asked.

“Or, also, there is that invention called the telephone...”

Dawn looked around Anya’s demon residence for the invention in question.

“Well, not here of course, but at home, in California.”

Dawn rolled her eyes and plopped down on the bed. “Can’t I just stay here for the night?”

“Night?” asked Anya. “It’s in the middle of the morning here.”

Dawn turned and looked around into the darkness of the one window that Anya had.

“How can you tell the difference?”

“No stars.”
___________________________________
tbc...




 
Awkward Moments
 
Disclaimer: Joss said we could, right?

Author’s note: Beta’d by the wonderful Bloodytearsoflife. Thanks to everyone still reading and reviewing! *huggles*
___________________________________
Chapter 10: Awkward Moments

Dawn stifled a yawn as she walked towards the Espresso Pump, on her way to see Willow. She was hoping Willow was in a manic stage and that Andrew was far, far away. Happy Willow, plus a far away Andrew equalled a very happy Dawn. She never thought she’d miss Buffy and Spike as much as she did this weekend. She never thought that Andrew would give her the creeps like he was.

She shivered uncontrollably for a moment as she entered the coffee shop, and saw Willow sitting at a table, stirring her coffee and staring off into space.

“Uh? Willow?” Dawn asked waving her hand in front of the witch’s face.

Willow came back to reality with a start and smiled back at Dawn softly.

“Hey, kiddo! How’s it hangin’? Or am I too old to say that now?” asked the witch.

“You aren’t old!” protested Dawn. “Twenty-two isn’t old.”

“I feel old though. Kinda like the magic’s making me old...” Willow trailed off.

Ok then, depresso Willow today, noted Dawn mentally with a pout.

“So how’s everything with you and Tara?” asked Dawn, trying to get Willow onto a happy topic of conversation.

“Tara’s wonderful. So caring and happy and gentle. I don’t know how she stays with me...”

“Because she loves you, cares about you. That’s why she’s with you, Willow.”

Thankfully at that moment Dawn was saved from trying to make Willow feel better by the appearance of Graham, ordering a coffee from the counter.

“There he is,” said Dawn softly, not realising that she was looking dreamily at the solider.

“Who?” questioned Willow turning around to face the way Dawn was gazing. “Ooh! That’s...that’s Graham, Riley’s friend. He’s dreamy? I ... I thought you and Andrew were supposed to get all groiny and have the children...you know, in the future.”

Dawn made an eww face. “From what Buffy says, it’s a ‘you want kids and your friend Andrew wanted kids...presto kids‘. She didn’t actually say there was groiny...goings on. It could have been a test tube baby,” she added, nodding emphatically. No way was she and Andrew getting groiny.

Willow nodded in understanding.

“Andrew is creepy,” said Dawn not losing sight of Graham as he put cream and sugar into his coffee.

“And Graham isn’t?” Willow asked looking curiously at the commando. “He’s all soldiery.”

“And all I can say to that is...mmm, man in a uniform,” hummed Dawn with a dopey smile.

“He’s also way too old for you!”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t look,” the teen noted with a coy smile on her face. “Besides, Angel was way too old for Buffy and they were going out...”

“Angel doesn’t count...He’s not human. You’re jailbait to Graham...” observed Willow.

“So?” asked Dawn.

“Human laws mean nothing to you, do they?” asked Willow, sighing dramatically.

“Why should they?” Dawn asked. “I’m a million year old key.”

Dawn opened her mouth to go on about the unfairness of mortal laws when Graham walked towards them, causing the teen to clam up and stare goo goo eyed at the soldier.

“Hey,” he greeted as he walked by. “Willow right?” he asked, looking at the witch.

Willow nodded her head. “And you would be Graham, friend of Riley and involved with soldiering and possible government kidnapping of demons.”

Dawn could tell that Graham didn’t know what to make of that, so he turned to Dawn. “Nice to you see again, Dawn.”

“Uh, thanks,” Dawn answered back. “Heard from Riley lately?”

“No, not since he was back in the states. Riley and Sam are in Europe, last I heard,” he supplied.

“You wanna sit down?” asked Dawn. “Join us?”

Graham looked between the two girls for a moment, before grabbing the nearby chair and sitting down, placing his coffee next to Dawn’s clasped hands.

“You not a coffee drinker?” he asked, looking at her blue eyes.

Dawn shook her head no. “I’m a hot chocolate drinker,” she responded smiling. Graham made as if to get up, but Dawn stopped him placing her hand on top of his. “I don’t need anything, but thanks.”

He settled back down into the chair and took a sip of his coffee. “So, Willow, still at Sunnydale U? You must be close to graduation...”

Willow looked down uncomfortably at her now empty mug. “Not so much,” she whispered.

“What happened?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

“I...I don’t want to talk about it,” Willow mumbled. “I’m gonna go,” she said in a much louder and confident voice.

“Ok,” nodded Dawn, glad that she got to have alone time with Graham. “Feel better? Okay?”

Willow nodded and left the two brunettes at the table, lapsing into an awkward silence.

“So how did your shopping trip go yesterday?” he finally said, cutting through the silence.
___________________________________
Buffy walked through her front door, holding it open for her flammable fiancé. As Spike sped through, holding a blanket over his head and slamming the door closed behind him, Buffy set down the suitcase she’d been carrying.

“Hello? Dawn?” Buffy called out into the house. “Andrew?”

The quiet of the house was the only response.

“Maybe they’re out on a date?” asked Spike quizzically.

Buffy raised an eyebrow to that. “I didn’t think you were hugs and puppies about Dawn and Andrew.”

“’M not, just making a guess,” he offered.

There were footsteps on the basement stairs, drawing Buffy and Spike’s attention to that location in the house.

“Andrew?” asked Buffy cautiously, still concerned why he hadn’t answered her call. “Is that you?”

The basement door opened and out stepped Anya, holding a sweater and a bottle of Shout.

“Buffy, you should know this, what gets out entrails?” she questioned, not looking at the couple but at the red sweater she held in her hands.

“What the bloody hell are you doing in the soddin’ basement?” asked Spike, suddenly angry that Anya had been in the house and not answered when Buffy had called out.

“What does it look like? I’m doing laundry. The laundry services of Arashamahar haven’t evolved since the dark ages,” she informed the owners of the washing machine she’d been using.

“Well the Shout is a good start for the entrails,” started Buffy. “And do NOT tell me why you have entrails on your sweater. Have you seen Dawn?”

“Yep,” answered Anya, holding out the sweater and looking for more stains.

“And?” prodded Spike.

“She stayed over last night, with me, in Arashamahar. She’s a little freaked by the nerd wonder. He’s not here by the way. Probably with his dragon master or at Radio Shack or wherever the nerds hang out,” supplied Anya. “Have you started planning the wedding yet?”

“Hey!” protested Buffy. “No changing of the subject! We have to find Dawn, and Andrew.”

“I don’t know pet,” Spike said as he leaned against the kitchen counter and lit up a cigarette. “Might be something that the kiddies got to work out for themselves, ya?”

Buffy stepped over to her mate and pulled the lit cigarette out of his mouth. “No smoking in the house!”

“Oy!”

“He’s got a point, Buffy,” answered Anya, finally finished with the sweater and about to head down stairs again. “This isn’t something you can fix. Fixing at this point would only lead to vengeance and possibly bad sweaty sex. That can never be good. Unless it’s good, that is...” she trailed off as she stepped down the basement stairs.

Spike just looked smug at that point.

“I hate it when you are right,” huffed Buffy. “Makes me think that all my years of experience are worthless. Maybe I should just get myself a rocking chair and learn how to knit. I bet you’d look stunning in a knit sweater.”

Laughter echoed up the stairs from the basement as Spike’s jaw dropped.

“Shocking that I never learned to knit after all these years isn’t it?”
___________________________________
No matter what Buffy tried Spike refused to let her out of the house to find either of the missing inhabitants of 1630 Revello Drive.

The sun was just setting when Andrew crept through the door.

“About bloody time you came back,” spouted Spike, sitting in a comfy chair in the living room.

“I...I couldn’t stay here, all alone. Dawn left me all weekend!” he whined.

“Scared the bit off is what you did,” responded the vampire. “Got the Slayer right worried too, you did.”

“I didn’t mean to!”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant to do, whelp,” Spike scowled.

“She won’t even talk to me anymore, she just leaves, goes away, like I’m icky or something. I don’t like this! I ruined everything by living here!”

“Question is though,” continued Spike, “just what are you going to do to make this right? Whatever the Slayer says about the bloody future and you and the Bit, forget it. It’s all bloody screwed up now, isn’t it?”

Andrew nodded.

“Might be a good idea to just leave off. Sometimes the bints don’t like it when you stalk ‘em,” the vampire said with a smile.
___________________________________
Buffy’s worrying and pacing throughout the house was getting on Spike’s nerves. He had never thought that anything that Buffy did would annoy him so much as this did. The sun had long set and Dawn still wasn’t home.

Andrew was cloistered down in the basement pouting about how he didn’t know what to do about the Dawn situation.

“Where is she?” asked Buffy looking out the window for the millionth time. “She’s in a ditch somewhere. I have this terrible feeling that something’s up.”

Spike stepped closer to his mate and put a hand on her shoulder. “The Bit can take care of herself. All she needs is a door and she can get away.”

“What if there isn’t a door? We should have never left!” she whispered sadly walking away from the window and sitting heavily on the couch.

Then there was a bang from the kitchen. Spike and Buffy leapt up off the couch and ran into the kitchen, to see two bodies pressed against the kitchen door from the outside. And they were smooching by the looks of it.

“Dawn!” gasped Buffy, walking towards the back door with purpose. She glared at the two people pressed against the door, her hands on her hips.

Spike didn’t have the same amount of patience, after all he was the one with the enhanced hearing. He wrenched open the back door, making Dawn and her partner nearly fall to the ground.

Struggling to keep her balance, Dawn wiped her mouth and looked up guiltily at Spike and Buffy.

“Uh, Buffy, you remember Graham don’t you?” the teen started.

Buffy’s eyes went wide for a moment as she stared at Graham, who was standing rigidly and looking at Spike with a not too friendly eye. It seemed that the two men were having a staring contest.

“I remember,” responded Buffy with barely contained ire. “What I don’t remember is when you met him or when you told us that he was your boyfriend...”

“Oh...uh,” stammered Dawn looking for some help from her kissing partner, who was still staring at Spike.

“It’s whitebread number two,” spat Spike at long last.

“Hostile seventeen,” responded Graham in kind.

Gingerly Dawn took Graham’s hand trying to calm down the situation, but only making Spike even madder.

“Hey!” came Andrew’s voice from the basement door. He’d heard the commotion and decided to join in. “Who are you? And why is Dawn holding your hand?”
___________________________________
tbc...



 
Tension
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author's note: Much huggles to BTL who beta'd this!
___________________________________
Chapter 11: Tension

The silence in the kitchen was deafening. Buffy idly wondered for a moment if she dropped a pin would they be able to hear it hit the floor. Shaking her head out of her musing, she glanced back around to see everyone still frozen in place. Graham looked Spike down, the vampire returning the glare of hatred. Dawn looked at Andrew with worry, while the basement dweller stared back at the man Dawn was holding hands with. Buffy stared at her sister trying to comprehend this turn of events.

This hadn’t happened the last time.

Well, I guess you aren’t safe from surprises until you are dead, reasoned Buffy to herself.

Someone had to diffuse this situation though. Buffy stepped closer to Dawn and her...hand holding partner.

“We were worried about you Dawn,” explained Buffy. “Andrew, why don’t you go phone Willow and Tara and tell them that Dawn’s been found, they are waiting to do a locator spell.”

Still staring at her sister, Buffy could hear Andrew’s disappointed huff as he walked off into the living room to find a phone not in the room of tension.

The waves of concern, hatred, and the need to do some violence coming off her mate was a serious concern, there didn’t need to be a fight in the kitchen. Breaking her stare with Dawn, Buffy looked at Spike sympathetically hoping that what she was feeling would help him realise that this wasn’t the best place for him to be at the moment.

A few tense moments later, Spike left the kitchen and headed up to their room.

Buffy turned back towards her sister and Graham.

“I won’t have the Initiative ruin our lives again,” started Buffy, looking at Graham. “If you are really here in an innocent military capacity, fine, I don’t believe it, but fine. If you are here to do experiments on demons, and generally screw up my life and the life of my family I suggest you leave now, before you break my sister’s heart and I break your neck.”

Graham looked a little uncomfortable for a fraction of a second and Buffy knew at once that the reason that had brought Riley’s friend back to Sunnydale wasn’t quite so innocent.

“My presence in Sunnydale is classified,” said the soldier.

“And yet, you aren’t being so covert. What did you to do today then? Or is that classified to? Did you get Dawn security clearance too? Gonna try to kill her too?”

“Buffy!” protested Dawn.

“No, of course not,” responded Graham with feeling.

“We just had coffee and went for a walk,” explained Dawn.

“Until after sunset?” asked Buffy sceptically.

“So?” said Dawn defiantly. “You did it when you were my age, if you remember being my age. And with someone that was much older than Graham is!” noted Dawn passionately, conquering Buffy’s next point of attack.

Buffy knew when she was defeated. She nodded her head and stepped back. “Fine, you have homework to do before high school tomorrow,” Buffy said pointedly before leaving the two to say their good byes in the kitchen.

In the living room, Andrew was staring at the phone dejectedly. Softly Buffy put her hand on Andrew’s shoulder.

“She’ll always be your friend Andrew, don’t you worry about that,” soothed Buffy.

With a nod and a fake smile, Andrew headed up to the second floor and closed himself in the bathroom.

Buffy sighed. Life was complicated enough without Graham making a cameo appearance. Buffy heard the back door close and Dawn rush up the stairs to her room. Forgoing the idea that she was the cool impartial big sister, Buffy bounded out of the house and easily caught up to Graham, heading down Revello Drive, as if he really was a normal guy who’d walked his date home.

“Graham?” Buffy called out to the solider.

As he turned she smiled friendly like.

“Look, that really didn’t go how I wanted it to,” he explained.

“How did you want it to go?” she asked, curious.

“Well not like that...”

“And what were you expecting? Dawn is only just 16. Forget it, she’s going to be throwing the age thing in my face forever. You hurt her, you’ll have two powerful witches, a master vampire, a vengeance demon, a slayer, her watcher, a boy who can summon demons, and a man who’s pretty handy with an axe after your ass...are you getting my drift?”

“I understand,” stated the soldier, processing the information.

“I don’t care what you’re into here in Sunnydale, but if we cross paths while I’m doing my job, to me, you aren’t an innocent civilian. Stay out of my way.”

And with that Buffy flounced back to her house to cuddle up with her grumpy vampire.
___________________________________
Dawn was on a cloud. Graham had phoned her and they were going out for ice cream today after school. Spike was still grumpy. He didn’t like his nibblet mooning after a soldier boy. Andrew was sulking in the basement, putting his angst into Star Wars rpg’s. But Dawn was happy and Buffy liked it when Dawn was happy. She just hoped that this relationship didn’t take a bad turn. Like she was expecting it to.

By the time Buffy had returned home after her afternoon classes, Dawn had left for her ‘date’ with Graham. The perfect time to discuss the relationship in a calm and orderly Scooby fashion.

Around the dining room table Willow, Spike, Tara, Anya, Giles, and Xander sat as Buffy paced.

“He’s too old for her!” exclaimed Xander.

“Since when?” asked Anya. “Buffy went out with Angel, he was really older than she was. And since when are we confined to the ageist norms that this American society dictates? Dawn’s fully capable of making her own choices. In many cultures she’s of age to make her own decisions.”

“Thank you for the rant, Anya,” noted Buffy. “I agree, his age doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s not why I’m worried. It’s just an excuse. He’s an Initiative soldier. We do all remember what happened the last time a Summers got involved with them.”

Xander nodded. “Just because they tried to kill you doesn’t mean they are going to try to kill Dawn,” added the carpenter.

“No, this time they might want to try to performing experiments on her,” interjected Spike.

“She’s human, they wouldn’t do that,” protested Willow. “Would they?”

“Dawn’s not a normal human. She’s still the Key, dimension hopping and all ,” Buffy reminded.

“I’ll bloody tear his bits and pieces off and feed them to him if he touches a hair on her head,” growled Spike ever so helpfully.

“I’m not leaving it up to chance. I want to know why they are here,” explained Buffy.

“They aren’t using the same underground facility under the university,” added Willow. “I’ve already started some checking.”

“They aren’t posing as TA’s this time either,” supplied Tara.

“It is possible that they have learned from their mistakes,” offered Giles looking thoughtful.

“They’ll be harder to catch in the act then,” noted Xander.

There was a knock at the door interrupting the group discussion and bringing the group out of their focus.

As Buffy was already up she padded to the door curiously. Everyone she knew was already in the house, or out for ice cream.

She opened the front door to find a teenage girl, probably fifteen or sixteen at the door, her curly brown hair barely held back by a black headband. Buffy looked into the girl’s eyes and knew at once who this was.

“Molly?”

The girl nodded. “You must be Buffy,” she greeted in a British accent. “My watcher’s parking his car. There wasn’t room in front of the house.”

It was true. With the Scooby meeting going on, the Desoto and the ford explorer took up the driveway, Xander and Giles’ cars parked out front.

“Come in,” offered Buffy. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

Molly stepped through the door, letting Buffy shut it behind her. Buffy ushered the new slayer into the dining room and into the den of Scoobies.

“Everyone, Molly’s here,” explained Buffy as she entered the room.

Around the table there were waves from the girls and nods from the men.

“Introductions! Ok, we have Giles, my watcher,” began Buffy, as Giles stood to shake Molly’s hand.

“I’ve heard lots about you, Mr. Giles,” began Molly nervously. “My watcher thinks very highly of you.”

“Why, uh, thank you, Molly,” stammered Giles as he sat down again at his place.

“Next we have Willow and Tara,” continued Buffy.

“We’re witches,” explained Tara with a smile. “Here to help you with all your locator spell needs, and...and other things too.”

“This is Xander,” said Buffy after a pause.

Xander stood and offered his hand to Molly. “I rebuild the house,” he said with a smile. “No slayer should be without a carpenter friend who doesn’t charge for labour.”

“I pay him with beer,” noted Buffy. “And free access to the fridge. Moving on we have Anya...”

Anya stood up to shake hands with Molly too. “Vengeance Demon. Don’t slay me please. I don’t like pointy things shoved in my chest. It ruins my clothes.”

Molly looked askance at Buffy for a moment.

“Next we have Spike, you can’t slay him either,” noted Buffy.

“Why would I want to slay him?” asked Molly, suddenly very aware of just how hot Spike was.

“’Cause I’m a vampire, pet,” said the vampire in question with a curl of his tongue.

Buffy smacked him in the arm.

“Oy!” he protested his mistreatment, rubbing his arm. “What was that for?”

“No flirting with the other slayer!” hissed Buffy. “You’re mine!”

Spike smiled at her possessiveness before offering his hand to Molly. “Spike, fiancé of Buffy and all round big bad at your service.”

Xander snickered, earning him a smack on the head from Anya.
“So that’s everyone here. You still have to meet Andrew, he lives in the basement. Where is Andrew?” asked Buffy.

“Out buying comic books,” explained Spike.

“And last but not least, Dawn, my sister. She’s out on a date...”

“Or being experimented on as we speak,” noted Anya cheerfully.

“What?” asked Molly confused.

“I’ll explain it to you later,” offered Buffy. “So where is this watcher of yours?”

As if on cue the group heard a knock at the door. Buffy turned around to answer it. The door swung wide to reveal yet another complication to her life.

“Nate?”
___________________________________
tbc...



 
Warnings
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s Note: Beta’d by BTL *huggles*
___________________________________
Chapter 12: Warnings

“Nate? As in former husband, Nate?“ whispered Willow to Tara as the whole group gawked at the watcher at the door.

“Nice to see you again, Buffy,“ came Nate’s polite reply.

Buffy moved aside from the open doorway to let in Nate, ignoring the soft growl from Spike and the stares from her friends.

“Well, this is awkward,” noted Anya as no one said anything.

“Why is it awkward?” asked Molly, wanting to know what was going on.

“Nate is...” started Anya but was thankfully interrupted by Giles.

“...the watcher that sorted out the details of Buffy’s Council contract,” supplied Giles.

“And that makes it awkward?” asked Molly looking between Buffy and Spike.

“Just take my word for it,” offered Anya with a condescending pat on the slayer’s head.

“How about we get you all settled in?” asked Buffy nervously, clapping her hands together. “Spike, don’t eat him,” she tossed back as she lead Molly up to her room.

By the time Buffy had returned to the main floor, the Scoobies had offered Nathaniel Bradford some tea, and were making small talk.

At seeing her, Nate put down his teacup and stood. “Buffy, I don’t wish to intrude on your household. I merely stayed to remind Molly about our scheduled training sessions and to be a polite guest in your home. Here is my address and phone number should you have information for me, or wish to get in touch.”

Buffy took the offered slip of paper and examined it carefully. Then she looked back at the watcher with a curious eye.

“Scheduled training sessions?”

“Right, everyday after her school day is terminated. I require only two hours a night and five each weekend. Any other training you think Molly needs is at your discretion, however I must warn you that I will be inquiring into the details of each session as part of Molly’s time with me.”

