Title: Road Trip Author: Joyce Maetta Email: zinehall@yahoo.com Disclaimer: Joss owns everything. Spoilers: Season 5 pre Joyce's surgery.

Summary: Buffy and Dawn visit their dad. A curious platinum haired vampire is on their trail.

Rating: PG 13 **************************** "Did you pack everything?" Dawn anxiously fluttered around Buffy. She was so excited.

With her back turned to the teen, Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yes...for the thousandth time." Buffy walked to the car stridently and opened the door. Dawn could be such a pain at times like this. "You wanna hurry up a bit there? That early start I'd planned? It's getting later and later."

Dawn's feet stopped but her body bounced hesitantly. " Oh no! I forgot my diary." She turned around and saw her mother leaning against the door jamb with a book held up.

"I didn't think you'd go a night without your ever faithful companion," Joyce said as she handed the book to the grateful teen.

"Mom, you're the best. I'm going to miss you." Dawn hugged and kissed her mom.

"Any room for me?" Buffy asked as Joyce put her other arm around Buffy and squeezed.

"You girls have a nice safe trip and say hello to your father for me. " Joyce watched her daughters pulled out of the driveway and waved until they could no longer see her. She turned and went back into the house. It would be three hours before the gallery opened. Might as well go back to bed. As she climbed the stairs to her bedroom, she felt a vague pressure building in her head. Probably working too hard.

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Three hours later, the girls pulled into the Los Angeles area. Dawn's eyes were wide open as she viewed the vastness of the city. Her ebulliance was catching. Buffy smiled. Finally Hank Summers had time to fit his daughters into his busy schedule and he was stateside. Lately, it seemed the only times when Hank was free were in other countries. He was too cheap to offer to fly the girls abroad. Buffy did not let the implications of this fact destroy her current state of happiness. Things were right in the world. She had a loving boyfriend, Riley Finn, and a loving father.

As they pulled into the driveway of Hank Summer's office, Dawn frantically combed her hair while looking in the visor mirror. "How do I look? Do you think Dad will like this hairstyle? He still thinks of me as a little girl..."

Buffy shook her head and thought "If only you knew.." The memories were there, concrete and immutable. Hence Dawn was real. Since the incident with the monk, Buffy often caught herself trying to figure out exactly how a bundle of green compressed energy could be a living human girl. And she found herself exhausted. Slaying was one thing. Trying to decipher such mysteries was another conundrum. Those angles belonged to Willow and Giles. And she would not let on to Dawn, who was if nothing else, one smart cookie.

************************************************************ This was the seventh cemetery of the night without any sign of the Slayer. Sunnydale Gables. What type of name was that for a final resting place? Spike was never one for patience. This was getting boring. He'd trudged all night only encountering the occasional vampire which he just.. bypassed. Not tonight. That was the Slayer's job ...which she should be on. Just where was the bitch? She should be out here all hellfire fury and burning light wailing on the demons. She should be dealing out punches and doing those oh so lovely double high kicks not to mention backflips. Spike envisioned himself being the recipient of those punches and kicks. Just thinking of her caused a certain stirring. Watching carefully for onlookers, Spike let his hand slip into his pants. Down boys. Not too soon. She's out her somewhere.