Title- In the Shadow of the Stones

Disclaimer- Whedon owns all, I'm just playing.

Rating- PG-13

Characters/Pairing- Buffy & Dawn Summers

Timeline - Post series

Word Count- 2,533

Warnings- none

Summary - Buffy hadn't expected to see her sister here.

Author's Note- written for Cmk418 for the holidays 2018 on Sunnydale Scribe for the prompt Buffy & Dawn, memories. It's post series with only a nodding glance at the comic book canon.

X X X

Buffy had been surprised to get her sister's text asking her to come to Nevern to the site of Pentre Ifan. She wasn't expecting Dawn until next week in London where the Scoobies would all make their yearly pilgrimage for the celebration of life for all those they had lost: Mom, Tara, Anya, Robin and Jenny. It still pained Buffy to think about it, and she'd been glad business had kept her in Wales for the moment. If she were busy, she couldn't think too hard on any of it, haunted by memories of Sunnydale.

She'd been in Wales to help Myfanwy, a twenty year old Slayer get on her feet after her Watcher had been killed, and to help hunt down something she called a Gwrach y Rhibyn. Buffy couldn't even begin to pronounce it but knew it was a hag-like creature that lured people to their deaths. Buffy wondered if Dawn had been dispatched to replace Myfanwy's Watcher, knowing her sister was moving when they last communicated, but Dawn refused to enlighten her as to where. It was 'secret.' They were still, even a handful of years later, rebuilding the Watcher's Council and hopefully doing a better job of it than before. Buffy wanted it to be less rigid and to have the Slayers more empowered to make decisions. The gaggle of new Slayers needed all the help they could get when it came to research though. The Watchers had value but Buffy wanted the decisions on what needed to be done to be shared between Watcher and Slayer.

Pausing several yards from the Neolithic standing stones site, Buffy drank it in. Pentre Ifan was beautiful, stark and lonely, yes, but beautiful none the less. In the distance pastures sprawled, marked by ancient stone fences that had once been animal pens for Bronze aged man. Only a few trees dotted the landscape. Pentre Ifan's capstone, an immense rock that Buffy thought looked ready to fall down, balanced on tips of a few other massive rocks. She had no idea why it hadn't given up the ghost and come to pieces but knew it had been standing there for at least five thousand years. For a brief moment, the memory of the rock Acathla had been in surfaced, bringing with it thoughts of sending Angel to hell and Buffy had to fight it off. 'Nothing dark,' she told herself. She wanted to enjoy this unexpected time with her sister.

Dawn sat in the grass, sketchbook on her lap as she surveyed the standing stones. Her long hair fluttered in the brisk breeze. She wasn't entirely alone. A couple of tourists circled the stones taking pictures. Buffy strolled over to Dawn who looked up at her, smiling.

"You made it. I was beginning to wonder."

"You know how I am with cars. Driving on the other side of the road isn't helping." Buffy flopped down next to her, hauling Dawn into a hug. "It's great to see you."

"You too." Dawn kissed Buffy's cheek.

"This is a surprise."

"I've never been to Wales, and I love standing stones so a little vacation since I was heading to the UK anyhow seemed in order, especially after the trauma of moving apartments." Dawn shuddered.

Buffy scowled. "Your last email said you've been given a new Watcher assignment but you didn't tell me where. I was wondering if it was here." She half wished it wasn't anywhere. She never wanted Dawn in this life but in the end, it seemed natural she was. Dawn wanted to protect her as much as Buffy desired the same for Dawn.

"Well, it would be exciting to be sure, but no. I wanted to tell you in person because I wasn't sure how you'd feel about it." Dawn rested the sketchpad on her knees.

Buffy saw she hadn't sketched Pentre Ifan as it was but rather she drew the stones inserted into a dome earthwork. "Before I address that ominous statement, tell me why did you make it look like a Hobbit house?"

"Oh, they think many of the standing stones were covered in earth. There are two that actually are in Wales, Bryn Celli Ddu and Barclodiad y Gawres, though I think they're both restored to look like that as opposed to being found that way," she replied, pronouncing the Welsh with ease. Buffy envied Dawn's polyglot abilities. "I plan to go there and then catch the train to London from Holyhead if you're interested.