“Sounds like a custody agreement,” muttered Buffy.

“In essence,” agreed Nate. “And I would request that I be included in any meetings or research you conduct that will effect Molly’s slayer duties. It is my right as her watcher.”

“Did he turn into Wesley when we weren’t looking?” asked Xander.

“Xander, do shut up,” ordered Giles stepping towards the other watcher. “I think it’s entirely reasonable to be kept apprised of situations that may arise.”

Nate dipped his head in acknowledgement. “Thank you Mr. Giles.”

“Of course, if you bugger up the routine Buffy and her friends have here in Sunnydale, God help your sorry arse,” he finished with almost a Ripper like smile.

Buffy snickered from behind her hand at Giles’ comment.

“Yes, well, I have things to unpack at my flat. I trust I will see you tomorrow, Molly?” he asked his charge.

The teen nodded at once. Satisfied that he was leaving his charge in good hands, Nate headed out the door and to his car.

Buffy shut the door behind her former husband and glared at Xander.

“He’s gonna think we all hate him,” she accused the carpenter.

“Some of us do, pet,” muttered Spike, taking off upstairs.

“You don’t hate him! You just don’ t know him,” she countered softly.

“I agree with Buffy,” stated Giles. “The last time he was here we all believed he was going to contract Buffy to do the Council’s bidding. We all suspected him of something untoward. I believe we should give him the benefit of the doubt in this case. He may yet prove to be a great asset.”

“Or he could turn out to be like Gwendolyn Post,” countered Willow.

“Or a Wesley,” added Xander.

“No!” protested Buffy. “I know him. He’s not an evil watcher dedicated to unfashionable handware, and he’s not a bumbling fool. He’s a sweet man who works hard and really wants to help save the world.”

“That was in the future where you were married to him Buffy,” piped up Tara. “Who knows what happens to him now because he’s not married to you?”

“Wait, hold on...You were married to my watcher?” asked Molly still standing off to the side. “When?”

Buffy cringed. She had forgotten Molly’s presence in the kitchen. Slowly she turned to the Slayer and smiled. “It’s a really long story. I’ll tell it to you, just don’t tell him. ‘Cause if it’s not awkward now, it’ll be way uncomfortable if he knows.”

Wide eyed, Molly nodded, eager to learn something so intimate about the Slayer she’d been told was the greatest Slayer ever. She’d lived long enough to retire.
___________________________________
There was a girl in the living room when Andrew returned home. A girl! A not Dawn girl! His heart went pitter-patter as he walked through the room to her spot on the comfy chair reading a book, her headphones basting something British and punk.

He cleared his throat.

But she didn’t hear him. Completely engrossed in her book, Molly didn’t noticed Andrew until he kicked her foot gently. She wasn’t expecting it at all. She was up off the chair and in a fighting stance, a reaction that Mr. Bradford had been drilling into her head since she met him. She pulled off her headphones.

“Whoa, back off!” Andrew nearly screamed. Taking a few breaths to compose himself from his near death experience he continued. “Uh, I just wanted to say, uh, hello and welcome to the Summers/Darlington/Wells residence. Welcome. I am Andrew, I live in the basement.”

“Oh. I’m Molly,” she greeted with a little wave of her hand.

Oh, she’s British! thought Andrew, his head cocking to the side as he contemplated the slayer.

“Didn’t you used to be in jail?” Molly asked.

“My life of crime is over,” Andrew explained with a whistful look. “I prefer to work for the forces of good, now.”

“Right, well it was nice meeting you,” concluded Molly, positioning herself on the chair once again, and opening up her book.

Andrew was about to open his mouth to say something else, make some sort of small talk, when the front door opened again, and in walked Dawn.

Both Molly and Andrew’s head turned as Dawn strolled into the living room.

“Not a word,” she started, looking directly at Andrew. She turned to Molly and smiled over sweetly. “You must be Molly.”

Molly nodded and offered a hand to Dawn. “You must be Dawn.”

Dawn shook the slayer’s hand quickly and stepped away. “That’s me. The Watcher’s Council got a file on me now too?”

“No. I didn’t read a file on you. My watcher told me about you, and your sister, she explained you were out on a date.”

“How did the date with Mister Soldier man go?” asked Andrew bitterly.

“None of your business Andrew,” muttered Dawn.

“He’s just using you. You’ll get hurt in the end. You know how the future’s supposed to end,” he said majestically.

“Andrew, enough. Why can’t you just let me be happy? Maybe it won’t work. Maybe he is going to turn me over to his evil government bosses. But you know what? He’s dreamy and he likes me. And I like him. I’ve got my whole life before I let you inseminate me!” Dawn took off out of the living room and up to her room.

“You have to forgive her,” noted Andrew to Molly once Dawn was safely up the stairs. “She doesn’t take the truth well.”

“You are supposed to inseminate her?”
___________________________________
Buffy stalked out of her bedroom, having given up trying to reason with a sulking vampire, to get the dirt about Dawn’s date with Graham. She leaned against the doorframe and smiled at Dawn’s frustrated ‘grr’s.

“Andrew?” questioned Buffy.

“Andrew,” agreed Dawn.

“So, spill already. Graham, the tall, dark, and handsome. I want details,” ordered Buffy with a smile.

“He’s dreamy. Dreamy and in a uniform. He has a formal dinner he has to go to next week, and he promised he’d stop by just so that I can see him in his dress uniform. I’m in that drooly place just thinking about it.”

“He’s not taking you to the formal dinner as his date?” asked Buffy with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh even I agree it’s too early for that,” Dawn answered.

“There’s a someday attached to that?” Buffy probed.

“I hope so. I mean, we’ve had coffee, ice cream and innocent smoochies, and I know I’m too young, blah blah. He’s really nice though. This isn’t an RJ kind of thing, so don’t you go all high and mighty on me.”

“Oh I believe you,” said Buffy nodding. “Man in uniform, high on the hottie meter. I did have my phase with the species once you know.”

“And now you are back to the classics, bad, leather, and undead.”

“Forever to stay,” noted Buffy looking at her engagement ring. “Dawn. I want you to be careful. I know that I’ve said this before, and I do worry about you. You don’t know why Graham is in town. The last time he was here...”

“The last time he was here,” Dawn took up Buffy’s sentence, “there was death and chaos and a Frankenstein named Adam. I get it. It didn’t stop you from hooking up with the hot, tall, and studly.”

“True,” Buffy agreed smiling. “I’m happy you are happy.”

“Thanks,” said Dawn smiling up at her sister. “I just wish Andrew could be happy for me.”

“He’ll get over it. He’s your friend Dawn. And who knows, maybe he and Molly will hit it off.”

“Over my glowy green body!”
___________________________________
Molly was introduced to the wonderfulness that was Sunnydale High the next day by Dawn. Dawn was a year ahead, so she had to leave the girl to her own devices but she met up with the slayer at lunch.

So did Buffy.

The two girls looked up from their lunch table in the cafeteria to see Buffy walking towards them.

“Buffy!” Dawn hissed, embarrassed that anyone she knew had seen her sister. “What are you doing here?”

Buffy smiled pleasantly, ignoring Dawn’s ire. “I forgot to give Molly her new cell phone. You got one when you started at this pit of death, Molly gets one too.”

“Thank you Buffy,” whispered Molly thankfully, taking the offered phone.

“So you are going now?” Dawn more ordered than asked.

“Yep, I’ve got a class in a half hour. Dull and boring but it must be attended. Stupid participation marks. See you at home.” Buffy turned to leave only to be faced with Robin Wood walking towards her.

“Great,” muttered Buffy, looking for another escape route.

It was too late though. The Principal had spotted her. “Miss Summers,” he greeted coolly. “What brings you to Sunnydale High?”

“Just dropping off something for Molly,” she said with a smile.

“Oh yes, our newest student. Direct from London, England. Tell me, Molly is it? Molly just why would you be here in Sunnydale when there are so many good schools in England? Your files say that your parents are still alive... Yet Miss Summers here seems to be your legal guardian.”

“It’s all very complicated and not something to be discussed in the cafeteria,” Buffy observed, her face losing the smile she so recently sported.

“Very well, we can discuss it in my office,” noted Robin, turning and indicating that he wanted the trio of girls to follow him.
___________________________________
Buffy breathed nervously as she thought about the story she was going to tell the principal.

“Molly is a potential slayer,” stated Robin right away. “I won’t have her disrupting my school with her training. She either attends like a normal student or she will be expelled. No special treatment.”

“Is this what Snyder was like?” asked Dawn in hushed tones to her sister.

Buffy nodded her head.

Molly made to speak, but Buffy put her hand on Molly’s shoulder and made her rethink what she was going to say.

“Is that all?” asked Buffy.

“For now,” Robin said, shuffling some papers.

The three girls thanked their lucky stars as they left the principal’s office.

“Maybe threatening the principal at the beginning of the year wasn’t such a smart move, huh, Buffy?” stated Dawn, annoyed.
___________________________________
tbc...



 
What they are really after
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Thanks to Bloodytearsoflife for betaing this chapter, and to everyone who has been waiting patiently for me to update this fic. In particular, Shady who frequently asks me when I am going to update that fic with the really long title. This chapter is for you Shady!
___________________________________
Chapter 13 : What they are really after.

The sounds of Andrew battling away on his Play Station emanated from the basement. It was way late, but Buffy, Spike, and Molly hadn’t returned from their patrol yet. Dawn stalked through the kitchen in search of something to occupy her time. She couldn’t sleep; she had too much to think about.

Okay, she had one thing to think about. It came in a yummy man type package. She hadn’t heard from Graham in a few days and she was starting to wonder if he had just wanted to get close to her to get some info. She didn’t think that he found out much, nothing Riley didn’t already know at least.

So why bother?

Besides from the fact that Buffy was really not this year’s Buffy, there was nothing special about them. Okay, nothing special for a mystical key, a vampire, and a Master Slayer, who had witches and demons as friends.

Yep, she concluded to herself, we are all freaks and the government wants to use us for testing. And my boyfriend is going to lead us to their door.

This was probably how it started with Riley and Buffy. Innocent kisses, hand holding, going out to public, well lit places. Except that Riley was in Buffy’s age range at the time and Graham was just way too old, or way too young depending how you looked at it. Ageism sucked, in Dawn’s opinion. Exhausted, by lack of sleep and an inability to find something to eat, Dawn yanked open the fridge door and stepped through, just in time for Andrew to come up the stairs and catch her in the act.

“Dawn!” he shouted as she disappeared into the blackness of Arashamahar.
___________________________________
Dawn opened the door to Graham’s apartment and walked in. She’d been there only once before, when he had to pick something up for a friend. She closed the door gently behind her and stalked to his bedroom. He was there, laying spread eagled under the covers, his bare chest visible to her eyes even in the darkness.

She stared at him for a moment before she decided that she had come there for a reason and she was going to get answers. She reached over to his dresser and took the first thing that she got her hands on, his deodorant, and threw it at him.

“Holy shit!” he barked, fully awake the moment the stick of deodorant hit his chest. He stumbled out of bed, clutching the sheets to himself.

For the first time Dawn realised that she should have rethought the whole startling the naked former marine out of bed. But oooh, look at all the military goodness...

“Dawn?” he asked, startling her out of her drooling. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

“Can it!” she barked, regaining her focus. “Are you using me to spy on my family? Do you want to use Buffy, Spike, or me for testing?”

He looked down at the sheet that was covering up his bits and pieces, then back at Dawn, the girl he had been growing really close to over the last couple of dates they’d been on.

“Dawn...I wasn’t sure how to tell you this...” he started.

She didn’t let him finish. “You are using me!” she wailed, throwing her hands up in the air. “Well isn’t that just swell. I have just as much luck with my boyfriends as Buffy did!”

“Dawn...It’s not you...” he started again.

“Well I suppose that that is some consolation then, isn’t it? You don’t want the mystical key. Go find yourself a vampire and a slayer about to pursue marital bliss. I’m safe...goodie. Messing with my family is so not cool!”

“Dawn!” he barked, trying to make her stop babbling. “I’m not after you, or your family. I’m not going to turn you into a science experiment.”

“Oh,” she muttered, deflating and finding a seat to sit upon.

Carefully concealing himself, Graham sat down beside her on the bed. “I am here tracking a power source, that’s all. Nothing demon related, key related, slayer related. I promise you.”

Dawn nodded her head. “I should be getting home. I’m sorry about waking you up.” Dawn rose from the edge of the bed, turned towards her boyfriend, and smiled sadly. “If you forgive me, give me a call sometime and I’ll make it up to you. I’d like to blame the freaky stalker girl throwing things at you in the middle of the night on my sister, but it was all me.”

“I’ll call you,” he said with a smile.

“By the way, you look really good in a sheet,” she smiled, heading for his door.
___________________________________
Dawn arrived home to find Spike and Andrew in the kitchen. Her appearance, coming out of the broom closet, surprisingly didn’t shock the two men in the kitchen.

“You are damned lucky that Buffy went straight to sleep after patrol. Before the nerd started wailing about you leaving,” started Spike.

“Great, so now he’s tattling on me. Wonderful.”

“You aren’t suppose to dimension hop, Dawn,” noted Andrew. “You could die!”

Dawn glared back at Andrew.

Spike took a hard sniff of the room and instantly knew where Dawn had been. It didn’t make him happy but he wasn’t willing to get into it with her and risk waking up his mate.

“Everything sorted?” was all he asked.

Dawn looked at him wide eyed, wondering if he knew exactly where she had been. She nodded conclusively. “Yes,” she answered wearily.

“Right then, off to bed with you. Got school tomorrow,” he said standing up from the stool he had been sitting on.

Quietly, Spike followed up the stairs after Dawn and bid good night to her as they parted in the hallway outside their rooms. Spike opened his bedroom door and walked in with a sigh.

Buffy turned on the bed, her blond hair tangling as she tried to find the best position to sleep in. She had been wiped after her training patrol with Molly. The nest of vamps that they had stumbled on had been much larger than they had expected. The numerous bruises and cracked ribs that both Molly and Buffy had sustained hadn’t made them any more willing to stay up and rehash what went wrong.

Slipping out of his clothes, Spike slid in between the covers and laid his head on his pillow, only to have his fiancée snuggle close. He sighed. He didn’t know what to do with Dawn. He didn’t like this solider boy she was seeing, but Buffy was extremely accepting of the situation. Probably because she had had her own dalliance with Captain Cardboard. But Spike didn’t like it at all.
___________________________________
Buffy slept late the next day. She missed Molly and Dawn going off to school; she missed her first class of the day at Sunnydale U. She didn’t care. It hurt to breathe. She could tell that her wonderful healing abilities were in full force, but they hadn’t quite finished the job. Looking at the clock, she decided that today was going to be a sick day on her part and she closed her eyes to go back to sleep, against her mate’s tepid skin.

There was a loud bang from her sister’s room, which startled her, causing Buffy to sit straight up, disturbing Spike enough that he woke up too.

“I’ll check it out,” she whispered, patting him on the arm. She slid out of bed, her silk nighty falling smoothly against her skin.

Buffy crept out of her bedroom and into Dawn’s with the skill of a seasoned hunter. On Dawn’s bed, the teen was tearing up papers and throwing them roughly into the air, her face streaked with tears. Buffy instantly realised the loud bang was Dawn slamming her closet door.

“What happened?” asked Buffy already knowing where it was going to lead to.

“He dumped me!” Dawn cried angrily.

Good, she’d moved onto the angry stage.

“Graham? He dumped you?” asked Buffy softly.

“He said his superiors didn’t want him associating with someone that would compromise the mission. He had to choose between me and his career. I lost!”

“Oh Dawnie!” Buffy said soothingly, stepping towards her sister on the bed. “Wait,” stopped Buffy, a thought coming to her. “He dumped you at school?”

“No!” Dawn sniffed. “He phoned me at lunch. He dumped me over the phone, while I was sitting in the caf.”

“Bastard,” muttered Buffy.

“Tell me about it,” countered Dawn. “I couldn’t stay there!”

Buffy nodded in understanding.

“He’s tracking some ‘power’ in Sunnydale. They don’t know what it is. You would think that having me as a girlfriend would be an asset? I’m with the good guys. I know about these things!”

“A power?” asked Buffy curious. “Nothing more specific than that?”

Dawn shook her head before sighing. “My dumpage is sparking research isn’t it?”

“Yep,” noted Buffy. “But I’ll get you Häagen Dazs for the research.”

“Okay,” accepted Dawn weakly.
___________________________________
Buffy looked on at Willow and Tara as they performed a locator spell to find all the sources of supernatural power in Sunnydale. Whatever this power was the Graham and his government flunkies were looking for, she was sure that her two witch friends would find it before anyone else. And if they didn’t, Buffy would take a stab at the spell herself.

The spell completed, all the Scoobies, except Anya and Nate (who was reading some book), looked at the map Willow and Tara had used. Little glowy dots indicated the power sources. Then Anya popped in.

“Are we doing a spell?” she asked leaning forward to get her own look.

On the map, another brighter glowy dot appeared.

“Ooh look! That’s me! I’m pretty,” noted the vengeance demon.

Everyone focused on the new dot, which began to dim.

“Why is it doing that?” asked Xander.

“Teleporting requires a lot of power,” replied Anya. “All these dots are people or demons that can teleport, or open portals. See? There’s Dawn and Buffy and Willow and Tara.”

Nate stepped back from the group and cleared his throat. “So, Miss Summers can teleport?” he asked.

“Oh, ya, I learned to do that a long time ago. Trying to tap into the slayer power, finding my purpose in my lonely life, blah blah blah. I don’t do it very often,” Buffy explained ignoring the questioningly look on Nate’s face. “And if you tell the Council, I will personally make it impossible for you to father children.”

Nate gulped. Spike chuckled.

“So the agency that Graham is presently working for is looking for the power to teleport or dimension hop?” asked Giles.

“He...He said he wasn’t after me!” whispered Dawn, sitting down on the floor beside the map.

“He didn’t know it was you Dawn,” soothed Buffy. “He thought you were just a normal girl.”

“Should we hide?” asked Willow. “I mean, Anya can just go back to Arashamahar, so can Dawn, to hide out. But Tara and I, we don’t have the super strength to fight off the military. We’ll be lab rats!” the witch moaned.

“You aren’t going to be lab rats!” protested Buffy.

“You can just teleport away,” offered Anya.

“The last time I teleported, nosebleed,” countered Willow.

“And I’ve...I’ve never done it,” noted Tara.

“They won’t come after you,” said Buffy resolutely. “And if they do, they will pay.”
___________________________________
“What do you mean, I‘m forbidden to dimension hop?” cried Dawn.

She stared down Buffy’s watcher, daring him to explain himself. Giles looked at Nate for support. The other watcher just shrugged before speaking.

“We have concluded that the more you hop between dimensions the more you will incite the curiosity of the government. Therefore, it would be wise to cease all inter dimensional travel.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” protested Dawn.

“I agree with the key here,” stated Anya, her arms crossed looking at Giles with a glare, which everyone in the room knew was making Giles uncomfortable. “I do not want to be stuck in this dimension. I have things to do. Places to go! People to curse!”

“Anya,” interrupted Giles, trying to calm her.

“Where would I stay?” she asked, pouting, and Buffy swore there was a hopeful look in Anya’s eyes as she focused on Giles.

“I’m sure we can arrange something,” noted the elder watcher with a smile.
___________________________________
tbc...

 
Semi Fresh Wounds
 

Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note:Once again, hail the fabulousness of Bloodytearsoflife, beta extraordinaire.
___________________________________
Chapter 14: Semi Fresh Wounds

Anya moved into Giles’ house without further protest. The whole thing seemed to the majority of the Scoobies the best outcome of the situation. Except for Xander. To say that Xander was okay with the fact that his ex fiancée was living with another man, a man that he thought of as a father figure, was not a happy idea in his head.

Buffy was pretty sure that Xander’s obliviousness to the Anya/Giles situation was going to take a nosedive very soon. And she didn’t want to be around when the stand off happened.

Anya though, despite her imprisonment in their dimension, appeared to be happy.

Dawn on the other hand…

Graham’s betrayal combined with the commandment not to dimension hop was making life at 1630 Revello Drive really quite unbearable, especially to those with enhanced vampire hearing.

She slammed everything. Banged everything. Generally made everything as noisy as she could. Dawn Summers was on a mission, and it appeared that mission was to drive Spike up the wall. The waves of anger coming off the vampire were almost visible. Every third thought was about how he’d like to maim the solider for touching Dawn. Every second thought was about how he’d like to torture Graham for breaking his nibblet’s heart.

Buffy knew that her little sister was hurting. She had memories of enough bad break-ups to know that only time would cure this particular ill. She also knew enough that Dawn didn’t want to be ‘talked’ to about how this would get better, nor did she want stories of how bad Buffy’s break ups had been.

The master slayer only had to see Nate to know just how traumatic even the most amicable break up was.

And Nate didn’t even know.

Buffy loved Spike. That wasn’t what was in question. It tugged at her heart though to know that despite the fact that Nate and she had never worked out, they were happy for a time, short as it was. Now Nate wouldn’t have that.

The selfish part of her thought she’d ruined his life.
___________________________________
As Dawn sulked upstairs, Andrew pondered. The play station was unusually silent as he pondered. It was a thought that he had been pondering since before this whole fiasco with the soldier. How would he get Dawn to like him again? It seemed to him that moving into the house was the start of all his problems. He had limited options though. His parents refused to take him back, and his attempts at getting a job hadn’t really panned out like he had hoped.

