Kindred

There are no mistakes in destiny.

Disclaimer: insert default fan fic disclaimer here

Rating: somewhere between pg-13 and R. adult content. Eventually. But close to what the actual show is.

Summary: Set after "Him." Pre potentials and first. A diversion from season 7, mostly bc I didn't really like it. The scoobies rescue an ancient being and receive a gift of the highest honor. It's just not what they're expecting

Warning: There will be some sappy lines. You have been warned.

Buffy stood across the street under the shade of her neighbor's oak. She was quietly watching the scene unfold across the street. Xander was maneuvering a hand truck up the front walkway, Dawn following with a smaller box and Anya bringing up the rear with a clipboard shouting orders and ticking things. She pondered briefly going over to help, but a student with a fear of homework and test taking had kept her in the offices and hour longer than usual. She was beat. Xander and Dawn had offered to assist, so she is more than willing to allow them to do so. Watching the ends, her mind wandered back to the means.

"Tea?" Anya offered, beginning to search through cupboards.

"Anya. This is my house." Buffy said from the kitchen table.

Anya found a teacup. She dusted it off a bit and then smiled at a job well done. "So, everyone can use more tea."

"What, is this England now?" Buffy shook it off. "Anya. WHAT are you doing here? Better yet, how did you even get in here?"

"Through the front door. It was unlocked. You know that is very unsafe." Anya set the mug in front of Buffy, but then added quickly, "but this is a very safe neighborhood with well trimmed lawns."

Randomly finding her self wondering how tea leaves got into the little cotton bags, Buffy looked down into the tea. She watched the teabag float around the surface of the water. She was curious as to why the tea wasn't seeping through the water. She gave the bag an apprehensive poke. The water in the mug wasn't actually heated in anyway. She wrinkled her nose at the lame attempt. "Anya…" The slayer was getting a bit anxious about where this was going.

"Ok, ok, I guess, we should get down to business." Said Anya finally, sitting down in the chair across from Buffy. She paused for a moment, preparing the speech she had been rehearsing for the last day or so.

"Business," repeated Buffy, forgetting about the unmade tea and taking a sip. Realizing what she had just done she indiscreetly spit the flavored water back into the cup.

"Coffee is my forte," stated Anya offhandedly, noticing the bobbing teabag and her friends look of distaste, before continuing her pitch. "It turns out being a vengence demon is a very well paying profession. It kept me in a life style that I have become accustomed to and it had a dental plan."

Buffy all of a sudden had an inclination where this conversation was headed. She mentally began to prepare a speech about he ownr lack of financial stability.

"I can't afford my place anymore. I need to move in here," finished Anya. She sat across the table from Buffy, hands folded within each other.

Maybe not. "What?' sputtered Buffy. Talk about your left-field.

"I need to sell my apartment, change my stockbroker and move into your old bedroom." She didn't move, but continued to smile pleasantly. She hoped that Buffy couldn't see that it was also fake.

"No. Way." Buffy finally got out. "Are you kidding me? Is this left over vengeance demon humor? I wronged you in the past and now you're getting even?"

Anya scrunched up her eyebrows and didn't say a word. She was hoping lying would have worked. Sadly, Plan B was in order; the truth. A truth that was going to make her appear weak and vulnerable. Most importantly, human. She hated that. She stood up slowly and walked to the sink. Looking out into the backyard, at nothing in particular, the woman whispered, "I'm scared."

"Of not making rent payments?" asked Buffy. This was a joke right? A cosmic joke. One chosen in all the world to take in stray friends. It was like she was living out some strange version of the Real World.

For the first time in a good long while, Anya was at a loss for words. "D'Hoffryn," she finally mustered.

"What?" Buffy tried to keep up with the sudden changes in the atmosphere. She had only seen the vengence demon scared twice in the years of knowing her. Once had been their senior year when a demon was going to eat the entire town. Even then, she knew she just had to leave and the trouble would pass. The second time was when she was being jilted by her Xander-to-be. Again, she was able to run from that pain. Anya had tried to run this time, but since she came to Buffy, it meant she had nowhere else to run.

"He's not the one for idle threats. I've been attacked. More than once. And they are getting increasingly hard to run from." There was a sniff, but the vengeance demon was still had her back to Buffy. Anya hoped Buffy hadn't noticed her crying, but she knew slayer sense was pretty keen about what was going on around her. "I can't protect myself. I don't have powers anymore. I need-- " she paused reluctantly. "I need your help."

And so it went. The girl to Spike ratio just increased by one.