Buffy considered that for a moment. "Sounds good. I was leaving that planning to the last minute. I like the sketch, by the way."

"Thanks. And just so you know, I've moved to L.A.," Dawn said in a rush. "Now that it's no longer in hell."

Buffy made a face. No wonder Dawn hadn't wanted to tell her. She was still processing how a city the size of L.A. could have been sucked into hell and then spat out like nothing had happened, except that everyone remembered it being gone. Giles and a few of the Watchers who hadn't been taken out by Caleb had all but blown up Skype debating that one. "That's Faith's territory. With Angel's team there too, I wouldn't think she'd need a Watcher."

"Giles has me on a secret special project." Dawn shrugged, and Buffy waited for her to elaborate. She didn't, making Buffy mildly irritated. She hated secrets anymore. "And I met a guy."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Since when? What's his name? What does he do?"

Dawn chuckled. "Let's classify that as it's too new, and I don't want to jinx it by dragging family into it just yet." Dawn shook her head, and Buffy nudged her. What did she think Buffy would do? Tie him down and torture his perverted plans for her baby sister out of him? "He knows a lot about altered memories so it makes me…I don't know. We click. Anyhow, Angel and Faith say hi. Angel says if either of us makes it to Ireland on this trip, take lots of pictures for him."

Buffy smiled. That request surprised her not at all. Her heart did tug though at the mention of altered memories. "Sounds like a plan."

"You're okay with it, though, right? Me living in L.A?"

That heart catching thing sharpened. Was Dawn really this nervous about her reaction? Had she become an ogre? The soul-ripping memory of being thrown out of her own home by the Potentials surfaced, and Buffy had to physically shake it free. "I feel comforted by it, truthfully," she replied, and the tension fled Dawn's body. "Faith and I have made our peace. Angel will look out for you forever. It's a good place for you, if that's where you want to be."

Dawn nodded slowly. "Other than the expense of it, I'm enjoying it."

"But you can't tell me about the secret Watcher assignment?"

"No, well, I can tell you that I'm to be keeping an eye on Spike and Illyria."

Buffy sucked in a ragged breath. Willow had updated her on the elder god that inhabited one of Angel's former friends. Willow had been saddened by it all. She had liked Fred, even though she thought Fred might have been coming on to her. Faith said Willow might have been better off with Fred. "That's very dangerous, Dawn."

"I know. But I trust Spike to keep me safe if need be, in spite of it all." Dawn's blue eyes darkened. Buffy knew what she was thinking about. She wasn't sure if her sister was as forgiving as Buffy had been about the darkness between her and Spike.

"You really do, don't you?"

Dawn got to her feet, and walked toward the standing stones, now deserted. Buffy got up, moving in her wake. "I guess we've never really talked about it. It's hard."

Buffy put a hand on Dawn's shoulder. "About Spike?" She thought they had talked that to death to be honest.

Dawn shook her head. "More about Mom. Even though I have all these wonderful memories of her, and I feel the love for her deep to the bone." She pressed a hand to her chest. "Most of it is fake. I remember being a real bitch after you burned down Hemery and forced us to move to Sunnydale. I remember you kissing my skinned knee after Abby McCormick knocked me down in grade school, and you pushed her off the swing set in retaliation but none of that happened.

Buffy's throat tightened. She hated to think about this. It's why they never talked about it. "I know. I wish the reality of how you came to be wasn't true. You're my sister in all ways that matter. You know that, right?"

Dawn reached up and covered Buffy's hand on her shoulder. "I know. I feel the same but it doesn't change that I was inserted into everyone's memories, that I'm not entirely human."

"And the new guy gets this?" Buffy asked dubiously.

"He does," Dawn shrugged, pulling away from her. "But that's not what I want to talk about. He gets to stay private for now. You asked about trusting Spike, and I do because after you were...gone." Dawn paused, frowning. "Anyhow, Spike really looked out for me. They all did, Giles, Tara, Willow, Xander, even Anya. As bad as those days were, I hold them close because I know I was real then. Everything from then on is the truth and that matters in a way I can't explain."

Buffy put her arms around her, hugging her. "I wish you didn't have to deal with things like this."