And so he pondered.

And he thought that maybe he was hungry and wanted a hot pocket.

He rose from his leather swivel chair, letting comic books fall to the ground as he did so. Pulling open the basement door, Andrew came face to face with Mr. Bradford.

Andrew liked Nate. Everyone seemed to call him that, even though he had not told anyone that that was his preferred short form of his name. Buffy had just known. Molly and Giles were the only ones that called him anything else.

Nate’s presence in the house was a little perplexing. Dawn and Molly were at school. Giles was not there. Buffy was at Sunnydale U. Spike wasn’t even in the house. That was another thing that struck Andrew as funny. Why was the vampire traipsing around town in the middle of the day?

But back to Nate. Andrew was immediately suspicious. Attempting to perfect Spike’s raised eyebrow move, he attempted to raise one eyebrow, only succeeding in raising both and looking a little odd at the watcher that was clearly where he was not supposed to be.

“Mr. Bradford,” started Andrew, suspicion in his voice. “What brings you to the Summers/Wells residence at this time of the day?” Andrew leaned on the doorframe, his arms crossed, waiting for Nate to explain himself. Unfortunately for Andrew, this was not a good position to be in. He nearly fell back down into the basement. Readjusting his position against the doorframe, Andrew glared at the watcher menacingly.

“Molly left her crossbow here. I was retrieving it for our training session after school this afternoon. She is rather forgetful,” explained Nate.

“Why didn’t you ring the door bell?” asked Andrew.

“I did. No one answered,” answered Nate, looking at Andrew suspiciously.

Andrew had to admit that Nate had a better suspicious look than he did.

“Ok,” said Andrew in a high voice.

Nate walked past him and to the kitchen, Andrew following closely behind. Sure enough there was in fact a crossbow in the kitchen, sitting on the counter by the phone.

“What is it that you do?” asked Nate as he picked up the crossbow. “Do you work in the evenings?”

Andrew shook his head. “No, I am between jobs at the moment. My last position was not the career maker I thought it was,” he added wisely.

“What was your last position?” asked Nate.

“Super villain. It didn’t work out.”

“Super villain?” asked Nate a little bewildered.

“Yes, like Dr. No, or Goldfinger. You’re British. Don’t you know what a super villain is?”

“ I am familiar with the concept behind the movie villain,” Nate patronised. “I don’t understand why a young man of your abilities was persuaded that this was a valid life choice.”

“It was Warren,” explained Andrew as if Nate would instinctively know what he was talking about.

“Regardless,” Nate continued, shaking off his confusion. “It seems to me that a man of your knowledge and talents would make an excellent watcher. Have you considered that career path?”

“Yes. I had. I don’t know how I would be accepted within the great Watcher’s Council though,” suggested Andrew hopefully.

“Well…”
___________________________________
Molly waited for Dawn to sit down at the cafeteria table that they sat at every day. Dawn hadn’t been so much fun of late. Even Molly’s grade ten friends had commented about how much of a downer Dawn Summers was since she was dumped. The fact that the whole school knew about Dawn’s dumpage was testament to how fast rumours travelled in their school.

To people looking in from the outside, it wasn’t obvious why Dawn and Molly were friends. Molly would probably even venture to say that Dawn was her best friend. There were girls at school though that thought that Dawn was a skank for going out with a man that was 10 years older than she was. In best friendness, Molly really wanted to break Montana Green’s face for saying things like that.

But then there was the principal. He knew what she was, and he was always watching her. He was freaky. Molly didn’t think that home schooling was something that Buffy and Spike would go for. So staying in school was a good thing.

As Dawn entered the cafeteria, the other students in the room all turned to look at her. Molly felt her heart go out to Dawn. Kids were cruel and it seemed that these kids were particularly cruel lately.

Dawn sat down with a huff, glaring back at the kids that were watching her. Her tray held an ice tea and a cup of red jello.

“Are you on a new diet? The sugar diet?” asked Molly lamely.

Dawn shook her head as she grabbed her bottle of ice tea and began to shake it. “No, this is the diet of those who don’t care and are seriously considering home schooling. Also the opening up of holes in the floor to swallow me whole. As if the whole getting dumped thing wasn’t bad enough, the bullying, not cool.

“You aren’t taking it, that’s good. I don’t think it can last much longer,” said Molly hopefully.

“Well that’s something,” noted Dawn, tearing off the plastic from her jello. “’Cause I really need to concentrate on the whole getting over the guy.”

Molly nodded.

Dawn plunged her spoon into her cup of jello and lifted the spoon to her mouth. The action seemed to coincide with another instance of the entire student population losing the ability to talk. Dawn rolled her eyes and looked at her friend. Molly’s eyes were trained on the entrance of the cafeteria. Dawn spun around to see Principal Wood staring at the two of them, accompanied by a man in military uniform. Not just any man. The guy she wanted to get over.

Dawn’s heart started to beat faster. She met the man’s eyes and inwardly winced. She turned around again and stared at her jello, which had fallen off the spoon and started to stab at her jello. The silence in the cafeteria continued as the two men in the doorway started to walk towards their table.

Molly’s eyes darted between the two men approaching them and Dawn who was trying to ignore their approach.

The principal cleared his throat as he came to a stop. “Miss Summers,” he said calmly.

Reluctantly, Dawn turned around and looked up at the Principal, completely ignoring the other man with him.

As Principal Wood explained that Graham needed to interview her for information about a government sensitive project in the area, Dawn had to concentrate on keeping her eyes from welling up with tears.

She nodded as Robin told her to follow him, leaving Molly alone at the table, wondering just how Dawn was going to get through this particular trauma.
___________________________________
Robin Wood closed his office door on the captain and the teenager, unaware of what was really going on between them, but not before letting them know that he was going to be in the outer office if the captain needed anything.

With a deep breath, Dawn turned and for the first time that day, looked at Graham.

“What the hell are you trying to do to me?” she wailed, throwing her hands up in frustration. “Dumping me at school, over the phone wasn’t enough? You thought it was a good idea to stalk me too?”

“Dawn,” he started to say, trying to calm her down. “I had to see you. You haven’t been answering my phone calls.”

“You broke up with me! Am I supposed to answer your phone calls?” she questioned. “And don’t tell me that you were just following orders.”

Graham shook his head in frustration. “I didn’t come here to get into an argument Dawn,” he broke in. “I need your help.

“No,” she stated bluntly.

“What?”

“No, I’m not helping you. No way. I know what you are looking for, and I refuse,” she explained.

“You know what we’re looking for?” he asked amazed.

“I’ve been doing this kind of thing longer than you have. My sister’s the slayer. I’ve been in the inner scooby circle since I was ten. It didn’t take us long to figure it out either,” she bragged. “I’m not helping you.”

Dawn opened the door and walked into the main office of Sunnydale High, her head held high.

“Miss Summers?” asked Principal Wood after her.

Dawn turned around to see the principal with a confused look on his face and Graham poking his head out of the office door.

“I can’t help the captain,” said Dawn sweetly. “He’s going to have to find some other teenage girl to get his information out of.”
___________________________________
Dawn went home and slammed the door, rousing Spike from his sleep, sleep that had only started moments ago. Sleep tousled hair and a sleepy expression greeted Dawn as she flung her backpack on the floor in a dejected manner.

“I hate men!” she screamed.

Spike sighed. His nibblet was a complicated person. “Why this time?” he asked rubbing his hand over his face.

“He’s stalking me! He and his government pals can’t figure out what they are looking for, so I get visits from official military ex boyfriend 'cause he needs help.”

A soft growl emanated from Spike’s throat.

“Oh, I told him no. Big no. I am not that man’s inside information.”

“Uh, good for you Nibblet,” he started. “Takes a strong person to say no to someone you once cared about.” He had tried to sound wise. He didn’t know how well he was pulling it off.

She gave him a look that told him she wasn’t buying it.
___________________________________
tbc…




 
Chapter 15: Uninvited
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Beta’d by Bloodytearsoflife.
___________________________________
Chapter 15: Uninvited

“So he knows that we know?” asked Tara as she and Dawn made dinner that night.

“Pretty much,” Dawn shrugged. “I didn’t really keep it a secret. He just doesn’t know what we know.”

“Do you think he’ll press the matter?” asked Tara as she peeled carrots.

“I think I want him to try,” observed Dawn with an evil gleam in her eye. “I think Spike wants him to try too.”

“Just as long as he doesn’t decide to ruin Buffy’s engagement party,” observed Tara. “I think that Buffy would kill them both if that happened.”

Dawn nodded to that.
___________________________________
It was nothing like Anya’s engagement party was. There were no fun games or demon food. In Buffy’s experiences of bridal showers and engagement parties, she’d run the gambit. It was time to try something new.

They had a dinner party. The Summers’ dinning room was decked out in Joyce’s fine china, crystal glasses, and more forks and spoons than Dawn knew how to use. Tasteful Sinatra was playing in the background as Tara and Willow placed serving platters of food on the table. Each place setting had a card, fourteen in all. It was a tight squeeze but Buffy had made it work. Nothing was getting in the way of this dinner.

Of the fourteen people around the table, Buffy had to think that Nate was the one the most out of the loop. By now, Molly had heard most of the stories that involved the Scooby crew and various hangers on. But Nate was out of the loop. He had been awkward when he was introduced to Hank and Caprice, who had driven in for the party. They hadn’t been to Sunnydale since last Thanksgiving. The awkwardness arose from the fact that Nate didn’t know if Hank knew about Spike being a vampire.

That would make most people awkward.

It wasn’t a surprise that Nate was still not happy about the master slayer marrying a vampire, but he wasn’t willing to cause a family incident by outing Spike to Hank.

Spike glowered at Nate for the pre-dinner part of the evening. Buffy expected that. No matter what she said to allay his fears that she wouldn’t run off and marry Nate, he still had this seething hatred and jealousy for the watcher.

Dawn passed through the living room with a tray of canapés, batting her eyes at Andrew playfully as she kept the tray just out of the nerd’s reach. Andrew had been paying lots of attention to Molly for the last few days, and Dawn wanted his attention back on her, even though she would never have admitted it. Andrew was hers and here he was conversing with the other slayer, again.

Amy and Xander talked politely, while Xander glared at Giles and Anya openly flirting with each other. Hank and Caprice twittered to themselves about some secret between them, while Nate tried to make conversation with the bride and groom to be.

It was hard to make conversation with people with whom you had nothing in common but work, especially when work was a taboo subject.

Tara and Willow came out of the kitchen to announce that dinner was served, only to be cut off by the doorbell.

Buffy and Dawn simultaneously groaned, each of them thinking it was something or someone else.

Buffy thought it was Angel, coming to crash the party and demand that Buffy come to her senses.

Dawn thought it was Graham coming to crash the party and demand information.

Dawn was right.

Throwing the front door open, Dawn glared at her ex-boyfriend and started drumming her nails against the wood.

“WHAT do you want?” the teen asked. “It’s Buffy’s engagement party. You aren’t welcome.”

He made no attempt to be apologetic.

“I was wired when I went into the school Dawn,” he noted factually.

It took a second for the information to sink in. Dawn’s face went from anger to worry.

“We are here to take you all in,” said Graham. He pushed the door open further so that Dawn could see the various vans and armed personnel that were assembled on the lawn and street.

“You asshole,” she blurted before slamming the door in his face.

Dawn turned to her family standing in the living room.

“What do we do?” asked Caprice worried, grabbing her husband’s hand.

“Run!” said Dawn moving towards the closet door. “We have to get out of here!”

The worried looks on all the faces of Buffy and Spike’s guests confirmed her need for the suggestion to leave the house.

“How can we all get out without them knowing about it?” asked Xander. “I mean it’s easy for Buffy, Dawn, and Anya, the rest of us, not so much.”

“I can hold open a portal for a few of you to get into Arashamahar,” noted Dawn.

Buffy looked at her sister sternly. “And just when did you find that out?”

“I don’t think now is the time to ask that kind of question,” Dawn observed.

Buffy looked sceptically at her sister before nodding in compliance.

Anya hastily closed the curtains and turned back to the rest of the group. “Well let’s go already!”

Dawn grabbed her father’s hand and led him to the front hallway. Her hand on the doorknob, she turned back to the rest of the group. “Who else is coming?”

“Take Tara, Willow, and Amy,” ordered Buffy, clasping Spike’s hand. “Who ever else you can get through, take them too.”

Dawn opened the doorway, revealing a portal to Arashamahar. Her father gasped. Buffy ignored her father’s profanities as he tried to comprehend what was happening and pushed him and Caprice into the closet. Tara and Willow followed, hands clasped. Amy padded in behind.

“Andrew! Xander!” pleaded Dawn, using her free hand to beckon them towards the portal.

“Go you idiots!” shouted Anya.

Xander stepped through the portal, his eyes locking on Anya’s for a moment. Andrew stopped at the threshold and smiled up at his saviour. Gingerly, he rubbed her shoulder, as if he was trying not to cross over the line that Dawn had instigated.

“Next!” shouted Dawn.

Anya pushed Giles towards the portal. With a little reluctance Giles stepped through, his eyes also meeting with Anya’s for a moment.

“That’s it! I can’t hold it open anymore!” shouted Dawn.

“Go!” ordered Buffy,

With a nod, Dawn followed into the portal and shut the door behind her, leaving Buffy, Spike, Nate, Molly, and Anya standing in the living room.

“Basement?” Buffy asked as someone started to knock on the front door again.

“Basement,” agreed Molly. “What happens if they catch us?” asked the teen.

“Hideous experimentation,” observed Anya, as she herded the group towards the kitchen and the basement stairs.

“Really?” asked Molly nervously.

“Pretty much,” noted Buffy throwing open the door and leading the way down the stairs.

Safe for the time being in the basement, Buffy looked at the assembled group and sighed. “Anya? Can you…”

Anya shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“Get yourself safe then. Go to Angel’s, it’s the only place I can think of that’s safe.”

“What about you?” asked Anya.

“We’ll meet you there.”

Anya disappeared in a puff of smoke, just as Buffy heard the front door break down.

“Luv?” questioned Spike. “Are we gonna fight our way out?”

Buffy shook her head. “No need to be so heroic.”
___________________________________
Descending the basement stairs, Graham saw a flash of light, causing every single device his group had with them to start beeping madly. He stepped into the basement to see that the room was empty of the people he’d been sent to talk to.

Further investigation revealed that there was no trace of anyone in the house. Just the remains of a burned dinner.
___________________________________
Buffy, Spike, Nate and Molly walked into the Hyperion hotel, their unexpected arrival causing Buffy no little amusement as she saw Angel’s face.

“Buffy?” Angel questioned, looking up from a newspaper at the reception desk. Angel caught the glare from Spike’s eye and cleared his throat. “Spike?”

In other circumstances, Buffy supposed that this would be very awkward, but considering that she had just fled her home and sent the majority of the Scoobies into Arashamahar, she didn’t have time to feel awkward by being in the home of the vampire who had fought naked in her front yard.

“What are you doing here?” Angel asked.

“Hiding from the military,” she stated factually. “My house is probably a pile of kindling right now.”

“Is the Initiative back?” asked Angel putting down his newspaper and stepping out from behind the reception desk. “What do they want this time? And who the hell is he?” the vampire asked indicating Nate. “Where is Dawn?”

“Dawn’s safe for now, she’ll be meeting me here eventually. She probably needs to rest. He is Nate, Molly’s watcher.”

Molly waved cordially from her position behind Buffy.

“She’s a slayer?” he asked.

“Yep, and we are going to need some of your famous hospitality,” Buffy said sweetly.

“Because I’m an ex boyfriend?” he asked bitterly.

“No,” she responded. “’Cause you are my future grandpa in law.”
___________________________________
Dawn and company stepped out of Angel’s broom closet the next morning, looking weary. They all looked like they hadn’t slept at all that night. Xander was remarkably silent given the fact that he was standing in the same space as Angel for the first time in years.

Dawn looked terrible. As she shut the broom closet door, she collapsed on the floor.
___________________________________
tbc…



 
Dawn’s plan
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: I’m ignoring cannon for Angel season four at this point. Cordelia is fine and not possessed. Thanks and huggles to Bloodytearsoflife who contributed a few excellent additions to this chapter.
___________________________________
Chapter 16: Dawn’s plan

"We need to get her upstairs, to a bed," ordered Buffy immediately, picking up her unconscious sister. "Anya, see if you can scrounge up enough stuff to do a transfusion."

"Just because I can teleport, now I'm your personal shopper?" whined the demon.

"Please?" pleaded Buffy, her sister cradled in her arms.

"I'm going!"

With a puff of smoke Anya was gone, and the rest of the group turned their attention to Buffy, who was mounting the stairs with her sister easily held in her arms.

In a flash, Angel was ahead of her, guiding her to an empty room, where Dawn was set down on the bed. Tenderly Buffy brushed her sister’s hair back from her face. Dawn was paler than any vampire Buffy had ever seen; even paler than when Spike had show up at their door, half starved. A gentle hand touched her back, and Buffy turned to give her mate a pained smile, her own worry reflected in his eyes.

Had she been more perceptive, Buffy would have noticed the pained look that flashed across Angel’s face.

“Whoa, she looks like crap,” noted Cordelia, suddenly appearing at the bedside.

Buffy turned to look at Cordelia and noticed that everyone had followed up was in the room with them, filling the room to capacity.

“Can we get everyone who is not immediate family out of the room?” Buffy asked softly. “Oh, and Willow.”

There were a few that grumbled at Buffy’s order, Andrew and Angel in particular.

“But she’s my friend!” Andrew protested, attaching himself to Dawn’s hand. “She saved us!”

“Can someone tell me what’s going on? What’s wrong with Dawn?” asked Angel, his eyes darted from his grandchilde to his former girlfriend and her sister on the bed.

No one moved as Andrew continued to wail his protest about being removed from Dawn’s side.

“Get the bloody hell out!” shouted Spike, his eyes glittering amber.

With a start, and quite a few jumps, the room cleared of all those not immediately related to Dawn, all but Willow. Hank stood to the side of the room, not willing to leave, but not wanting to get in the way.

“Buffy will need a place to lie down,” Willow began, preparing for what was to come, and moving quickly about the room.

“Will she be alright?” asked a worried Hank, stepping forward and taking up the hand that Andrew had just recently held.

“Of course she’ll be okay,” responded Buffy in a positive voice, looking at her father from across the bed.

Despite Buffy’s happy voice, it was rather apparent that everyone else in the room was worried.

Dawn groaned from her sick bed, her eyes moving behind her eyelids.

“What is keeping Anya?” muttered Buffy anxiously, worry in her voice, cuddling into Spike‘s cool embrace.

“She’ll be back soon, luv,” whispered Spike into his mate’s hair. “She knows how important this is.”

“What if it’s not soon enough?” Buffy turned around in Spike’s arms. “I need to get bloody into Dawn, now. I’ve never seen her look this bad.”

“I know, luv.”

“When I get my hands on Graham Miller and his Initiative wannabes they are going to pay,” she seethed. “Permissive sister time is over and done with. It’s way past time to switch on the protective slayerness.”

There was another puff of smoke as Anya teleported in. “Back with sharp pointy things with which to bleed people,” she announced as she offered the objects in her arms.

Willow took the offered medical supplies with a glare. “Now’s really not the time to crack jokes, Anya,” the witch warned.

“It’s a thing I picked up from Xander. Sorry,” she said, truly apologetic. “I’ll leave now, the tension in here is very off putting. I’m going to go find Giles. He won‘t glare at me menacingly.”

“Anya?” asked Buffy, calling her demon friend back. “Thank you.”

“Get Dawn back all healthy, that’ll be thanks enough. Oh, and some severely beaten commandos would be nice too.” And with that Anya headed out of the door.

With a determined look, Buffy immediately laid down on the bed beside her sister, still holding her hand.

“Hook me up, Willow,” Buffy ordered, pulling back her sleeve.
___________________________________
When Buffy was able to come back down to the hotel lobby, she was presented with a chorus of concerned faces.

“How is Dawn?’ Giles asked, Anya rather conspicuously in his lap.

Xander glared on.

“She’s sleeping. Spike’s up there with her now. ” Buffy looked around at the concerned faces and frowned. “I’m a little bit weak from the blood giving, so I really don’t want to deal with the whole ‘Buffy must make the decisions’ thing right now,” she finished and melted onto the couch.

“You’re house is no doubt a pile of rubble, Dawn’s ex boyfriend has probably seen to that,” Anya commented.

“They must know how we escaped,” added Tara.

“Do you think they know where you went?” asked Cordelia. “”Cause if they do, you need to go.”

“And there she is, ladies and gentlemen, Queen C,” commented Xander, doing his own version of Vanna White.

“You can’t teleport Xander, why don’t you go back to Sunnydale?” Cordelia retorted.

“Hey!” protested Amy in his defence.

“Ooh, witch girl sticking up for the demon magnet,” countered Cordelia, glaring at Xander. “That’s a surprise.”

“Great, ‘cause I needed the sniping after my house was invaded, my sister sick, and the whole group of us on the run. Thanks Cordy,” sighed Buffy.