She watched the three unaware scoobies go into the house before crossing the street. She didn't want to follow them in the front door so she snuck around to the back yard. Closing the gate behind her, she instinctively surveyed the open ground in front of her. Willow's movement caught her eye. Actually, at closer glance it wasn't Willow's movement that caught her eye because Willow was sitting perfectly still with her eyes closed. However, she was being circled by floating terracotta pots and a plastic pink flamingo. This magical meditation had become habit since Willow return. She had started with pens and pencils. IT was when Dawn broke her concentration and a number 2 flew at her head, did Buffy request that Willow take it outside.

Not wanting to disturb her friend she crept quietly up the porch stairs and into the back door. To her excitement, the three stooges hadn't made it to the back of the house yet. Mentally patting herself on the back, she snuck up the stairs.

In her room she could hear Dawn and Anya arguing over something down the hall. She collapsed onto her bed. Like clockwork, the moment her eyelids had touched one another she was beckoned.

"Anya! No!" There was a door slam. "The agreement wasn't that I bunked with Willow, you would!" There was the pounding of a hardwood door. "Let me in!" Pound Pound. The noise was resounding in Buffy's head now. " BUFFY!"

Maybe if she didn't answer, it would go away.

No such luck. The door suddenly flung open. Dawn was silhouetted in the door frame "I knew you were home." She crossed to the bed. Buffy feigned sleep. "Buffy. BUFFY." Buffy finally grunted. "Buffy, Anya just stole my bedroom."

Buffy allowed her eyes to open. "You can't just steal a bedroom. It's stationary. I'm sure it's just where you left it. Did you look under the bed?" Dawn huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Fine." Buffy swung her legs to the floor and moved herself out of the bedroom. She padded down the hallway and tapped lightly on the bedroom in question.

"Willow will be a wonderful roommate. You two get along just fine," came the voice from within. "I just need my space. And I'm older." The door swung open. Buffy waved. "Oh, hi Buffy. Your little sister and I were having a grown up discussion about the logistics of this bedroom." Buffy could see that Anya had already taken one of Dawns teen posters down and replaced it with a flow chart.

"Logistics? Logistics! There are no logistics. You stole my bedroom!" shouted Dawn from behind.

"You said we could flip for it. I guessed heads. I won the room fair and square." Anya held up a nickel for emphasis.

"I thought you were joking!" said Dawn, now pushing in front of Buffy to fight her own battle.

"Why would I be joking about something like that? You just don't want to believe it because you didn't win."

"Buuuuuuuffffyyy" the little Summers whined.

Buffy's headache was throbbing louder. She looked back and forth between the two parties, trying to determine who she could appeal to the best, or more realistically, who she could pull rank with better. "Dawn…"

"Oh, no Buffy, you're not considering letting her have it, are you?" Dawn stomped.

"You know, I do get awfully lonely at times," Buffy lied through her teeth. "It's a big bedroom. More than enough for two people to share comfortably." Buffy watched Dawn's eyes widen enormously. She began to shake her head, not believing what her sister was hinting at. "Come on Dawn, it could be fun."

Dawn sputtered, looking from her squinting sister to the smug houseguest and back again. "Fine, if it's my room," she turned on her heel, "I'm going to go try out the hinges." She stomped down the hallway and slammed the door behind her.

Gloatingly, Anya smiled a toothy grin, before disappearing into her new bedroom letting the door close loudly behind her. Buffy could have sworn she just felt the back of her eye pop. But before she could think about it any further she heard a loud commotion from downstairs.

"Why did you have to do that!" Spike's voice shouted. Obviously, the sun had gone down enough to wake him up.

"I told you, I didn't mean to!" said Willow's voice before another door slam.

"Bollocks!"

"Did anyone learn manners in this house?" Buffy asked the family portrait on the wall. The overly happy family in the picture mocked her. "I didn't really want your opinion anyhow." She apprehensively descended the stairs.

Sure enough she found Spike and Willow in the kitchen. "What, pray tell, is going on down here. You're gonna raise the dead. And we get plenty of that, without your help, thank you." Buffy growled.

"This so called friend of yours just tried to behead me for no reason." He pointed a finger accusingly at willow, "I would watch her if I was you."

"I did no such thing!" Willow threw herself into a chair and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I was just going out for my nightly stroll, when WHAM! I get hit in the head with a plastic lawn ornament," explained Spike, gesturing emphatically.

"You STARTLED me. I didn't hear you come up behind me. I merely lost focus when I noticed you," retorted willow

"If you lose your focus too many times like that, someone's gonna lose something a bit more vital." Spike looked at Buffy for support. As did Willow.

"What, are you going to stick your tongue out at her now?" Buffy said nearly in shout. The straw had broken the camel's back. "Why can't you people just grow up and work out something on your own?" She grabbed a sweater off the back of one of the chairs. "I can't do everything on my own, you know!" she exited dramatically, slamming the door behind her in just payback.

"Blimey, who twisted her knickers?"