"It's not as bad as it sounds. I don't think about it too often. But at this time of year, when we do the celebration of life, it comes to the surface."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Dawn shrugged. "Just if I look a little sad, ask that again and promise to do what I ask for. If I need space, give it to me. If I want to go out, let's go out."

"I get the picture. I can do that," Buffy assured her.

Dawn wrinkled her nose. "I hope so. We're bad at that, all of us. We like to decide we know best and ignore what people are saying."

Buffy sighed. She couldn't argue that. She was guilty of deciding what was good for the group without consulting anyone. "I know but I'll try my best. I wish I knew this event made you sadder than maybe I guessed. I tend to forget that Willow and Tara stepped into the Mom role when I was gone." She hated to think that she hadn't considered Dawn mourned Tara more than just as a friend.

"I like the celebration because we concentrate on the good of their lives. That's what it's all about. I embrace that time of my life hard, even the scary stuff, like being on the tower, knowing I could die because that was when I first lived. So what if my happy memories include sitting in a crypt with a whining vampire griping about not being my babysitter when you know damned well he loved every second of it."

Buffy snorted. "Of course he did. It's strange, knowing what Spike was capable of, I trusted him to keep you safe, the person most precious to me. Even if, I'm sure he taught you things I don't even want to know about because Spike never could behave."

"No, he never could." Dawn touched one of the standing stones. "I swear I can feel the energy of the ages in this stone. Think about it, Buffy. It's been here nearly seven thousand years or maybe more. Imagine all it has witnessed."

Buffy ran a finger along the stone, examining its cool, rough surface. She didn't sense any energy but would like to imagine she could. "It's amazing. I think that's one of the things I like best about traveling Europe and the UK, all that history that America doesn't quite have. It's funny, I remember hating history classes and Willow dragging me through them kicking and screaming but now that I'm older, I want to go back and kick my teenaged self in the butt."

"You had a lot of other things to worry about."

"True but I was lazy as well." She remembered being stunned at her SAT scores, holding proof she wasn't just average of intellect like she believed. "Will you have time to go to Ireland for a few days at least?"

"Oh, I can make the time to at least hit Galway. It'll make Angel smile and he doesn't do that enough. And will you be coming to visit me in California?" Dawn pulled out her phone and beckoned Buffy in for a selfie with Pentre Ifan.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to."

"Smile." Once Dawn took the picture, she nudged Buffy. "Okay so I can see how coming to L.A. could be a minefield for you but if you're just there for a visit with me, it should be fine. It would be great to just hang out."

"Okay well, once you get settled, I'll manage to swing a visit somehow," Buffy promised, thinking she didn't have to see Faith or Angel if she wasn't ready to. Or Spike either, because he was there wasn't he? He couldn't be too far away if Dawn was meant to keep an eye on him and Illyria. She took a deep breath. "Because I might want to meet this man of yours at some point."

"If I haven't kicked him to the curb by then." Dawn smiled.

"You've been listening to Faith too much." Buffy shoved her lightly.

"There is a simple elegance to her love 'em and leave 'em attitude."

"I'm not sure elegance is the right word there but it is unencumbered."

"Maybe by then I can talk about the secret project."

Buffy nodded. "Good. You know, Dawn, you look very happy."

"I am. I know being a Watcher probably isn't what you imagined for me but it works."

Buffy put an arm around Dawn's shoulders. "So long as you're happy."

"I am, very much so." Dawn tossed her head back, giving the standing stones a final appraisal. "Want to check out Cilgerran Castle? It's not far from here, and then tomorrow we can head north to Bryn Celli Ddu."

"A castle? Sure. I'm mostly off duty but I still have to help Myfanwy with the Gwrach y Rhibyn before I can go north."

Dawn grimaced. "Your pronunciation sucks. I'll see if I can help you two with the Gwrach y Rhibyn. It might take a spell to stop a witch or at least slow her down so you two can slay her."

Buffy hated the idea of Dawn at risk but she was old enough to make her own choices. She had chosen this and Buffy couldn't stand in her way. "Thanks."

"Any time." Dawn hiked toward the parking lot.

Buffy followed thinking a castle would make for a fun new memory. She didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her sister so she planned to make the most of it.