“Does on the run mean I don’t have to do to high school?” asked Molly looked at her guardian with a hopeful expression.

“Oh, no high school for you, at least for a week or so. I’ll call the school in the morning,” Buffy explained.

“Yay,” exclaimed Molly with a dead panned tone.

“You won’t be getting out of your training that easily,” mentioned Nate. “Perhaps Angel has some sort of training facility here we can use?”

“We have a facility down stairs,” added Wesley.

“Does anyone notice that there are a large amount of watchers in this room?” observed Willow with a smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many watchers in one place, except that time the Council arrived to test Buffy, but didn’t ‘cause she knew what was going to happen.”

Everyone looked at Willow in silence.

“What?” she exclaimed, shrinking down into the couch.

“I think the question we have to deal with now is ‘what do we do now,’” observed Giles.

“Did you not hear me when I said I didn’t want to make decisions?” reminded Buffy.

“Regardless...”

“We...we can’t go back,” stated Tara. “They’ll capture us. I...I don’t want a chip in my head.”

“I don’t think they want to put chips in our heads,” commented Buffy with a grim look.

“Hideous experimentation,” repeated Anya.

“Oh goodie,” muttered Willow.
___________________________________
Dawn awoke to find herself alone. Well, that wasn’t right, because suddenly Andrew was in her line of sight. And he was holding her hand gently.

“Late night Dawn shift?” she moaned, startling the former jailbird.

“Dawn, you’re alive!” Andrew exclaimed, leaping up to hug his friend.

“Hey! Hands!”

Andrew pulled back looking abashed. “Sorry. Dawn really. Whatever it was that made you not like me anymore, I’m sorry.” Andrew paused. “What did I do?”

Dawn pushed herself up from the bed. “Andrew, we are friends. That’s all and no more. That’s what creeped me out. You started to get all touchy feely and it made me feel wrong. I never would have gone to the prison and been your friend without Buffy telling me about the future and I’m glad she did, but I don’t think we’ll ever be more than friends Andrew. Can’t you be okay with that?”

He looked sad for a moment before nodding his head. “Ya, I guess I can be okay with that.”

Dawn squeezed his hand. “Thanks Andrew.”

“Are you okay?” he asked with concern.

“Health wise? Fine and dandy. Buffy blood does a Dawnie good. Emotionally? Little bit fragile I guess. I mean my boyfriend just tried to arrest my entire family.”

“Ex boyfriend,” Andrew reminded.

“Ya, sorry, ex boyfriend.” Dawn paused, scrunching up her nose and clenching her teeth. “I hate this!”

“What?”

“I hate that I still love him!” she yelled into the room.”

Before Andrew had an opportunity to comment, the door to the room opened and Molly popped her head into the room.

“Dawn?” asked the Slayer. “You awake?”

“No, I’m just really this animated when I’m asleep,” she deadpanned, Molly rolling her eyes at her. “Yes, I’m awake, hence the talking.”

“I should tell Buffy, she’d want to know.”

“Was she really worried?” Dawn asked, all teasing gone.

“Ya, she was, a lot,” answered Molly.

Dawn sat up and threw her legs around, off the side of the bed.

“Hey!” protested Andrew, his eyes wide as he took a step away from the bed. “Are you sure you are ready to get up?”

Dawn rolled her eyes at the nerd and proceeded to get up.
___________________________________
All eyes in the lobby turned towards the stairs as Dawn walked down.

“ So what’s the plan? ” the teen asked. “How do we defeat the evil of my ex’s military might? ”

“I will never understand why women fall for guys in uniforms,” commented Gunn.

“Mmm, military goodness,” sighed Cordelia.

“Cordy!” Angel protested.

“What?” Cordy questioned back, Angel shaking his head at her.

“I don’t know that we can defeat them. If we declare all out war, I have a feeling we’ll lose in a very big way,” Buffy explained.

“Then what can we do?” asked Molly, who had followed Dawn down the stairs, followed shortly by Andrew.

“I have to talk to Graham,” answered Dawn, everyone staring at her like she’d grown another head.

“Huh?” questioned Xander. “You were there with us when we were all fleeing for our lives, right?”

“What do you propose by this, Miss Summers?” asked Nate.

“You know, you can call me Dawn. And I’m not proposing anything. We have to find out what they wanted with us, it’s the only way we can fight back. No way is there going to be info about this in any of Giles’ books.”

“Not a chance Dawn,” interjected Buffy. “I am not letting you get anywhere near that scum.”

“Scum?” questioned Dawn. “Hey! Not cool! He might be part of a military organization that wants to use teleporting demons as lab rats but he was mine and I loved him!”

“Sometimes we fall in love with people we shouldn’t, Nib,” answered Spike.

“Yes, and sometime it works out,” continued Dawn, giving Spike a hard stare. “I’m the only one who can do this. We need to know. ”

“I won’t let you put yourself in danger, Dawn,” cried Buffy. “I won’t lose you! Not again!”

“You haven’t lost me yet, and you won’t!” Dawn yelled back before going to Buffy’s side and grabbing her hand. “Not now. I’m supposed to be killed by vampires, remember?”

Buffy nodded but the others in the room were confused. Some less than others but there was still confusion.

“But I’ve changed the future here Dawn. Spike’s alive, Tara’s alive. Clearly things are not the same. This thing with Graham wasn’t supposed to happen!”

“So?” asked Dawn. “That doesn’t mean that I’m going to die now. Please Buffy, I’m all better, really.”

“I don’t think it’s wise to jump head long into this plan,” Giles added. “Any attempt to infiltrate the military could lead to your capture.”

“But I don’t want to infiltrate the military,” Dawn tried to explain.

“What do you want to do Platelet?” asked Spike, crossing his arms.

“I wanna kidnap my ex,” she said with an evil smile.
___________________________________
tbc...




 
Sleepy Key
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: I’m ignoring cannon for Angel season four at this point. They are still at the Hyperion, Cordelia is fine and not possessed. Connor is in the picture. Once again much thanks to the fab BTL for the beta.
___________________________________
Chapter 17: Sleepy Key

Buffy picked up the phone with purpose and dialled a familiar number.

“Sunnydale High School,“ responded a female voice at the other end of the line.

“Robin Wood please,“ asked Buffy, twirling the phone cord between her fingers.

She hated to have to do this but if she didn’t at least tell the school that Molly and Dawn weren’t going to be in class for the week, Social Services might get involved, again.

“Hello? This is Principal Wood,” came Robin’s voice.

“Hey, Robin, this is Buffy Summers,” Buffy answered. “I’m calling to tell you that Dawn and Molly won’t be at school this week.”

“You could have left that message with the school’s secretary tomorrow morning,” he noted bitterly, as if this was a complete waste of his time.

“Yeah, I could but if I leave it with you, I know that Social Services won’t get involved. This isn’t a family vacation; this is slayer business.”

“End of the world?” he asked with sarcasm.

“Not quite, but close,” Buffy answered. “Hopefully if all goes well, they’ll be back by next week.”

“I’m not exempting them from any projects or tests.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Buffy replied.

“Let me know if I need to get out of town,” he added.

“Oh ya, you are like number three on the list. I’ll talk to you after we get back. I believe you have something that belongs to Molly,” she continued before she could stop herself.

“Beg your pardon?”

“Something you kept that was your mother’s, when she was the Slayer. It didn’t get passed to the next chosen one.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Buffy had to suppress the giggle in her voice.

“Ooooh, gotta go!” Buffy hung up the phone with a bang.

She loved making others perplexed.

“Buffy!” shouted Dawn into the office over the counter. “I’m going. I’ll be back soon.”

“What?” screeched Buffy. “You’re... what?”

“Going. Now. Be back later.”

“What? No! You can’t!” Buffy replied, concern in her voice, possibly bordering on hysteria.

“Why?” Dawn asked. “And please don’t play the health card. I won’t be holding open any portals. Well, that’s a lie. I will but I’ll be careful.”

“Dawn!”

“Buffy...You know I have to do this!”

“No actually, you don’t. You can stay here and not be in danger.”

“We have to know. There’s no other way.”

“We’ll think of something!” Buffy exclaimed.

“Sure, and I’ll graduated from a LA high school,” noted Dawn with sarcasm. “I’m going to whether you say yes or not. You can’t stop me.”

Buffy’s eyes flashed. “Is that a challenge?”

“Hardly,” noted Dawn, her arms crossed, her typical Dawn stance.

“I’ll worry...” Buffy said, backing down.

“You wouldn’t be a good sister if you didn’t,” Dawn responded with a wry smile.

“Be back soon?” asked Buffy.

“You know it.”
___________________________________
Dawn stepped out of Graham’s closet and into his bedroom. Once again he was lying on his bed, a sheet covering him, hiding from view whether he was marginally clothed or not.

She had chosen the middle of the night to abduct him. As she stood there, thinking out how she would get him to follow her into the portal, unwelcome thoughts kept creeping into her mind, like: God, he’s gorgeous, and scum bag invaded my house, and why hasn’t Anya offered to exact vengeance on him? and last, the most confusing part, was the fact that she could feel tears at the corner of her eyes. Damn him!

Dawn picked up the nearest object, a combat boot, and threw it at him.

“Hey!” the soldier shouted into the dark. Dawn hadn’t bothered to turn on any lights. “Who’s there?”

Dawn debated whether or not she should make him suffer by not answering right away, but the soldiers who were on duty were probably on their way there right now, or Graham would find his side arm in the dark and take a few shots at her.

“Who else breaks into your bedroom in the middle of the night?” she asked calmly.

“Dawn?” he asked with a yawn.

“Well, I hope you haven’t had other girls in your bedroom so soon after our break up.”

There was rustling of sheets. Dawn assumed he was sitting up in his bed now.

“You know that wasn’t my choice!” he answered.

“Maybe you can explain it to me again. How about we talk it over?” she suggested, clenching her fist in anger, but hoping the emotion didn’t find its way into her voice.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. Do you think that day time is good for me, with the whole you and your army buddies out looking for me?”

“Dawn...”

“You probably need clothes,” Dawn interrupted him. “Let’s just open the closet here and get you some clothes.“

Dawn opened the closet door and stepped aside silently, holding onto the door handle, keeping her portal open to Arashamahar. She hoped the darkness of the room with hide the fact that the inside of his closet really wasn’t the inside of his closet.

“I usually get dressed in the light, Dawn,” he muttered.

“Ya, and I usually don’t get my house invaded by the military during parties,” responded Dawn.

“Dawn, I said I’m sorry...”

“Just get in the closet!” she said, gritting her teeth as she shoved him into the closet and followed in after him.

“What the?” he inquired looking around him into the muted grey of the Arashamaharian daylight. “Where are we?”

“Arashamahar,” sighed Dawn, sitting down on Anyanka’s bed. She looked at the soft quilt and rubbed the fabric longingly. She really wanted to curl up and sleep. Apparently, she wasn’t as fully recovered as she thought. “It’s the dimension where vengeance demons live.”

Can’t sleep, can’t sleep, can’t sleep, she repeated to herself.

Dawn forced herself up off the bed and to a standing position.

“How did we get here?” Graham asked. “And are you okay, Dawn?”

“Just tired,” she answered, evading the hand that he’d reached out towards her. “We should get to LA before my sisters starts to panic. I can nap there,” she said, the last part more for herself than him.

“LA?”

“Well, we had to go somewhere when you invaded. Let’s go.” Dawn shuffled to the door they had just come out of and placed her hand on the doorknob.

“You still haven’t explained why we’re here, how we’re in another dimension,” Graham said, not having moved an inch.

“Don’t you get it?” she said annoyed. “The demons you’ve been tracking? The reason you had to break up with me? I’m it. The reason,” she sighed. “Come on, before I fall asleep.”

Dawn grabbed his hand and opened the closet, pulling him through along with her.

They stepped into the lobby of the Hyperion, the entire Scooby contingent looking up from either the office or the couch, the front doors slamming behind them.

“Hello salty goodness,” commented Cordelia looking up from the reception counter. Graham stood frozen, clad in her underwear, looking back at the group.

“Barely dressed salty goodness,” commented Anya, who was sitting casually on the couch.

From across the lobby, Giles cleared his throat.

“Sleepy now,” moaned Dawn sinking to the floor at Graham’s feet.

“Dawn!” exclaimed Buffy rushing to her sister’s side. “You silly...I knew that this would happen!” Buffy scooped up Dawn into her arms and lifted her up from the floor.

Before she could call out to him, Spike had Graham by the arm.

“You take the Nibblet upstairs. Me and the soldier boy will get reacquainted downstairs,” he explained.

Buffy nodded and headed up stairs again., Willow and Anya following behind.

Dawn hadn’t been gone long at all, just long enough that their father and step mom had decided that they could go home to their own house, rather than stay in the hotel owned by a vampire.

Army green boxers didn’t protect Graham from the cool damp of the Hyperion’s basement, goosebumps met Spike’s room temperature skin as he held on to the commando’s arm.

“Is Dawn okay?” Graham asked.

“You better bloody hope so,” Spike growled, throwing the soldier against a wall.

“I didn’t do anything to her!” Graham responded grabbing at his now bruised arm.

“It’s not what you did or did not do, you wanker. It’s what she had to do to get away to save her friends and family because you and your soddin’ military want to do experiments on more demons,” Spike explained.

“Dawn’s not a demon!” Graham exclaimed.

“No, she isn’t,” he growled, stepping closer to her soldier, staring him down. “Didn’t stop you pillocks from making her scared, even when she as fascinated with your regulation poofyness.”

“Hey!” Graham protested, raising his arms up as Spike advanced on him.

Suddenly, Graham felt manacles being placed on his wrists. Spike stepped away from the soldier and grinned.

“You’ll make it up to us, soldier boy. Telling us just what you know and how to make them stop,” he said stepping away from the soldier, who was attached to the wall, and heading back up to the lobby.

“Could you at least get me some clothes?” Graham said, softly into the darkness.
___________________________________
Buffy stepped down the stairs into the basement, Willow and Tara following behind her this time. Graham was still chained to the wall, his hands hanging above his head. He was asleep.

Buffy stopped at the foot of the stairs as she looked Graham over.

“He’s kinda cute,” admitted Willow, looking over Buffy’s shoulder.

Tara tapped Willow on the shoulder and cleared her throat. Willow ducked her head and started back-pedalling.

“For a guy… You are much cuter than him, sweetie,” said Willow with big puppy dog eyes.

“Will!” Buffy shushed her friend, hoping that the soldier didn’t wake up from the added noise of their voices.

“Are you sure you want to do a truth spell on him?” Tara asked, whispering.

“Dawn went to all that trouble to kidnap him, and she’s asleep. We gotta know if it’s safe for any of us in Sunnydale,” answered Willow.

Buffy nodded. Above them, the door opened and Xander walked down to their level.

“Spell done yet?” asked Xander, rubbing his hands together gleefully. “I have a few questions to ask Graham.”

“No,” Willow admitted, a glare in her eyes at the over eager boy.

“I don’t know if Dawn wants a truth spell done,” continued Buffy. “I mean, upstairs with everyone all grr and vindictive, did any of us take into consideration Dawn’s feelings? This is her ex boyfriend. I know I’d have problems with anyone doing a truth spell on Angel or Riley.”

“Or Nate?” suggested Xander.

“He doesn’t have secrets of mine to tell Xander,” Buffy chastised her friend.

“No, but wouldn’t you like to know if that old spark was there?” he continued raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“No, I don’t Xander. I’m marrying Spike! I love Spike!” she hissed.

“Wouldn’t you want to be there if we put a truth spell on Anya? Or Cordelia?” taunted Willow.

“No, I’d want to be far, far away from that embarrassment,” Xander responded.

“I don’t think Dawn would want a truth spell done without her knowledge,” added Tara, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

“So we have to wait for her to wake up?” asked Xander, whining.

“Yes, and you will not wake her up,” ordered Buffy.

“Fine,” Xander pouted as he headed back upstairs.

“God, he’s back in the same room with Cordelia for less that twenty four hours and it’s like he never passed grade 10,” commented Buffy.
___________________________________
Tbc…







 
The Interrogation
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Beta’d by BTL. No firing for you!


___________________________________
Chapter 18: The Interrogation

Buffy sat on the edge of Dawn’s hotel bed, watching her sister sleep. If this had been the first time Buffy had to face the fact that Dawn was growing up perhaps she’d have greater trepidation, but as it was, Dawn, in her eyes, was an adult. Which was probably why she and Spike had disagreed on Graham. Dawn was still Spike’s Nibblet.

Buffy walked out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. All the rooms on this floor of the hotel were occupied by one Scooby or another. She’d had difficulty convincing Xander to go back to his room. He wanted to be active and useful after sitting around for so long. She didn’t blame him.

The sun was going to rise soon, making it normal vampire sleepy time. Of course, the two vampires in the hotel were acclimatized to living with humans. Buffy pushed open the door to her own room, to see her mate spread out, fully clothed on the bed.

Buffy shut the door and walked towards the bed, shedding clothes as she went. With all the problems they’d had it the last couple of days, Spike hadn’t been front and center in her mind.

And she felt bad about that. He deserved better. He’d had to deal with Angel while she recovered from the blood transfusion, watcher her sleep, watched her worry, and had been a fantastic second in command.

He always had her back.

Buffy crawled into bed wearing nothing but her engagement ring, cuddling against her mate and gave his neck a tender nibble before succumbing to her weariness.
___________________________________
“There’s a naked slayer in my bed,” purred Spike, waking her from a semi peaceful sleep.

“A naked slayer with all her teeth. Got a problem with that, vampire?” she asked stretching.

“No, not at all, pet,” he whispered touching her bare rib cage.

“Good,” she whispered back, reaching for his strong arms. “I’m sorry.”

“For what, luv?”

“Since all this started, since we got here, I’ve been focused on Dawn. Dawn and Graham.”

“The Bit’s got her own set of troubles.”

“It’s not an excuse. I haven’t been paying attention to you. It must be difficult being in the same space as Angel again.”

“Not as dramatic as all that, luv,” he smiled.

“No?” she pursued the topic. “Last time we saw him there was the whole challenge on the claim and the naked fighting on our lawn.”

“Won that,” he said proudly.

Buffy smiled, recalling the event in her mind. “Yes, you did.” She planted a kiss on his cheek and snuggled closer to him.

“There’s not been much time to renew our mutual loathing, pet,” he continued. “The racket the whelp and the cheerleader make whenever they are in the same room…bloody painful is what it is.”

“I just hope we won’t be here much longer,” Buffy added. “It feels awkward. Whatever Graham knows we have to know.”

“Best get on with it then,” he responded, sitting up and stretching.
___________________________________

Dressed, and hand in hand, the engaged and mated couple headed down the stairs to find the lobby filled with Scoobies, eating various breakfast foods.

“Oh, I smell coffee!” Buffy exclaimed, practically drooling.

“There’s blood in the fridge for you, Spike,” called Cordelia from somewhere in the lobby.

The couple headed to the kitchen, finding Dawn at the prep table, a glass of OJ in her hand and a spell book in front of her.

“Feeling better?” Buffy asked her sister as she headed towards the coffee pot, pressing a kiss to Dawn’s forehead in passing.

“Marginally,” noted the Key. “Willow told me that you held off on doing the truth spell on Graham last night. Thanks.”

“I thought you’d want to be there,” Buffy admitted. “I had to convince Xander that we had to wait for you.”

“Absolutely. How would Xander feel if we did a truth spell on Anya, or Cordelia?” asked Dawn.

“He said he’d want to be far, far away.”

“Oh.”

Spike pulled a mug of blood out of the fridge, sniffed it, and put into the nearby microwave. “You sure you want this spell done, Bit?”

“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Dawn answered.
___________________________________
Buffy followed her sister into the basement of the Hyperion, in the long line of Scoobies and AI crew that wanted to see the truth spell in action.

“Does there need to be so many people here?” asked Tara tentatively, afraid of making anyone upset.

“You are right, Tara,” Buffy noted, looking around at the gang assembled. “Cordelia, Xander, Fred, Gunn, Angel, Andrew, you don’t need to be here.”

“I never get to do anything,” Andrew whined as he trudged back up the stairs and out of the basement.

“This is my hotel,” Angel muttered, following the nerd up after a pointed look from Buffy, the others trailing after him.

“Maybe we should have done it last night,” offered Willow, setting down her supplies for the spell. “Less people.”

There was a sigh from Molly before she stepped closer to her friend and gave Dawn a hug. “I don’t need to be here, I’ll go upstairs.”

Dawn nodded gratefully at her friend, though she would have been okay if Molly had stuck around. As Molly ascended the stairs, Dawn knelt in front of her sleeping ex boyfriend, letting him loose from the chains.

Of the people that remained, Spike knew he wasn’t needed, but there was no way he was going to leave, he wanted answers, and he had his Nibblet’s honour to defend.

The witches started setting up for the spell, as the watchers looked on and Anya tried to wait patiently for something to do. Buffy cast a glance at her mate by the wall and gave him a smile. She knew exactly what he was thinking. With deliberate steps, she positioned herself against his side, carefully wrapping her arms around his torso. Buffy pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Promise me, whatever he says, whatever he’s done, they’ve done, you won’t go psycho? You won’t tear his head off his body and drink from his brain stem?” she asked softly, so the others wouldn’t hear.

“What makes you think that’s what I was thinking’?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“’Cause I have an extra special glimpse into the mind of William the bloody,” she answered. “You’ll be okay?”

“Don’t rightly know, pet. She’s my nibblet.”

“You aren’t ready for her to be a grown up yet,” she finished his thought for him, to which Spike wouldn’t answer.

“Buffy?” called Willow. “We’re ready.”

Giving Spike another kiss, Buffy left her mate along the wall and joined the witches for the spell. Before her, Dawn was trying to wake up Graham.

“It’s time to get up sleepy head,” Dawn whispered in his ear, an action Buffy thought extremely intimate.

“Can’t you just poke him to wake him up?” asked Amy slightly impatient.

The soldier moaned, in protest of being woken up. Dawn shook her head and stood.

“He doesn’t wake up that way.” With a sigh, Dawn put her hands on her hips and stared down at Graham. “It’s 0600 hours soldier!” Dawn shouted loudly, startling Tara.

In less than a second Graham was on his feet.

“Good, now we can start,” muttered Willow.

“Can we have warning the next time you do that?” Tara asked turning her attention to the supplies in front of her, Dawn giving her an apologetic smile.

As Amy, Willow, and Tara started to chant, Graham cast his eyes on Dawn, begging explanation.

“They’re working a spell,” Dawn explained, touching his bare shoulder tenderly. “It’s a truth spell. It won’t hurt you.”

Buffy watched the soldier’s eyes. He had steeled himself against torture,; his training had made him expect that. Spells terrified him. If he was in less control of himself, Buffy half expected him to be clinging to Dawn’s leg. He was doing remarkably well.

The spell cast, Tara, Amy, and Willow gathered up what they could and headed back upstairs; they had done their part.

The interrogation team stepped closer, bringing chairs with them. Wesley, Giles, and Nate set their chairs down in front of the soldier with a clang.

“Dawn, if you could move away,” started Wesley.

Dawn took a few steps away from Graham, her eyes locked with his. Buffy stepped closer to her sister, as Dawn leaned on the wall closest to Graham.

“We shall begin,” continued Wesley. “What part of the US government are you affiliated with?”

“The Army,” the prisoner answered automatically.

“Not the Initiative?” asked Giles.

“You know as well as I do that the Initiative is defunct,” Graham spat back.

“What interest does the Army have with Sunnydale?” asked Nate.

“Energy.”

“What kind of energy?” continued Nate.

“Don’t know,” the soldier responded. “It’s hard to track. There’s a theory, that it’s demons that emits this energy.”

“What have you done to prove this theory?” asked Giles, his eyes casting a worried look at Dawn.

Graham followed the watcher’s eyes for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. “We’ve been capturing demons that we think are giving off this energy.”

“Demons you think are giving off the energy?” asked Wesley. “You don’t know?”

“The only way the energy was detected in the first place was with a highly classified sensor system out of area 51,” Graham added. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. I’m not even supposed to know.”

“You are telling us ‘cause of the spell Graham,” added Buffy.

“Getting back to the topic at hand?” offered Nate looking over at Buffy. “You can’t detect the energy?”

Graham shook his head. “It was detected all over the country, different from all other types of detectable energy. Can I get some clothes? It‘s cold down here.”

“You’ll get clothes when we are done,” Giles said coolly. “Why did you come to Sunnydale?”

“There was a massive build up of this new form of energy at Sunnydale. I was assigned here ‘cause I have experience at this locale.”

“How many demons have you captured?” asked Wesley.

“Fifty maybe. The facility only had about twenty left before Dawn…” he trailed off, looking at the teen.

“Why was there only twenty?” asked Nate. “Did you kill these demons?”

Graham shook his head. “Our orders were to capture and bring them to area 51, intact.” The ones we have aren’t giving off the energy we were looking for anymore. Some just disappear.”

Giles nodded his head in understanding.

“Was your involvement with Miss Summers a plan to get information?” asked Wesley.

Dawn looked over at Wesley with a glare before fixing her eyes on the subject of interrogation, waiting for an answer.

“No. It didn’t start out that way,” Graham answered.

“Start….out that way?” hiccupped Dawn, a low growl coming from the corner.

“No!” he declared, his eyes focusing on her, half covered by shadows. “I only considered it after a phone call I had from Riley. Dawn, I was never after information from you. Never.”

“What was the reason for the attack on the Summers’ residence?” continued Nate.

“My superiors. They knew about Buffy all along. She’s got a file. Someone decided it was a good idea to bring her in. For questioning. That’s all. My orders were to secure the slayer.”

“That’s all?” asked Buffy sceptically.

“Once we got onto Revello Drive, one of the techs detected the energy coming from the house.”

“You were trying to capture the slayer and anyone that had this energy you were seeking?” asked Wesley for clarification.

“Just the demons.”

“That’s comforting,” piped up Anya. “They don’t even know what they are looking for. We know more than they do!”

“That much is clear,” added Giles, supporting Anya’s outburst.

“They can’t hold the demons they capture. The ones they have probably were taken in mistake. They don’t have the ability to teleport or dimension hop!”

“Dimension hop?” asked Graham. “Is that what we did?” he asked turning to Dawn.

“I think we had best discuss this away from our guest,” added Nate, standing up. He knew enough about Anya’s loose lips to know that any discussion that was going to happen was going to undermine their position.

“That is probably the best idea,” agreed Wesley.

The group made to leave and go upstairs, but Dawn didn’t budge.

“I’m not leaving him alone with you Dawnie,” whispered Buffy. “Spike won’t either.”

“You don’t know that he’ll hurt me,” stated Dawn. “I don’t think he will.”

“It’s not hurting you. It’s him getting away. You’ve damaged yourself enough trying to get him all kidnapped.”

“I’m not leaving him down here anymore,” Dawn protested. “And I want to talk to him myself. Alone.”

“No,” Spike’s voice sounded throughout the basement.

Dawn turned around to face the vampire. There was no way he was going to budge on this one.

Dawn thought fast. “If Buffy stays with me, would that be okay?”

Buffy cast a glance at her mate with hopeful eyes.

“Fine,” Spike spat, not happy about not being able to stay. “I’ll go get the bloody wanker some clothes. Seen far too much of the whelp.”

“Thanks,” Dawn whispered.

Spike, Anya, and the watchers headed upstairs. Buffy went back to her wall, careful to stay out of the shadows, she wanted to make sure that Graham knew she was there.

“What would you have done if you were ordered to capture me?” Dawn asked him.

There was a pained look on his face for a moment.

“Oh my god, you’d do it, wouldn’t you? Take me in!” exclaimed Dawn.

“I didn’t even consider it until I was standing on your front lawn. I hoped that it wasn’t you,” he answered.

“Hope is something I have very little left, Graham,” sighed Dawn. “I thought you were more…”

“Like Riley,” he answered for her. “You wanted me to defy my orders like he did.”

“No, I believed you when you said you weren’t after me. I’m so stupid.”

“You aren’t a demon Dawn!” Graham muttered at her. “You aren’t bad, you can’t be evil.”

Dawn didn’t answer back, stunned into silence for a moment, her eyes focused on the floor. It was as if she believed she was a demon.

“She’s not a demon,” answered Buffy when Dawn didn’t. Moving forward, Buffy stood in front of her sister and forced the teen to look her in the eyes. “Dawn, you aren’t a demon. You are so much more powerful than any demon. You aren’t evil. You’re energy. Glowly, green, beautiful energy.”
___________________________________
Tbc…






 
Hotel
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Ok, so I’m dabbling in a happy season Seven for Buffy and gang, lets assume a happy season 4 for Angel and his crew. Just go with it. Beta’d by the wonderful Bloodytearsoflife.
___________________________________
Chapter 19: Hotel

“We can’t let him go back to the pseudo initiative, not with what he knows,” announced Buffy as she walked back into the lobby of the Hyperion hotel.

The gathered Scoobies looked up at her announcement, several people nodding their heads.

“What exactly does he know?” asked Cordelia. “I mean, Dawn brought him here by dimensional gateway, right? Does he even know that he’s in LA?”

“I let that one slip,” noted Dawn coming up behind Buffy.

“And does he know what you are?” asked Giles. “I think that could be the most dangerous piece of information at the moment.”

“Um, I let that out,” confessed Buffy with a slight dip of her head.

“What? Why?” asked Xander.

“The what and the why aren’t important, Xander. She did it, move on,” ordered Dawn, borrowing her sister’s general like tone.

“Should we talk about a forgetting spell?” asked Tara. “I don’t like doing them, but if it’s for Dawn’s safety…”

“How much would we want him to forget? How long?,” added Willow, looking at Dawn with sympathy.

“The longer the time frame that we erase, the more complicated the spell,” added Amy.

“I vote we erase Dawn from his memory,” contributed Xander, “completely.”

“No.” Dawn’s voice rang out into the lobby, staring Xander down. “No, I want him to remember me.”

“Dawn…” Tara said sympathetically.

“Maybe not the keyness, or the dimension hopping. He was my first real boyfriend…”

Willow nodded in understanding. “I’ll…we’ll get working on the spell.”

“The question I want answered,” asked Molly, exhibiting first signs of a slayer like tone, “is how bloody long are we going to be staying here?”

All eyes turned towards Molly and then to Buffy.

“Well, I guess I need to find out if there’s a house to go back to,” answered Buffy with a shrug.

“That might be a good idea,” added Dawn. “I don’t think Principal ‘my mother was a slayer and therefore I know all’ is going to hold our exams…”

Molly snorted. “That man hates you,” the Slayer noted to her friend.

“I attract the principal hatred, it runs in the family,” Dawn commented, sharing a smile with Buffy.

“Perhaps we could home school you?” suggested Andrew with a knowing look.

“No, big no,” Dawn responded.

Andrew was about to open his mouth again, sure to say something incredibly witty or nerdy, when his attention was diverted to the front door of the hotel.

“Who’s that?” Molly asked practically drooling.

Buffy’s eyes went wide as she beheld the creature she’d never met, but knew all about. There was a time in her life that she’d been intensely angry about his mere presence in the world.

“Are we having a party?” the boy at the door asked of Angel and Cordelia, who both immediately looked at the floor.

“I think this was why Angel wasn’t jumping for joy when they got here,” muttered Gunn, his gaze taking in the wide range of emotions over the plethora of faces.

“Great, someone else to revel in my misfortune,” Dawn griped, plopping down on the circular couch in the middle of the lobby, beside Anya and Giles.

The boy moved down the stairs towards the group. “You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Angel moved forward towards the boy. “Hey, I thought you were going to be gone…”

“One night, as planned, what’s going on?” the boy repeated.

“Yes, just who is this young man?” asked Nate, standing up from his position on the couch.

“Right, uh, introductions,” Angel stammered, looking directly at Buffy and not Nate. “Connor, this is, Xander, Amy, Giles, Anya, Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Andrew, Nate, Molly, Tara, Willow, and there’s a guy downstairs chained to the wall named Graham. Everyone this is Connor, my son.”

“Oh. My. God!” bellowed Dawn, standing up from her spot on the couch. “You have a son? Were you ever going to tell us…err, Buffy? Buffy, did you know about this?” Dawn faced her sister in shock.

“Well…” Buffy started.

“You didn’t think to add that one part to the whole narrative flow last year when you were all dishing about the future alternate reality that Willow messed up when she brought you here?” Dawn questioned.

“Well, it’s not like Angel ever told me, I just kinda found out about it. I had all the power and crap for all those years,” Buffy answered.

“You knew!” exclaimed Cordelia. “We were all hush, hush for absolutely no reason what so ever?”

“Seems like,” Buffy answered, suppressing a smile.

“A child of a vampire,” murmured Nate, reaching for a pad. “Intriguing.”

“Unprecedented, really,” Wesley contributed.

“Actually, two vampires. Darla was his mom,” added Fred.

“Hold on, not that I want to be speaking about you while you are in the room and all, but he looks, well he looks like he should be in junior year. Just when did Angel and Darla get this bun all oven-y?” asked Dawn.

“Is anyone going to tell me why the hotel is suddenly…a hotel?” Connor asked, his eyes drifting from person to person.

“Does he have any super powers?” Andrew asked with a hint of jealousy.

“Wait, hold on!” Cordelia cut through the chatter. “I think the important thing here is to remember why you are all squatting in Angel’s home. The sooner life goes back to normal the better, I think.”

“Give the girl a prize,” Xander muttered. “Cutting to the chase as always.

“She is right,” added Buffy. “It was nice to finally meet you though, Connor.” With that, Buffy turned to her mate and fiancé and took his hand. “Wanna go on a road trip? We’ll even take Angel’s car…pseudo crime.”

“Sure, pet,” Spike said with a grin, ignoring the ‘hey’ from the other vampire.

“And while we’re gone, we can leave all the mundane-ness to the others,” Buffy continued. “I expect the memory spell done by the time we get back,” Buffy said to the witches. “Giles, and uh, watchers? You can take care of documentation, if you need more info from Graham…I’m putting Dawn in charge of him. Xander, she is NOT to be left alone with him, ever.”

“Buffy!” Dawn protested.

“Andrew….make a funnel cake or something.”

“Oooh funnel cake!” giggled Fred.

“Molly…I really don’t have anything for you do. Why don’t you hang out with Anya? I’m sure she’s bored.”

“She’s right, I am,” inputted the vengeance demon.

“What? No instructions for us?” asked Cordelia.

“I don’t want you to take my car,” Angel muttered.

“You have my permission to do whatever it is you normally do…’kay?” Buffy continued. “Keys please?”

Gunn leaned over the check in desk and tossed Buffy the keys. “Just please don’t crash it,” he noted with a grin.

“’Cause we’ve never done that before,” noted Fred sarcastically.

“Gotcha,” Buffy said, nodding.
___________________________________
Once Buffy managed to get the top up on Angel’s convertible, they were all set to go. Spike definitely had fun reprogramming the radio stations to classic rock and punk stations.

“The easy listening stuff had to go, pet. No way can we survive a two hour road trip with bloody Barry Manilow.”

Buffy gripped the steering wheel, wondering just how Spike managed to stay non crispy-fied while fiddling under a blanket in the front seat.

“I swear, I smell burning vampire smell and you are getting kicked into the back seat. God, do you have a burn wish?” she commented as she passed a semi on the highway.

“Thought about what we are gonna do if the house isn’t standing?” he asked still messing with the radio stations from under the blanket.

“We have insurance. I bet we could get enough to build a new one,” she commented. “Or buy one. There’s always vacant houses in Sunnydale.

“Would you want to stay there though? Seems to me that Sunnyhell’s been nothing but trouble for you.”

“Until the Hellmouth closes, I suppose that there has to be a slayer there. Molly’s only here for training. I’m sure the Council has plans for her to be somewhere else when that’s done. They probably even have plans for Faith when she gets out of jail, you know, now that she’s all reformed.”

“Probably. You don’t have to stay here out of obligation. Didn’t you say you were all retired?”

“I did, didn’t I?” she smirked, though he couldn’t see it, being hidden under the blanket as he was. “I think I definitely deserve an extended vacation. Where are we going on our honeymoon? Somewhere hellmouth free please?”

“I promise, love,” came the muffled voice from under the blanket.
___________________________________
Molly watched this Connor person as he circumvented the room. The way he moved, it was addictive watching him. At first she’d tried to keep her looks to a minimum, but now, after fifteen minutes, she was certain that he knew just what she was doing.

Buffy had told her to hang out with Anya, but Anya was all over Giles, adding her two cents worth to what Nate, Giles, and Wesley were saying.

Connor was setting off her slayer senses in a way that no one, no demon or vampire had ever done. It was as if her senses couldn’t figure out what was up with him. There had never been a slayer that had come face to face with whatever it was that Connor was.

It seemed that nearly everyone was giving off some sort of non human energy. Molly had gotten used to Dawn, she felt human, but not quite. Probably ‘cause she was fake and all. Anya was a demon, pure and simple. Though she’d never get used to it, Molly had long decided not to patrol with Anya ever, ‘cause it would really screw up the senses.

Willow, Tara, and Amy also had their own thing going on. It was as if residual magic clung to Molly’s senses. And then there was Spike. But that was her own crew, her slayer family as it were. Here in this hotel, it was a completely different ball of whacks.

Angel: vampire, pretty simple, but then there was Cordelia, who was not so simple.

Molly could swear there was some sort of demon thing going on with her.

Molly turned to look at the woman in question to find her looking right back, brown eyes into brown eyes.

“You could go and talk to him you know,” Cordelia stated. “He’s just a normal kid. Okay, not normal, being the spawn of two vampires, and really only a year old.”

“A lot like Dawn then. Except that Dawn’s the product of only one vampire, and she’s two years old,” muttered Molly. “Oh bollocks, I shouldn’ta said that.”

Cordelia turned in place to look at Dawn for a moment, shook her head, and turned back to Molly. “So not important right now, and so glad that Angel didn’t hear that. Back to Connor, you should go talk to him. You might find out that you two have much more in common than you think.”

“Right, he’s a chosen warrior on the side of good?” Molly mocked.

“Well, his birth was prophesied, he’s already a really good demon hunter. They called him the Destroyer in the demon dimension he was raised in,” added Cordelia. “Go on, talk to him. You’re probably freaking him out with all the staring.”
___________________________________
Buffy and Spike pulled up to 1630 Revello Drive just after sunset. The house looked like the only damage that had occurred was the smashed in door.

“It’s too quiet,” Buffy commented, depositing the keys to the car in her pocket. “I don’t like it.”

Spike nodded. “We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to love.”

“That’s what we came here to do.”

“Could check out Willy’s, see what he has to say about it,” Spike offered.

Buffy pulled out the keys again and started the ignition.

“There you go being all smart again,” she said planting a kiss on his cheek.
___________________________________
The pair of supernatural beings walked into Willy’s Alibi Lounge like they owned it. The assorted demons drinking all manner of disgusting concoctions cringed at being noticed. Buffy even waved at a couple, making fun of their cowering.

“It just makes me feel all powerful. I never got that reaction when I was little old lady woman,” she commented. “It didn’t matter that I could still kick their asses. ‘Course it did hurt a lot more, and the number of hip replacements I went through…”

Spike and Buffy stepped up to the bar and glared at the little man behind the counter wiping a glass.

“Hey Willy!” Buffy beamed brightly at the bartender. “How’s it going?”

“Slayer, not seen you around for a while, was wondering when you were going to show your face around here. Some of the boys had bets that Spike had finally turned you,” retorted the weasel man.

“Oh Willy! You know if Spike did turn me, I’d be right here frequenting my favourite demon bar!” she gushed falsely. “Actually, we were thinking about this place for the reception. You heard we were getting married right?”

Willy nodded. “You were thinking about my place for the reception?”

“Ya, for all of three seconds, you know, before common sense and logic kicked in.”

“We need information. Want to know what’s up with the guys in the army gear,” said Spike, breaking into Buffy’s tirade.

“What? Like you don’t know. You haven’t been in your own house? It’s a death trap. Better to burn it to the ground.”

“Excuse me?”

“The way I hear it, after the military cased your house, a few, questionable types decided to see what they could do to your house while you were on an extended vacation.”

“We haven’t been gone that long!” Buffy shouted.

“The point is, slayer, they never came out.”
___________________________________
Tbc…








 
Dimension
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Beta’d by BTL. I would be lost without her.
___________________________________
Chapter 20: Dimension

Spike and Buffy were staring at their front door again.

After what Willy had told them, they were more than a little nervous about what was waiting for them in the house.

“So, a, there are a bunch of demons camping out in our house, waiting for people to come home, or b, there’s something wrong with our house,” explained Buffy.

“I don’t think I like either of those options,” Spike responded.

“We still have to go in though,” she sighed.

Spike nodded his head in response. Grabbing her hand gently, he raised it to his lips for a moment, silently expressing his feelings at that moment.

“I don’t think you need to worry Spike. I’m gonna make sure you are taking care of a very elderly slayer one day,” she said smiling.

“But one with her own teeth…”

“Damn straight,” she said grinning. “Shall we?”

Spike slowly dropped her hand and stared at the house again.

With determined steps, the pair strode towards their house, mounting the porch and pushing the front door open in silence.

“So far so good?” Buffy laughed nervously.

“Now you’ve jinxed it, pet,” Spike noted, looking annoyed at his mate.

“Maybe it needs to be jinxed. It can’t be as easy as just opening the front door,” Buffy responded wisely.

Spike looked into the house, casting glances into the living room, dining room, and up the stairs. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but it didn’t feel right.

Her guard up, Buffy passed over the threshold of the house, a stake in her hand.

“It’s times like these that I wish I still had that fun slayer sense thing. Maybe we should have brought Molly along,” she said nervously.

“No, it’s better that the chit is where she is. New to the slayer gig and all that. ‘Sides you’ve got me for that fun demon sense. I don’t feel that there are any demons in the house, love. Not saying that it feels quite right though. Something’s definitely off.”

Buffy nodded in understanding. She stood in the hall assessing the options. She reached over to the light switch and illuminated the building.

“I say we tackle upstairs first. Plus, I want to get some new clothes on,” she decided.

“Love, demons have been disappearing into the house, and you want to change your clothes?” he admonished.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, annoyed. “I’ve been wearing the same pair of underwear since this thing started. You can’t possibly understand how icky that feels. Mr. I-go-commando.”

“Right, I’ll just wait for the beasties to come out of the woodwork while you change then.”

“Oh, it’ll take me three seconds, worry wart.”

And with that, Buffy bounded up the stairs towards their room. With a roll of his eyes, Spike followed up behind his fiancée. She was going to be the death of him.

The stairs creaked with familiarity, the house smelled like the military had been through every room, through every closet. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had cameras all through the house. It didn’t take long before he found two of the blasted things.

His girl was probably giving the gits a good show, while she changed her unmentionables.

Spike’s docs clunked down the hallway as he made his way into Dawn’s room. Nothing out of place, as far as he could tell. He couldn‘t remember if Dawn had cleaned her room lately or not. It was immaculate, which was odd; Dawn’s room was always in some state of disarray. Continuing down the hall, he walked into Molly’s room. Again, no sign of demons, or military. Just a clean room, everything in its place.

The bathroom was next.

He couldn’t understand what exactly was going on. If Willy was right and demons had decided to trash their house while they were gone, wouldn’t the house be a disaster? It seemed untouched, with the exception of the cameras.

Buffy appeared in the doorway of the bathroom, clad in new clothes with a concerned look on her face.

“Someone’s done my laundry,” she stated bluntly.

“What?”

“I had half a load of laundry in my hamper. It’s not there, but the clothes that were in it, they’re clean and put away. I wanna know what business the military has doing my laundry.”

“It seems they tidied up in the Bit’s room too,” Spike added.

“Good, I thought I was going to have to hire a maid to tackle that mess,” Buffy joked. “We should probably see what else they did. And where all these demons are.”

Heading down the stairs, Buffy walked into the living room trying to see something out of place. Spike noticed first.

“Bloody hell!” he exclaimed his gaze fixed on the vast collection of Cds that he’d accumulated since moving in to the Revello Drive house.

“What?” Buffy asked, worried.

“They’ve bloody alphabetised them!” he ranted at the meticulously arranged Cds.

Buffy took in the scene. All the Cds they had, Dawn’s, hers and Spike’s were all together, punk and pop nestled between two shelves.

Sympathetically, Buffy patted Spike on the arm. When they’d first moved in together, he’d spent a whole sunny Friday morning arranging the Cds for easy access, and by genre.

“Sid Vicious is bloody turning in his grave. Sex Pistols do not belong beside Sclub7!”

“Are you going to cry?” she asked, mockingly.

“No, bloody well am not going to cry. I’m going to tear off the head of whatever did this. This is a bloody violation, buggering up my music.”

“Do you think it’s odd that there is no evidence that we were having a party before we left?” Buffy observed.

“It’s like a bloody maid service paid a visit.”

“And you’re complaining?” she said eyeing him.

Truth was, he’d been the one cleaning up after the three girls and Andrew.

“Look what the bloody hell they did to my Cds!”

“Okay, I’m sorry I brought it up. Geeze. Let’s go look at the basement. Let’s hope the demons are all down there.” Buffy left her sulking mate in the middle of the living room, looking dejectedly at his Cds. There were times when he was just too cute for words.

Buffy opened the basement door and flicked on the light, illuminating the dank hole that Andrew had been inhabiting. With cautious steps, she made her way down, noting with a careful eye, that nothing was out of place. In fact, as with the rest of the house, things had been carefully put back to where they were supposed to be. There was not one thing out of place. Buffy was willing to bet that all of Andrew’s comic books were alphabetised too.

The master slayer shook her head confused. If what Willy said was true there should have been scores of demons waiting for them in this place.

Spike clunked down the basement steps noisily after her.

“This is wrong,” Buffy noted. “I know for a fact that I knocked over a few action figures on our way down here that night.”

“Except for the cleaning, nothing seems to be wrong with the house,” added Spike unnecessarily.

Buffy nodded, her brain trying to come up with a logical explanation. “Maybe they felt bad about ruining our party that they decided to clean up?”

Spike gave her look like he didn’t believe her.

“Ya, I got nothing,” she said, giving a shrug. “I’d like Willow and Tara to give this place a once over though before Dawn comes back. I still have this weird feeling.”

Buffy turned and headed up the stairs, pulling out her cell phone as she reached the main level of the house.

“That’s weird,” she commented looking at her phone’s display. “I don’t have service.”

Spike reached the kitchen and brushed past Buffy to get to the phone. Picking it up, his ears at once noticed the missing dial tone.

Their eyes met, each holding a worried look as they turned towards the back door. Buffy’s hand got there first, and she tugged open the door, which opened easily.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Buffy smiled and stepped in the direction of the back yard. Except she didn’t quite make it. Buffy bounced back off of a barrier that wasn’t there before.

“Oh, this isn’t good.”
___________________________________
“They should have called by now,” noted Tara with a worried tone, looking over at her lover with concern.

“They were probably so happy to be back in their own house that they are going at it like bunnies,” Cordelia noted, ignoring the flinch from Anya at the mention of bunnies.

“No, Buffy would have phoned,” Molly added. “I wonder if something went wrong?” she continued looking at her watcher.

“Miss Summers would have phoned either way, Molly,” Nate concluded.

“I agree with Mr. Bradford,” added Giles. “Unless something happened that prevented her from using her phone...”

“Great. So, Buffy’s dead in a ditch somewhere,” muttered Dawn, standing up. “Ditches are always bad. Mom always talked about the ditches. I’m going.”

“Dawn!” Xander cautioned. “You can’t just go after them, you could get hurt.”

“The whelp is right,” noted Anya, borrowing Spike’s moniker for Xander. “You are still recovering from the last couple of jumps.”

“Plus, Buffy would be really angry if something happened to you,” added Willow.

“Well, someone has to find Buffy and Spike. If Buffy is dead in a ditch somewhere, then Spike’s probably dust, ‘cause there is no way that he’d ever let Buffy die, without dusting first,” Dawn ranted.

“Anya, perhaps…” Giles started, gently suggesting what everyone was thinking.

Anya stood from her position curled up next to Giles and faced the group. “I suppose I am the only one that can go,” she began before turning to her erstwhile cuddle partner. “If I end up dead in a ditch, I’m gonna haunt you,” she threatened.

“Make sure you don’t then,” Giles added with a smile.

In a puff of smoke, Anya left the confines of the Hyperion Hotel and found herself in the living room of 1630 Revello Drive. Buffy and Spike were sitting on the couch, watching TV.

“Do you realise that Dawn is ranting about you being dead and dust in ditches?” Anya chastised looking at the two beings on the couch. “Don’ t you think it’s time you called?”

Buffy looked up from the rerun of Passions that she and Spike had been watching. They had found that they didn’t get a cable signal into the house either. It was an eternity of taped TV for them.

“Hey Anya, grab a chair, we’ll be here for a while,” Buffy greeted. “We’re stuck in the house. This abnormally clean house.”

“What?” Anya asked, not comprehending what was going on.

“There’s something keeping us in the house, can’t get out,” Buffy explained further.

“The bloody phone’s cut off too,” added Spike.

Anya put her hands on her hips and stared at the two of them. “You are stuck in the house and you are watching Passions? Shouldn’t you be trying to get out of the house? Have you tried teleporting out?”

Buffy just rolled her eyes. “Yes, I tried teleporting Anya. I’ve tried everything I can think of. And I can think of a lot. And no, we didn’t just decide to watch TV, we had sex first. But I don’t feel particularly sex kitten-y when I know I’m stuck in a self cleaning house.”

“So we’re watching the telly,” finished Spike.

“We were thinking about playing strip poker next,” added Buffy. “But now that you’re here, Monopoly?”

“Good grief!” Anya exclaimed. “Well, I’m going to go tell Giles you’re stuck.”

Buffy and Spike looked at the demon with eager eyes, but nothing happened.

“Damn it!” Anya finally said, flopping down on the couch beside Buffy. “You don’t happen to know where the Game of Life is do you?”
___________________________________
An hour later, Anya had beaten the two of them at Life, and was collecting up game pieces and money, putting the game away.

“Do we have any idea what is keeping us in the house?” the demon asked.

“You don’t need to put that away,” Buffy offered, settling down beside Spike on the couch once more. “The house cleans itself.”

“Huh?”

“Come sit on the couch and watch, demon girl,” Spike ordered, gently motioning her over to the couch.

The three mystical beings sat still on the couch, watching the Life board intently. Slowly, the game began to collect itself, money and game pieces moving into the box by themselves.

“Now, that’s neat. I need this at my house. Or the Magic Box! Customers are always moving merchandise around!” Anya declared excitedly.

“It’s neat. I don’t think it’s what’ s keeping us here though,” Buffy started, a perplexed look on her face. “I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been going on. Willy told us that demons had been coming into the house, but there are no demons. Spike says that the house smells like the military, but there’s no evidence of them, except a few cameras.”

“Well, any witch could have placed the self cleaning spell,” offered Anya.

“What about the fact that we can’t leave the house?” asked Spike.

“Are you sure that this is your house?” Anya asked back.

“All of our stuff is here,” Buffy countered.

“It is possible that you are in another dimension. A small one. New dimensions are created all the time, someone, some demon, is always messing with reality. How do you think that there got to be a dimension with no shrimp? It looks just like this one but without the shrimp,” Anya explained.

“So this is a dimension, where the house is always clean? A dimension that only holds our house?” asked Buffy sceptically.

“No, I’m saying that the house is the dimension,” Anya countered.

“Then how do we get out of here?” asked Spike.

“Whatever, or whoever, created the dimension has to close it,” answered Anya.

“Dawn created it,” sighed Buffy.

“Love?”

“It’s the only explanation. Dawn, and three witches, portalled out of the house, right in front of the front door. We passed through the entrance to this house dimension when we walked into the house,” Buffy explained.

“And I teleported to your location, because you seek vengeance. I teleported into the dimension that you are inhabiting,” continued Anya.

“And ‘cause the Bit left with witches…that’s why there is a self cleaning spell? Seems like a long shot, pet,” Spike noted.

“Well, it’s all we’ve got at the moment. The trick is, how do we get Dawn to close it?” asked Buffy.

“I don’t think she knows it’s open,” Anya explained. “But it’s draining her.”

“Then we have to get out before this kills her, Anya,” noted the Slayer seriously.
___________________________________
Tbc…





 
Stuck
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Once again I praise the wonderfulness of Bloodytearsoflife, who is a great friend, and fabulous beta.
___________________________________
Chapter 21: Stuck

“So how come Anya’s not back?” Amy asked, as she sat bored out of her skull, waiting for something to happen.

The assembled Scoobies and AI crew sat silently waiting for someone to answer.

“She should have been back by now,” Giles commented, a worried look on his face.

“I think we should question solider boy again,” Molly suggested, her eyes locking on Connor’s from across the room.

“He doesn’t know anything!” Dawn tried to yell, but could barely maintain her normal tone of voice. “We’ve asked him. He can’t tell us what he doesn’t know.”

As Dawn sank into the couch, Willow moved beside her.

“Dawnie, you don’t look well.”

“Really?” Dawn responded sarcastically. “’Cause I feel fantastic.”

“Is it a consequence of the portals?” asked Nate.

“Feels like. I can’t figure out why though.”

“Well you’d better snap out of it,” noted Molly moving closer to her friend. “Buffy isn’t here. There’s no free blood on tap for you to get better!”

“Ya, you look like Luke in The Empire Strikes Back when the…”

Molly cut Andrew off. “Not helping!”

“Now that I have a great visual floating around in my brain,” Dawn said trying to sit up. “No way I’m dying with Luke Skywalker on the brain.”

“I think it would be best if we send another group to the house, this time with a cell phone that works. We cannot find out what happened to Buffy, Spike, and Anya if we remain here,” suggested Nate.

“Agreed,” noted Xander. “But who gets to go?”

“And in what car?” piped up Cordelia. “’Cause you aren’t taking mine.”
___________________________________
In the end Amy, Xander, and Giles took Cordelia’s car.

1630 Revello Drive appeared calm, quiet and normal, like it would on a Sunday morning. Birds were singing, and there was a gentle breeze tossing the leaves aside.

And then there was Angel’s car sitting in the drive way.

“We can’t just barge into the house,” said Xander, taking a broad sword he’d purloined from Cordelia’s backseat.

“I don’t think the sword is going to help, Xander,” Giles mentioned, stepping onto the front lawn.

“I just like being prepared. The Boy Scouts rubbed off on me,” Xander quipped.

“You were a boy scout?” Amy asked following behind the two men.

“Lasted for a month, until my dad started to forget to bring me to meetings. The booze was more important.”

Amy gave him a sympathetic smile.

“At least you didn’t body switch with your mom, or get turned into a rat. ‘Cause that really sucked.”

Xander nodded. “Sharing the trauma.”

“Children!” Giles barked, turning on the porch to face them.

“I stand chastised,” Xander commented.

“This is serious!” Giles exclaimed. “Anya could be in danger!”

“Much like Buffy and Spike, but let’s not think about them,” Xander continued.

“Xander…” Amy warned. “I think we should be more serious.”

“I mask any fear with jokes and sarcasm, I thought you knew that?” explained the zeppo.

Giles nudged the already open door wider and peered in. “Buffy?” he called out, not daring to enter the house.

“Spike?” Amy yelled, attempting to help but only earning a look of contempt from the watcher. “Okay, I won’t help then,” Amy said, raising her hands defensively.

“Stay here. I’ll discover if they are in the house,” ordered Giles.

“And when whatever ate their heads,” started Xander, “eats yours…”

“Then you’ll have the august privilege of telling the others,” Giles responded.

“Uh, yay?” said Xander. “Sadly, I really don’t want to have to do that.”

“Then you’d better hope that there is nothing in the house that will eat my head,” answered Giles.

“Mr. Giles…” Amy warned. “I don’t think that this is a good idea. We’re all worried about Anya, Buffy, and Spike but come on, walking into the house when we don’t know what’s happened?”

Giles rolled his eyes and stepped over the threshold. Xander and Amy watched as Giles took another step into the house, his sword raised.

Xander opened his mouth to make some smart comment but gasped instead as Giles disappeared before his eyes.

“Oh, that can’t be good,” Amy commented.
___________________________________
“I’m bored,” Anya whined from her spot on the living room floor. “I’ve seen this movie.”

Buffy lifted her head up off Spike’s shoulder and looked at her demon friend. “You can choose the next movie?”

“I want out!” Anya continued to complain.

“Why don’t you spend some energy trying to find a way out then?” Spike suggested.

“What’s the point?” Anya sighed. “We can’t get out, we’ve tried every way we know how. We’re stuck here until we die, or Dawn closes the portal she doesn’t know is open, or she dies. Any way you think about it, it’s not good.”

Buffy snuggled in closer to her fiancé, she didn’t want to hear the prediction of doom. She felt like an ass for getting caught up in this mess, leaving Dawn, and not paying closer attention to what was going on around her. She’d been so caught up in her happy life. She should have been paying more attention.

“Buffy,” Spike whispered in her ear.

“I don’t want to face reality,” she muttered into his side, refusing to look up.

“Giles!” screamed Anya.

That forced Buffy out of her self pity.

“Giles?” the retired slayer asked looking at the figure being embraced by the vengeance demon.

Anya squealed with delight as she covered Giles’ face with staccato like kisses.

“Did you come to get us out?” Anya asked between kisses.

“I did,” the watcher responded.

“That’s great Giles!” Buffy exclaimed, perking right up and standing up from the couch. “Anya get off of him so that we can get out.”

Anya pouted.

“What are you all doing standing around here?” Giles asked, holding Anya close, and thus stemming the wave of kisses. ”Why didn’t you call the hotel?”

Spike looked over at his fiancée with disappointment. “The watcher’s got no clue, love,” Spike sighed.

“Giles,” Buffy said, sighing as well, and returning to the couch and to Spike’s arms. “We’re stuck here,” Buffy explained.

“We can explain later,” Anya noted, putting a stop to any further discussion. “Giles and I are going to have sex now.”

“Ugh,” Buffy moaned. “Use Molly’s room. I don’t care if the house is self cleaning. I don’t want you and my watcher getting it on, in my bed.”
___________________________________
Xander and Amy stared at the open doorway from their position on the porch of 1630 Revello Drive.

“Okay, I’m calling it,” started Xander.

“Calling it what?” the witch asked.

“I’m calling it a ‘time to call Willow’ moment.”

Amy put her hands on her hips. “You don’t think I can solve this?” she asked. “I may not be as experienced as she is, and I was a rat for a couple of years, but I’ve got power. Maybe I can fix this?”

Xander stepped back from his companion, giving her a wide berth. “Well, go ahead then,” Xander said waiting for Amy to do something. “Impress me.”

Amy stared at the doorway for a moment then sat down on the porch, her legs crossed and eyes closed.

“You getting anything?” Xander asked after a time.

Amy nodded. “I wonder if… Well what if we went in through another door?” the witch asked.

Xander shrugged. “Can’t hurt to try I suppose. If I don’t come out, you call Willow okay?”

Amy nodded.

Xander jumped down off the porch and headed around to the back kitchen door, all the while his sword in hand. He stepped carefully onto the back porch and peered into the kitchen windows for a moment before opening the door.

Xander carefully stepped into the kitchen, his eyes taking in the scene. The kitchen was just as they had left it; of course the food had gone slightly off. Buffy’s glass of diet coke still sat resolutely beside the stove, the bubbles all fizzed out. The house was eerily quiet, each squeak of his boots echoing through the house.

He walked through the kitchen and the dining room, looking out the windows at the front of the house to make sure that Amy was still on the front porch. He took a quick look at the spot where Giles had disappeared and frowned. He didn’t put too much thought into why he’d disappeared, just that he had. He wasn’t the brains of the operation, he knew that much. Shrugging, he turned and headed up the stairs to the bedrooms.

It didn’t take him long to notice that nothing was out of place. He had one place to look next, the basement. Putting quiet to the wind, Xander thundered down the stairs, and into the basement, right into the clutches of a waiting M’fashnik demon.
___________________________________
Amy breathed in the slightly perfumed air around her. So far all she was getting was that there was a portal opened in the house, where Giles had disappeared, but she was no closer to finding out why it was there or how to bring Giles back. She hated to admit it, but it seemed like Willow was the best candidate for fixing this problem.

Amy rested her head in her hands for a moment, admitting her limits to herself. She’d wait for Xander to come back and then they’d go back to LA and get the rest of the gang on the case. Maybe even Dawn would know what do to, she was all one with the portals.

Amy held her head up and counted the cars that sat near the house. They seemed to have multiplied since she last looked. Buffy’s Ford Explorer, Spike’s Desoto, Xander’s sedan, Giles’ mid life crisis-mobile, Angel’s convertible, and Cordelia’s Jeep were now joined by a couple of black van type things.

“Oh, this is not good,“ Amy muttered, standing up, only realising at the last minute that a guy in a black mask was behind her with a tazer.
___________________________________
The M’fashnik’s head rolled under the basement stairs, as Xander panted for breath. He wasn’t used to fighting for his life on his own, but he was quite satisfied to know that when it counted, when his own life was on the line, he got the job done.

Intensely sore, relieved, and pretty sure that he’d peed himself just a little, Xander mounted the stairs and headed into the living room. Casting a glance to where he had so recently seen Amy, his eyes met with just porch. Amy was gone.

Amy was gone and two black vans were pulling away from the curb in front of the house.

His eyes wide, he rushed towards the door ignoring the fact that he’d just walked over the spot where Giles had disappeared. Xander tripped a little bit on the rug in the middle of the floor, banged against the hall closet and continued on his way out the front door, the door swinging closed behind him.

Xander ran down the porch steps and after the speeding vans, until he ran out of breath. He was starting to rethink the sword he was carrying. Walking briskly back to the house, he dumped the sword into the back of his car. He had to let everyone know what had happened. As he approached the house a new sound filled the air. One that he was very familiar with.
___________________________________
The sounds of Anya and Giles going at it were impossible to ignore. Anya was loud. Looking over at her fiancé, Buffy couldn’t help but wonder just how uncomfortable it was for him to listen to this. She was just glad that in this time line, Spike hadn’t had sex with Anya. Infinitely glad.

Buffy twisted on the couch, trying to get into a better position to watch the next movie that was supposed to distract her from the fact that Dawn was dying even as she sat there. Spike was standing at the entrance to the kitchen staring out the back yard window, clenching his fists in frustration.

“You want to spar?” she asked, sitting up straighter. “I could use a distraction from this too.” She tried to smile. “I hate being cooped up. I know you hate it too. But there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

“And beating the crap out of you, love, doesn’t seem to me to be the best option,” he said turning around to face her.

“Hey, who says that I’m the one gonna be beaten the crap out of?” she asked, standing up from the couch.

“Xander?” Spike muttered, his eyes no longer on Buffy.

“You can’t beat the crap out of Xander, he’s not here,” Buffy responded.

“No, love. Xander’s outside.”

“What?” Buffy spun around and looked out the window. Xander was running away from the house with a broad sword.
___________________________________
Tbc…



 
Freedom
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: There is some mention of happenings from the season 8 comics. I don’t think it’s a spoiler, cause I’m being vague, but consider yourself warned. Thanks to BTL for the beta.
___________________________________
Chapter 22: Freedom

There was a loud moan from somewhere upstairs drawing Buffy’s attention from Xander, who was running on the lawn, to Anya and Giles for a moment.

“Xander can’t be running outside,” Buffy nattered away, more to herself than to Spike. “But look there he is.”

“Is he stuck here too?” Spike asked.

“Wouldn’t he be in the house then?” she responded.

They both looked at each other for a moment, knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Buffy raised her right index finger as if to say give me a moment. Without a word, Buffy headed into the kitchen.

At once, the rank smell of spoiled food hit her nose.

“Oh my god, we’re out!” she called out. She ran back into the living room. “We are free of the self cleaning oven syndrome.”

“And I was hopin’ that little feature would stay,” Spike continued.

Anya screamed upstairs.

“I suppose we should tell them,” Buffy said pointing up.

“Don’t look at me!” Spike started.

“But it’s Giles. It would be weird.”

“Anyway that you look at it, you aren’t going to be comfortable with this,” he continued. “You might as well get it over with right now.”

With a sigh Buffy trudged up the stairs to the second floor, stopping when she was confronted with Molly‘s bed room door. Buffy raised her hand to knock, her ears waiting for some sound that she was going to meet with a naked Giles or Anya on the other side. All seemed quiet. She knocked.

There was scuffling on the other side of the door and hushed whispers. Buffy inwardly cringed. She had mental visions of naked Giles running around trying to find his clothes. That was something she didn’t want floating around her head.

“Anya? Giles?” Buffy called when there was no more noise.

Suddenly the door was opened, the air from the hallway sucked into the room with the motion of the door.

“Yes?” asked Anya, standing fully clothed in the doorway, revealing Giles still zipping up his pants.

“The portal is closed,” Buffy announced, practically running down the stairs again immediately. Once she returned to the living room, she was met with Spike’s cocky grin.

“See anything traumatic pet?” he asked her.

“What do you mean the portal is closed?” Anya asked, following closely behind the slayer. “It better be worth it if Giles only had the time to make me…”

Buffy held up her hand, interrupting Anya. “If you finish that sentence, I WILL vomit.”

Anya rolled her eyes at Buffy’s squeamishness. “Fine, how do you know that the portal is closed?” she asked.

Buffy turned to the window and spotted Xander running back towards his car parked out on the street. “Just try it ok?” Buffy asked.

With a puff of smoke, Anya disappeared, just as Giles came down the stairs, missing the whole conversation.

“I take it we are free then?” observed the watcher.

“Bloody well hope so, the smell is starting to give me a headache,” noted Spike.

With a smile Buffy moved towards her fiancée and gave him a peck on the cheek. “And you’re dead, so if you’re the one complaining, it must be really bad.”

“Funny pet,” he retorted. “It’s your house that smells though.”

Their banter clearly annoying him, in his already peeved state (from having been interrupted upstairs) Giles stepped towards the door and stepped out onto the porch, startling Xander.

“Holy disappearing act G man!” Xander shouted at the watcher. “You went Invisible!”

“I beg your pardon?” Giles asked the babbling young man.

“Rhymes with Blinvisible? Poof you were gone!”

“Apparently there was a portal leading to another dimension just past the doorway. A dimension created by Dawn. Or so Anya suspects,” Giles explained.

“But it’s closed now?” Xander asked.

Giles nodded.

“And Anya, and Buffy and Spike are all safe?”

As if on cue, Buffy appeared at the door, her sometimes overly dramatic sensibilities take full advantage of the situation.

“I’m free!” she laughed happily to the blue sky.

Xander looked at his friend, then to her watcher once more. “You can hardly tell that she’s 123 years old, can you.”

“Where is Amy?” Giles asked. “Did she return to Los Angeles for assistance?”

Xander shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but Buffy cut him off.

“You brought Amy?” Buffy asked. “You brought one of the people that the Initiative would most like to get their hands on? What were you thinking?”

“I think my concern for your safety was paramount in my mind,” responded Giles.

“And that’s sweet Giles, stupid, but sweet,” Buffy noted giving her watcher a smile. “Amy’s been captured hasn’t she?” Buffy asked Xander.

“Yep,” the carpenter answered.

“Well that’s wonderful,” Buffy grumbled. “Cause Amy and the military have a great history. Well I guess we’ll have to save her.”

“Ya think?” spat Xander.

Buffy had a retort, but remained silent. She knew more about Amy’s character and the stupid dangerous things she did. Buffy didn’t exactly trust Amy. Yes, she felt bad that she’d been a rat for so long, but really the last time Buffy lived this time line, Amy was still ratty. If Buffy had anything to say about it, there would be no magic addiction, and certainly no revenge on Willow. Buffy gave an involuntary cringe, remembering just who was Amy’s boyfriend the last time she’d had had anything to do with Amy. It was gross, and Buffy dealt with gross on a daily basis.

“Of course!”

“We need to have a well formulated plan,” added Giles, rubbing his eyes.

“So we need to gather the troops,” admitted Buffy.

“We can just leave her, going back to LA will waste time!” Xander added, his voice teetering on the edge of hysteria.

“Well we certainly can’t go after them with no plan, and the four of us!” shouted Spike from the inside of the house. Can we bloody go already this house stinks!”

“What is that smell?” Xander asked.

“Rotting food,” noted Buffy moving towards Spike’s parked Desoto.

“I know that,” Xander said wrinkling his nose. “But rotting what exactly?”

“I think it was the blood I left heating in the microwave,” admitted the Slayer. “Giles, can you take Angel’s car? Xander, you take Cordelia’s? We’ll never hear the end of it if those two princesses don’t get their cars back.” Buffy opened the driver’s door of Spike’s car. “Let’s go Honey!” she yelled super sweetly towards the house.

With a groan, a black clad vampire, holding his leather jacket over his head ran smoking towards his car. Jumping into the car and nearly ending up head first into the driver’s seat, Spike was closed into the car.

“I still say it’s a waste of time to go back to LA,” Xander muttered.

“Then you better hope that none of us get pulled over by the police for speeding,” mentioned Giles heading towards Angel’s car.
___________________________________
Anya popped back to the Hyperion hotel to find that the whole gaggle of scoobies and AI gang were not in the lobby. She tapped her foot a moment, annoyed that no one was where she expected them to be. What she had expected was that they would all be exactly how she left them. With a sigh, she headed up the stairs wondering if anyone really cared that they were saved from the house.

Not even a giggle was coming from the second floor. Anya instinctively touched her amulet, assuring herself of her immortality as she rounded a corner at the end of the hall where the scoobies had been housed.

The only way Anya knew that she could be killed was by decapitation, she just hoped that whatever was around the corner was not wielding a sword or axe aimed at her neck.

“AHHHHHH!”

Anya blinked at the person emitting the scream that ruptured her ear drums.

“Yes, scream louder, demons fear a screaming slayer,” Anya said sarcastically.

“Make noise or something!” barked Molly, catching her breath. “Did you even try to tell people you were here?”

“No,” Anya admitted. “No one was down stairs.”

Molly shrugged. “Angel, and his group left on a case. The rest of use are up in Dawn’s room. She’s really sick. We need Buffy. I’m on my way to check on Graham in the basement. Mr. Bradford is watching him.”

Anya continued down the hall and entered the room, noting the looks of concern on Tara and Willow’s faces as she stepped towards the bed. ]

“Dawn, you look like crap,” Anya observed.

“Thanks Anya,” Dawn moaned.

“No, really, you do.”

“Did you bring Buffy back with you?” Tara asked. “Dawn’s not doing well.”

“She won’t get any worse though,” explained Anya. “You forgot to close a door behind us. We were trapped in a portalled dimension you created by not closing the closet door. It’s closed now. Xander saved us all.”

“Xander saved you?” Andrew asked. “He’s like Han Solo…”

Anya smacked Andrew in the back of the head. “Cut it out, nerd boy.”

A phone rang and everyone, except Dawn jumped to get it, hoping from some word from Buffy. Nate picked it up first.

“Nate, it’s Buffy. I need details about where the pseudo initiative’s base is. Details on how to get in and what their defences are,” Buffy said, forgetting any preamble. “Pass the phone to Andrew.”

With a nod that Buffy obviously couldn’t see, Nate passed the phone to Andrew who was looking like he was suddenly much more important and vital to the plan than he had been in a good long time. Nate headed out of the room.

“Andrew, it’s Buffy. I need 1 mug of O positive blood heated to room temp, 1 cup of Earl Grey tea, 1 cappucino, a jolt cola and two dozen doughnuts ready for us when we arrive. Pass the phone to Dawn.”

“I would just like to say…” Andrew started.

Buffy cut him off. “Now, Andrew!”

Andrew nearly dropped the phone in response to her bark but managed to pass the phone to Dawn before nearly running out of the room.

“Hey Dawnie,” came Buffy’s voice through the phone, he voice much softer. “How’s it going?”

“Well, I feel like crap with a captial C,” Dawn responded. “I’ll feel better when you get here and bring your healthy healing blood with you.”

“Can you last until I get there, or do you need me, like yesterday?”

“I can wait. What’s going on? Nate and Andrew just left, Andrew was muttering about a scared duty to aid the slayer.”

“I sent him on a doughnut run.”

“That would do it.”

“And Amy’s been captured.”

“Bummer.”

“Yep.”

“So Nate’s interrogating my boyfriend again?” Dawn asked.

“Ya, you ok with that?”

“No, not when I can’t be down there with him. I’m scared for him Buffy, he’s tied to a post in the basement. He’ll never forgive me.”

“Dawn, he tried to kidnap you.”

“Oh and you and Spike haven’t done worse? He made a robot out of you and you beat him up for years.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Course that was before you came back from crone’s ville with all the shiny new teeth.”

“You must be feeling better, you have all the witty retorts.”

“Just get back soon, 'Kay?”
___________________________________
Tbc…



 
Rescue
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Thanks to everyone whose been patiently waiting for me to update. There is a vague reference to season 8 here. Consider yourself warned. Thanks and hugs to the fab BTl for the beta!
___________________________________
Chapter 23: Rescue

Buffy left Dawn in her room at the Hyperion Hotel and trudged down to the basement. As expected, Graham Millar was still tied to his post, watchers and angry vampires circling him. Oh, and then there was Xander, the angriest one of all.

As Buffy approached, the men backed off, knowing that things were going change from the holding pattern that they had been in. Or there was going to be violence.

Buffy liked violence.

The slayer crouched down in front of the solider and smiled.

“How are you doin’?” she asked.

Graham attempted a smile.

“Well I could be better,” he said honestly.

“I can understand that. Dawn could be better too. Something went wrong when we had to leave the house that night. Dawn’s been sick. I’m blaming you for the time being,” Buffy explained.

“I never wanted to hurt Dawn, I didn’t know it was her,” he tried to explain.

“That might be true. It might not. And you know I really have no proof of it either way. In fact, I was going to let you go. But then something else happened.”

“Is Dawn ok?” he asked, worried.

“Yes, but this is about Amy. She’s been captured. And we need to get her back, before they turn her into a lab rat. And you are going to help us.”

Buffy stood up. “Get him his clothes,” she ordered the watchers. “He’s coming back to Sunnydale with us.”

“Do you really think that it’s wise to let him roam about freely?” Wesley asked.

“No, of course not. He’s going to be bound,” Buffy explained.

“To whom?” Giles questioned, while the others looked perplexed.

“I haven’t quite decided that yet,” Buffy continued. “It all depends who is coming with us. Get him dressed.”

By the time that Buffy made it back upstairs, Dawn had made it down to the lobby.

“I’m going.”

“No, you aren’t,” Buffy insisted. “You look like death.”

“You sleep with death, what’s the difference?” Dawn complained.

“Spike isn’t going to fall over due to lack of blood.”

“I just had a transfusion, and Spike just ate, what’s the problem?”

“You aren’t going. And I am wasting time arguing with you.”

“And you are under a mistaken presumption that I’m going to let you just walk out of here with him. Everyone here wants his blood, some more figuratively than literally. Buffy, he didn’t know it was me. I’m still with the believing, he was ignorant.”

“He might be ignorant, but he’s still going to get Amy back. Amy and the military don’t go so well together.”

“Huh?”

“Future stuff. Ignore the old crone.”

“Right, ignoring, back to you taking me with you.”

“I don’t feel like having to mount yet another rescue mission to save your ass right after this one.”

“You won’t have to. I won’t go anywhere where there isn’t a door I can open. And I’ll remember to close the door this time. Was the house really self cleaning?”

Buffy nodded. “And stop trying to distract me.”

“Stop saying you won’t let me come!”
________________________________________
Buffy tried to keep her eyes on the road and not in the rear view mirror and at Spike’s Desoto behind her Ford Explorer on the highway between Los Angeles and Sunnydale.

The blacked out windows in the black monstrosity didn’t make it easy for her to glare at the Teenager that was happily sitting beside the blond vampire as they all headed out to save Amy Madison. Dawn got her way in too many things, thought Buffy. It was probably ‘cause of the guilt she felt about not being there for her sister when she died. Buffy sighed as she remembered her 123 year past and receiving news about Dawn’s death by vampire.

There were still times that she really missed her old life, the life that Willow pulled her out of last year. Of course she was long dead in that life, living past 100 years old will do that to you. But all the things that she’d done in this new second youth had probably changed everything. There was no guarantee that Dawn would even decide to have a child with Andrew. Graham probably ruined it. Missy Summers-Wells was lost to time. And that was sad.

Graham, who was in the back seat of the Explorer, tied up, was being watched by Molly as Buffy drove. Willow was tapping her nails on the arm rest on the passenger side door, annoying everyone in the car.

It was a strange convoy that was heading towards the sleepy Californian town. Two Powerful witches, three watchers, two vampires, two slayers, a key, a vengeance demon, and a Xander .

Oh they’d left Andrew behind. No one wanted to spend any amount of time with him in a car, and plus it was fun revenge to leave him with Cordelia.

As they entered the town limits, Graham finally spoke up, directing Buffy to drive out past the industrial part of town, where the abandoned buildings and warehouses cut off abruptly and the desert started.

Buffy parked the car and opened the driver side door, looking behind her at the convoy of cars that had pulled off the road behind her Ford Explorer. Xander, Nate, Wesley and Giles exited from the car that had been following Spike’s Desoto, speaking in hushed voices.

“Do you think that it is a good idea to park here?” asked Wesley. “Likely they’d have surveillance in the area.”

Buffy shrugged. “Could be. But don’t we want them to come out and get us?”

“That was the plan, yes,” Giles responded, hesitantly.

“Just let me in there, Amy and I’ll get out. This is me being positive,” Buffy commented in a happy cheery voice.

There was a slammed car door behind the slayer.

“And this is my refusing to stay in that car anymore!” Dawn shouted. “How did you ever think that Angel was your true love, he’s annoying and brooding, and patronising!”

Buffy shrugged again. “Love is blind. Aren’t you glad I’m not marrying him?”

“Let me count the ways.” Dawn stretched out her arms as they stood on the pavement. “I think Spike’s going to snap soon.”

“Then I think Tara should exit the car post haste,” Wesley commented.

The door to the Desoto slammed again, this time revealing an irritated blond witch.

“That solves that problem.”

Everyone turned to look at Tara who was standing, clenched fists at her side, trying to reign in her anger. She smiled at the group when she realised that she was being watched. Buffy waved at the witch with a smile on her face, sympathy for her friend paramount in her mind. Poor Tara for losing two out of three games of rock paper scissors to Willow. One witch per car that was going to be hidden. Xander could pretty much kiss his car goodbye.

With a sigh, Tara opened the door to the Desoto and entered the car again.

There was a puff of smoke, as Anya appeared in their midst. She stood with her hands on her hips for a moment, then took in her surroundings.

“I thought you had decided to stay in the car?” Giles asked his girlfriend.

“I got bored. Plus, the military guys won’t show up if no one uses their power. Willow and Tara don’t know how to, Dawn’s been told not to, and Buffy is all discretionary. I’m the only one who has no qualms about using what D’Hoffryn gave me.”

“Well with the way you are monologuing, they should be here soon,” Xander noted.

As if on cue, the alley they were standing in was filled with soldiers clad in black.

“Ooh, look here they are!” noted Dawn excitedly.

“And this was why I didn’t want you coming!” moaned Buffy, pushing Dawn towards the car and the closed driver side door.

Dawn opened the door as one soldier yelled to freeze, and she was gone into another dimension before he could finish his threat. Buffy breathed a small sigh of relief.

Buffy put up her hands.

“Remember the plan,” Nate whispered to her as he raised his own hands.

“Everyone down on the ground!” yelled the soldier again.

Cautiously, Buffy lowered herself to the ground, figuring that she’d been wearing the same clothes for what felt like weeks, a little more dirt couldn’t make her feel dirtier.

“It occurs to me,” said Anya as she lowered herself to the ground, “that they only want the females. Maybe they want to breed with us to make superior human beings?”

“This me basking in the comfort in that comment,” responded Xander.

“You worry too much,” answered the vengeance demon. “Amy will get vengeance. You have my promise.”

“Nothing gross, or overly dead?” Buffy begged.

“Gah, fine!” Anya answered. “I don’t like working within limits. I like to be creative.”

“Be creative within your limits, Anya,” suggested Giles,

The soldiers were right behind them now, their guns pointed at the backs of the six people lying on the ground. The field commander pointed to the door of the Black Desoto, where Dawn had disappeared, and where Tara, Spike and Angel were hiding. Another solider tucked and rolled towards the car, his moves bringing a smile to Buffy’s face.

“Riley used to do that,” observed Xander in memory.

Buffy refrained from commenting, afraid that a certain vampire would hear whatever she had to say regarding her former boyfriend. Even if it had been over a hundred years since the last time she thought of Riley Finn romantically, Spike had a tendency to jealousy.

The solider opened the door and pointed his gun at the interior of the car, the apparently empty interior of the car. Tara had done her job.

“No one there, Captain!” was the shouted response.
_________________________________________
Dawn opened her bedroom door and was at once confronted with the overwhelming smell of rotting food coming from down stairs. She nearly gagged.

This had to be why Buffy let me come in the end, complained Dawn to herself. She knew I’d be coming home when I portalled away. She wants me to clean up!

Dawn kicked the wall before heading downstairs, plugging her nose on the way.

By the time she got down to the first floor of the house she couldn’t take it any more and stepped out onto the front porch of her house, gulping down clean air. There was no way that Dawn knew she would be able to handle the smell. Different scenarios started to play in her brain. Perhaps she could hire someone?

Dawn sat down on the porch swing for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Just how would she pay for a cleaning service? Well, how would she pay for it without using her own money? A teenager saving up for college had to take these things into consideration. Of course a teenager saving up for a new leather jacket also had the same considerations.

I really hope everything is going ok, Dawn noted to herself.

Dawn stood up from the swing, prepared to go back into the house once again; this time to search out Buffy’s credit cards. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something she hadn’t noticed before. There was a large leather bag sitting on the corner of the porch. There was no telling just how long it had been there.

Dawn moved towards it, crouching down on her knees to open the bag. It smelled old and museum like. Maybe it was one of Nate’s bags that he accidentally left on the porch the day he arrived? With a shrug, Dawn decided against opening it, she really didn’t want to face the wrath of Nate, though to be honest she didn’t have any idea what form his wrath would be like. Nate was an enigma. Whatever possessed Buffy to marry him in an alternate timeline? She stood up and grabbed the handle of the bag and headed back into the house.

The smell was really terrible.
_______________________________________
Buffy loved when her plans worked. They so rarely did. If anything, the worst that was happening to the watchers and Xander was a grim interrogation and maybe a few kicks to the ribs. She couldn’t believe the fact that she’d let them convince her to get caught with her and Anya anyway.

“Ouch,” Buffy spat, as one of the soldiers pushed her forward with the point of his gun.

“There is much to be said for your hospitality,” Anya complained beside her.

The soldiers weren’t exactly talkative.

“If you weren’t going to carry on the conversation, you could have at least piped in some music into the hallways,” Buffy commented.

“Shut up!” barked one of the men behind Anya.

“Ooh! He speaks!” Anya commented.

At last they reached a cell and without a moment’s hesitation, Buffy and Anya were thrust in.

Immediately Anya commented on her rough treatment.

“Why exactly are we doing this again?” Anya asked, “I could be someplace much more enjoyable. Arashamahar is nice this time of year.”

“Dawn told me it was dark 24/7,” Buffy responded. “That can’t be good for the complexion.”

“On the contrary, the natives don’t suffer from skin cancer.”

“What about the oppression from their vengeance demon overlords?” Buffy retorted.

“There is that…” Anya admitted.

The two girls lapsed into silence.

“I thought the plan was to get Amy out, not sit in this cell,” Anya said, breaking the silence.

“I’m waiting until we aren’t being watched. Of course now that I’ve said that we’re going to be must see TV. That’s right you stupid military morons! I know you are watching me.”

“It would be funny if it wasn’t true. Maybe some sort of distraction?” Anya offered.

“Or to hell with that plan?”

“Yeah, ok,” Anya agreed. In a flash and a waft of smoke, Buffy and Anya teleported out of the cell, and into Amy’s in another part of the facility. The moment they appeared, alarms sounded and lights flashed.

“Oh, thank the goddess!” Amy whispered, from her position lying on the floor of her cell, her eyes closing with pain.

Buffy cringed at the sight of the former rat. Cuts, bruises and burns marked Amy’s naked skin. The witch made no effort to cover her modesty. It was obvious that she no longer had the energy to.

“Xander’s not going to like this!” Anya remarked.

“The hell with Xander,” Amy continued to moan. “I don’t like it get me out.”

Buffy shrugged. “Ok, because we were planning to decorate before we left,” she joked.

Amy attempted to laugh but it hurt too much. As carefully as she could, the slayer picked up Amy and put her over her shoulder, causing the witch to groan in pain.

“We’ll deal with the internal bleeding when we get home,” Buffy noted. “And I want to get this over with before I run out of steam.”

There was a flash and more smoke, and, just as the soldiers arrived to point their inadequate weapons, the three women vanished.

Of course, a few of the men in uniform recalled later that they distinctly saw two of the three flip them the bird before vanishing.
______________________________________
Tbc..



 
Mmmm Cookies
 
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Thanks to BTL for the beta. She rocks my socks.
___________________________________
Chapter 24: Mmmm Cookies

Buffy, Amy, and Anya teleported back to the house. The first thing that hit Buffy was the fact that it didn’t smell anymore. A quick scan of the house and Buffy decided that it looked rather…clean.

Good for Dawn, Buffy noted to herself as she hefted Amy on to the couch.

“Do we have to rescue the boys now?”

“I think they can take care of themselves,” Buffy noted, leaving the living room for a moment to find the trusty first aid kit.

“What are you talking about? Giles is mortal. Mortal. Those military men can put tubes in Rupert’s tender skin! He could be naked and full of tubes!”

Buffy shook her head trying to get that image out of her brain.

“If you are that worried about him, you can go and get him. I’m slightly busy with Amy,” Buffy said indicating the witch that was passed out on the couch. “We had a plan.”

“I think your plans suck,” noted the vengeance demon with a grumpy face.

“Think about it this way,” Buffy responded with a soft smile as she bent over Amy, “Right now, Giles is probably speeding away from the scene of a very large explosion.”

“He’s probably having more fun than we had too,” Anya pouted. “I was happier when I thought he was full of tubes.”

“Your mind works in very strange ways.”

“I like how my mind works.”

From somewhere in the basement there was a loud crash.

“Either you have large rats, or someone human-y or demon-y is in your basement,” Anya noted inspecting her nails.

“Care to go and check it out?” Buffy asked.

Anya sighed. “I guess, but if I suffer any kind of flesh wound you are the one I’m complaining to.”

“You always complain to me,” Buffy noted with a smile.

As Anya headed towards the kitchen, Buffy had to shake her head. Anya had grown on her so much since she’d come back from the brink of death last year. Maybe it was an affinity with someone else who’d lived a lifetime or two. In fact Anya was approaching best friend status. Not that Buffy would ever tell Willow that.

Buffy disinfected several of Amy’s cuts before she heard any other sort of noise from Anya.

And it was a scream.

Buffy jerked her head at the noise and was instantly on her feet and moving towards the kitchen before she was halted by Anya’s hand on her shoulder behind her.

“You really should talk to that sister of yours,” Anya noted with a disgusted look on her face. “She is doing unnatural things with bunnies down there,” Anya cringed.

“Dawn?” Buffy called out to her sister, her eyebrow raised in question at Anya’s suggestion. “Dawn?”

Slowly, Dawn ascended from the basement, her hands covered in bright yellow dish gloves, and she was wearing old ratty pyjama bottoms and a shirt that had seen better days, which had a large picture of a rabbit on it.

“Dawn?” Buffy started, but was cut off by her sister and the gesture she made with her gloved hands.

“Don’t! I got back here, and it was gross. I’ve been cleaning pretty much non stop. I’m so racking up the brownie points here. Hence the ratty clothes. And then I went down stairs to go some laundry, and there’s a body down there. A dead decapitated body…”

“A body?”

“A mmmm cookies demon,” Dawn explained.

“Mmmm cookies?” Buffy asked, another perplexed look on her face.

“M’Fashnik,” Anya noted. “It was the one calm and reassuring thing down there. Oh the rabbit horror.”

“Just what were you doing down there with the body of a M’fashnik demon?”

“And the bunnies!”

“I was attempting to move it, so I could get it up the stairs and bury it in the back yard. I tripped, okay? Mmmm cookies is heavy, and I fell into a box containing Dawn the early years….”

“And your obsession with all things bunny? Yes, I remember that phase,” Buffy recalled. “So you were reminiscing with M’Fashnik and your Thumper collection?”

“Yep.”

“I can see why that would disturb Anya,” Buffy noted. “Thank you for cleaning the house,” she finished with a smile.

“Brownie points. I’m totally collecting.”

“M’Fashnik didn’t disturb Andrew’s collectables did he?” Buffy asked, slightly worried. Nerd angst was something she didn’t want to have to deal with.

“Boba Fett is still in his display case,” Dawn confirmed.

“Small blessings,” Buffy responded.

“There was also a bag on the porch when I got here, and, you know, taking refuge from the smell, I saw it,” Dawn commented.

“Bag?” Buffy raised an eyebrow in query.

“Yes, bag, brown, leather, has handles. I wasn’t about to open it. I left it outside. Baby mmmm cookies could be in there.”

“Or something bunny like,” added Anya. “On the other hand it could be a bag of money. Let’s open the bag.”

Buffy turned to her friend with her hands on her hips for a moment. “I thought you were worried about Giles?”

“Pfft, he’s an adept sorcerer, he can handle himself,” Anya muttered. “I want to know what’s in the bag.”

“Right,” Buffy noted, “and we must not say no to the vengeance demon. Anya, Amy is lying here, bleeding, and you are concerned about mysterious luggage?”

“Hey, at least she’s not talking about how much the bag is worth or how Amy is going to cost us because she doesn’t have medical insurance,” noted Dawn.

“Not helpful, Dawn,” Buffy sighed.

“Don’t mind me,” Amy moaned, regaining consciousness. “Though I am a bit chilly. Dawn, could I trouble you for some clothes?”

They all turned their attention back to Amy, just as a loud blast could be heard in the distance, rattling the windows.

“I’m thinking mission accomplished then?” asked Dawn, turning to head up the stairs.

“Sounds like,” Buffy confirmed.

“Now we just have to wait for them to get home,” added Anya.

“Then maybe we can get back to normal,” Buffy sighed. “I have a wedding I’m supposed to be planning you know.”

“I thought that was a myth!” snarked Dawn from upstairs.

“Ha, ha,” deadpanned the Slayer.
________________________________________
When the three vehicles returned to the Summers’ driveway, Amy was dressed and sleeping peacefully on Dawn’s bed upstairs. The beheaded M’Fashnik demon was safely buried in the backyard and the offending bunnies had been returned to their box in the basement.

The two vampires ran in, blankets over their heads as protection from the sun overhead. The moment Spike was in the house he started complaining.

“And just why the hell were we there? If we were just going to sit in the bloody car the entire time?” he ranted. “Could have stayed here and relaxed.”

“You wouldn’t have been happy if you’d have been left behind,” noted Giles as he walked in, smelling of smoke and with a large smudge of soot across his face.

Buffy walked up to her fiancé and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It really smelled here anyway, according to Dawn. You would have had to help her clean up.”

Soon, the living room was housing the entire team, most of them smelling like smoke and something strange the Buffy couldn’t place. Molly curled up on the couch and uttered a total of three words before falling asleep. Anya sat herself down on Giles’ lap. Angel paced.

Graham was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. From her place on the floor by Willow’s feet, Dawn stared at her ex boyfriend. As the team started to tell Buffy and Anya what had happened after they were captured, Dawn wondered just how much this whole situation could have been avoided if she’d never gotten involved with him.

Graham was staring at the floor, a pitiful look on his face. Dawn supposed it meant that he’d given up on being released. She tried to pay attention to the conversation around her. Really she did. It wasn’t until she realised that she was about to start crying that she knew something had to be done about this.

“So it’s over?” Dawn asked the group, when a lull fell over their conversation.

“I doubt it!” Angel growled.

“But I think we can handle it from here,” noted Nate smugly. “I thank you for your assistance, but I feel that it would best if you and Mr. Wyndham-Price returned to Los Angeles.”

Angel glared at the watcher.

“I agree,” Wesley noted, standing from his place on the comfy chair. “I believe Gunn, Cordelia, and Fred would like us to return as soon as possible. Will one of you be returning for Andrew?”

A groan issued from the group.

“We’ll give you bus fare for the nerd,” responded Spike, reaching into his pocket for the cash.

Once he’d handed the fare to the LA watcher, silence permeated the living room once again.

“So it’s over?” Dawn asked again, this time struggling to keep the fact that she was on the verge of tears hidden.

“For now,” Buffy responded, looking at her sister with concern.

Dawn nodded slowly and watched Angel and Wesley head towards the door. No farewells were exchanged until they were half out the door.

“Your wedding invites will be in the mail!” Buffy shouted out to the two men.

“What do we do now?” Xander asked, very tired. “Please tell me sleep, ‘cause that’s high on my priority list.”

Dawn stood up from her place on the floor, and stepped towards Graham, drawing the eyes of everyone who was awake in the room. Swiftly Dawn drew out an exacto knife from her back pocket, one she had found while cleaning earlier in the day. Standing menacingly over her ex boyfriend, Dawn earned a few exclamations from her family. They didn’t know if she was going to kill him, or something else.

“Vengeance?” Anya asked, pleased.

“Dawn!” Xander gasped.

Before any of them could move towards her though, she had cut Graham free of his bonds and was pulling him towards the front door.

Giles and Spike added their own exclamations once they knew what her plan of action was.

Molly awoke to see Dawn and Graham disappear into a portal through the front door.

“Oh, right so the one time I take time to catch up on some much needed sleep, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Have you no control on your sister?” Molly complained.

“None whatsoever,” Buffy responded. “If she gets hurt again, I am not going to be a happy slayer though.”

“I hope she knows what she’s doing,” Nate added.

“I hope she’s careful,” said Tara quietly.
_______________________________________
Tbc…




 
Mac and Cheese
 
Chapter 25: Mac and Cheese

Dawn stepped out of Graham’s closet, and leading Graham out before shutting the door behind her. She had to be extra careful now to make sure that she shut the door behind her all the time. She stared at the closet door for a moment before turning to face the boy.

“I’m so sorry,” she said trying to keep her tears back. She usually prided herself for being strong, for not letting tears fall too often, but for some reason today, with all that happened the last few days, and possibly from lack of blood, she was just too emotional.

Graham sighed. “Have you set me free?” he asked. “Or should I expect to find myself tied to a post or a chair again soon?”

Dawn shook her head. “You’re free. I won’t come after you again. And I’ll make it so no one else does either. I am sorry. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. You were the only one I knew who could get us the answers we needed.”

“I’m in the army Dawn, I’m trained to deal with interrogation.”

“Doesn’t make what I did to you right,” Dawn answered.

“You’d thought I’d betrayed you. I understand that,” he said. “I didn’t.”

“I believe you. I believe that you didn’t know that I was one of the demons you were tracking. I believe you thought I was totally innocent. Too bad I wasn’t exactly innocent.”

“I should have heeded Riley’s advice,” Graham tried to joke. “Never get involved with a Summers’ girl.”

“Wise advice,” Dawn sighed sadly. “Spike says that occasionally. Too bad he’s marrying one.”

“You know what?” he continued, “I’m glad I did get involved. The dimension hopping not withstanding. You’re a special girl Dawn. I didn’t want to break up with you. I had hoped that after the project you’d forgive me for breaking your heart.”

“The project is over now…”

“The explosion finished that off.”

“Right,” she responded, disappointed with his response. Dawn knew that she was still in love with him, but with everything that’d happened, she was pretty sure that any relationship with him would be wrong right now. Still she had hope that maybe some day...

It was time to get back to normal now though. Normal didn’t involve boyfriends whom you once kidnapped and had tied to a chair. Unless you were Buffy.

With quick steps, and before she lost her nerve, Dawn stepped towards Graham and planted a kiss on his lips. Then, equally quickly, she opened the closet door again, disappearing from his room.
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Buffy knew she was worried about Dawn. Even as she tried to concentrate on feeding the people in her house, burning the mac and cheese she was making in the process, she wondered if she was going to have to mount another rescue attempt.

Then Dawn entered the house through the back door. Tears were running down the teen’s face. Forgetting the new pot of mac and cheese, Buffy rushed to hug her little sister. The tender moment lasted only as long as they remained in the kitchen alone together. Nate entered the room, breaking up the hug. He immediately wanted to know what had possessed Dawn to do what she did.

“I don’t have to answer to you, Nate. Graham was my hostage. I kidnapped him. I decided I wanted to set him free. It’s over. I won’t have his freedom on my conscience.”

“I hope you know what you’ve done.”

“I do hope he takes your gesture in the proper spirit,” noted Giles, behind Nate. “I hope he doesn’t go straight to the military.”

“He won’t,” Dawn noted, resolutely. “He wouldn’t do that.”

The men watched in silence as Dawn brushed past them and made her way upstairs. Buffy knew that she needed time alone. Buffy wanted to have some words with her men folk.

“You two are possibly the most unfeeling, gits. Have you no feelings? Do you not know just how hard this has been for her? You don’t seem to realise that Graham was her first real boyfriend. Giles, you know just how torn up I was when Angel turned on me. You couldn’t have the same compassion for her?”

“Like that situation, Buffy, I might remind you that Graham’s organization threatened to destroy us all,” Giles responded.

“Watchers have never been known for their compassion towards the hearts of the young,” Spike mentioned in passing the door, on his way down to the basement. “Bit say she did laundry? I thought I heard about laundry and finding a head?”

Buffy nodded, only to groan when the smoke detector went off yet again, announcing the burning of Buffy’s second pot of mac and cheese.

“Oh please, Buffy,” came Tara’s voice from the living room, “let me make dinner?”
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Full from Tara’s mac and cheese, the assembled Scoobies, minus Amy and Dawn, sat around the dining room table, staring at the bag that Dawn had found on the front porch. They all eyed it with distrust.

“I think we should take it outside and burn it,” Xander offered. “It was left here during the house incident. It can’t be full of the good.”

“We shouldn’t open it in the house,” Willow mentioned.

Giles nodded.

“The question is, who left it?” Nate asked.

They all looked around the table, each of them unable to answer it.

Well, except for Buffy. She knew. But with Nate and Molly there, she didn’t want to go into too much detail. Her, I’m from the future thing was still well hidden from then, she thought. Buffy stood up from her chair and leaned forward, looking around the table. Then, Buffy pulled the bag forward, its leather sliding easily across the table. She grasped the sides of the bag and forced it open, earning a gasp from the people sitting around the table.

“You were certain that it was safe?” Giles asked his slayer, once it was clear that nothing vicious was going to pop out of the bag.

“Yes,” Buffy answered. “I knew.”

“How?” Xander asked.

Buffy didn’t answer, she just raised an eyebrow at him, an unspoken dare to challenge her.

“Right,” Xander said, resting his back against the dining room chair.

“Oh!” Willow exclaimed clueing in as Tara smiled.

“You could have just mentioned that little tid bit when Dawn was convinced that mmm cookies’ spawn was in there,” Anya griped. “Now she’s got me saying it!”

“I seem to be out of the loop,” Molly muttered. “Nothing new there, though.”

Buffy shot a sympathetic smile to the junior slayer and pushed the bag towards the watchers. “You two probably want to check all this stuff out. Just let Molly and I know when you want to do the thing.”

“The thing?” Giles questioned.

“Yeah. This is slayer stuff. Robin Wood dropped it off. His mom was the Slayer Nikki Wood. She was a Slayer in the 1970s.”

“Ah, bugger, the one I offed?” Spike groaned.

“The very same. Don’t worry about it, Spike,” Buffy continued, looking at her fiancé, “he’s not going to take revenge. Or if he tries, he’s going to regret the decision.” Buffy smiled. “What I suggest,” she continued to the rest of the group, “is that, Tara and Willow set up some wards over the house, just the basic, warning bells and whistles, Giles and Nate, you can do the watcher thing with the bag of slayer goodies, Xander, you can make up beds for those that don’t normally live here. Molly, go to bed.”

Molly slapped her hands down on the table and stood up. “That is something I can do.” The British Slayer walked out of the room with a weary trudge.

“She’s a good kid,” Spike remarked.

“Yeah, she really is,” Buffy remarked with pride.

Xander followed Molly up the stairs for fresh linens and the two witches set about to cast some protection wards.

“And what are we to do, love?” Spike asked, catching Buffy’s eyes.

“You, my darling vampire, are going to feed, and then you’re going to bed too. No late night TV watching. I’m going to the high school tomorrow to pick up Dawn and Molly’s missed assignments and then we are going to talk about the Slayer goodie bag,” Buffy explained.

“Don’t you think that you should get some sleep too?” Giles asked, holding open a book and flipping through the pages.

“Oh I will, when everyone is settled.”

“I call the couch!” Anya declared.

Buffy glared at her friend.

“What?”

“You have a place in Arashamahar that you can go to! You don’t need to take up valuable bed space here,” Buffy countered.

Anya pouted. “But I want to be with Giles, on the couch….”

It was then that Xander thumped down the stairs and back into the dining room. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that, and pray that there is an ample supply of ear plugs in this house.”

“They’re in the medicine cabinet upstairs,” Spike said, chuckling to himself. “Even I need them when I want a peaceful mid day vamp nap.”

“That was only that one time, and seriously, it wasn’t Dawn’s fault. She didn’t know you were home!” Buffy protested, defending her sister.
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Buffy walked into the school’s administration office and asked to see the principal with a big smile on her face. Even after a year being in her past self, she still felt weird knowing things and yet knowing that she shouldn’t know. Like the fact that she knew the secretary’s name was Brenda and that she was getting married in a month.

Robin Wood appeared smiling at first, but when he saw Buffy, his smile disappeared.

“Thanks for the bag you dropped off, by the way,” Buffy said following him to his office.

“I figured it was yours now.”

“Oh, it is. But I thought you wouldn’t give it up without a fight, or at least some hair pulling,” Buffy noted.

Robin ran his hand over his clean shaven head for a moment, and it took Buffy the time to watch that action before she realised her mistake. Instead of apologising, realising that she would just make it worse, Buffy shrugged.

“I came to get Molly and Dawn the assignments that they’ve missed. We’ve had quite the harrowing couple of days, but they are ready to start thinking about coming back to school. That is, if things stay the way they are right now.”

Robin exhaled harshly.

“Oh, don’t you tell me that if they can do homework, they can come back to school. Molly is a slayer, who’s been going above and beyond for a while now. She needs rest. And Dawn probably needs another blood transfusion. I’ll be keeping them both home until I am certain, as their guardian, that they are healthy enough to come back.”

“Are you threatening me, if I call children’s aid?” Robin said with that authoritative principal voice of his.

“Did you hear me threaten you?” Buffy asked sweetly.

“It was implied.”

“Implication is a matter of interpretation. Now, homework.”
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Dawn was sitting at the breakfast table, staring at her toast, coated with peanut butter, instead of eating it, when Buffy returned from the school. Buffy plunked down her history textbook next to her glass of orange juice.

“You didn’t,” Dawn groaned.

“I did. And after I get some blood into you, you are going to read chapter 5 and make detailed notes,” Buffy informed her sister.

At the other end of the table, Molly looked at Dawn with sympathy.

“Oh, I got you homework too,” Buffy informed the Slayer. “You have a science lab to do, and a short narrative story to write and four pages of algebra.”

“All she gets is history notes?” Molly whined.

“No,” Buffy laughed. “But we must not stress out she who needs blood,” Buffy mocked whispered.

“I think that’s a bloody brilliant idea for any person, not just of the female gender,” Spike growled, walking into the dining room, bleary eyed. He passed Buffy and placed a quick peck on her cheek before heading to the kitchen.

Buffy turned her attention to her sister and caught the teen’s eye. “Finish your breakfast,” Buffy ordered before heading into the kitchen following Spike.

“I’m worried about her,” Buffy noted, whispering as she and Spike hovered around the fridge. “She doesn’t look, well, like Dawn. It’s a mope fest in there.”

Spike stood behind his slayer and wrapped his arms around her in a protective gesture. “Give her some time, love. She’s got to be hurting. And you are right, she does look drained. She’s had her heart rebroken.”

“How did you get so smart?” Buffy asked playfully, turning around and giving Spike a kiss.

“Must be that great Oxford education.”

Buffy knew that Spike was truly concerned for Dawn, but he was trying to keep her calm. This whole keyness thing was something that they were all still getting used to and if Dawn kept it up, she was going to need transfusions of Buffy’s blood for the rest of her life.

But what if I die? came the Slayer’s next thought.

Spike felt Buffy go rigid in his arms for a moment and knew that something was wrong.

“Love?” he asked softly.

“What if I die?” Buffy whispered back. “Dawn needs my blood.”

“You aren’t going to die, Buffy,” Spike said firmly. “You’re going to live until this body is 122 years old.”

“You don’t know that. I’ve changed the past. I’ve messed up the future. Nothing is certain.”

I am certain.” Spike leaned in and kissed her, cutting off anymore predictions of doom.

They were still kissing when Dawn came in to put her plate in the sink. Unfortunately for Dawn they were making out in front of the sink, so the Key just rolled her eyes and set her plate down on the island before heading upstairs to be one with her pillow.
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Tbc…

 
Bag of Slayery Goodness
 
 
Another Night
 
 
Plots
 
 
Bugged and Taped
 
 
Happily ever after