Title: Central Park Coffee
Rated: T
Author: BastardSnow
Disclaimer: I don't own any of it
Author's note: I cannot be blamed for the crossover here. Seriously. Not my fault. My boss forced me to watch the show. I swear. Also, I know the next crossover was supposed to be with Saved!, but seriously, that just wasn't working at all. As you may be able to tell from the fact that it's been more than 2 years since the last Coffee fic. This will technically have a Saved! crossover, but we're getting that out of the way early.
Author's note 2: Crossover with Gossip Girl. Spoilers up through 2x19 "The Grandfather." I know the timeline is all messed up, so here are some ages I'm going with: Xander – 28. Dawn – 22. Dan – 18. I know this meshes not at all with the Coffee timeline (in that Dawn has aged, Coffee-wise, 2 years in a matter of months (since Colorado)), but I figure that I can excuse this because Gossip Girl has an abstract relationship with time, and that's allowed to infect me.
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"That was Andrew," Willow said, hanging up her phone and putting it back in her purse. "He's sending an e-mail with an update on our girl. Buffy still not out?"
"Can you believe I'm related to this?" Dawn asked. They had stopped at a fast food restaurant so Buffy could check her hair in the mirror.
"Oh, right," Willow said, "like you wouldn't be this excited if you were meeting... Justin Timberlake?"
"Maybe," Dawn said. "But he's totally hot, and way famous. I barely even remember Lincoln Hawk."
"Well, you're younger than we are," Willow said.
"Do you remember Lincoln Hawk?"
"Well, no, not exactly," Willow said. "But I was never into popular bands as much as her, and after a while I kind of just paid attention to the Dingoes?" she shrugged.
"Ready," Buffy said, stepping out of the bathroom.
"Finally," said Dawn. "Can we go now?"
"Yup!" Buffy said, bouncing out the door. Dawn shook her head. She hooked her arm through Willow's and they strode through the streets, following Buffy's quick pace. They were only about five blocks from Xander's cousin's place, and after only a few more minutes of walking, they were standing outside the door of the Humphrey's apartment. Buffy looked nervous. Again, Dawn rolled her eyes. She stepped up to the door and knocked.
On the other side of the door, Dawn heard the sound of Faith's laughter pealing out from the apartment. She was greeted by the smiling face of an attractive young man whose smile and hair reminded her slightly of a young Xander. She smiled at him and opened her mouth to say hello when she saw his expression quickly go from happy to blank and all the way through to disgust.
He slid into the hall, apparently oblivious of both Buffy and Willow, shut the door behind him and grabbed Dawn roughly by the elbow.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he said. "Didn't you get it last time? Nobody here wants to have anything to do with you, Georgina."
Buffy cleared her throat. Dawn shook off her surprise and let her training kick in. She wrenched her elbow from the guy's grasp, grabbed his arms, spun him around and shoved him against the wall, then held her forearm to his throat, cutting off his air supply.
"I don't know what your problem is, buddy, but my name isn't Georgina," she said. "And any problems you have with her are not problems you have with me."
"Yeah," said Buffy, amusement apparent in her voice. "That's a whole different set of problems."
The apartment door opened.
"Uh, Dawn?" Xander said. "Why are you assaulting my cousin?"
* * * * *
They all sat around the table in the Humphrey's apartment.
"Okay, so let me get this straight," Rufus said. "You're not Georgina Sparks?"
Dawn shook her head. "No. Dawn Summers. All my life."
"You look exactly like her," said Jenny, the younger of Xander's cousins. "I mean, more like the 'Sarah' version of her, I guess, but still..."
"Sarah version?" Xander asked.
"She lied to me and introduced herself as Sarah," Dan said. "It was some crazy scheme she had to get back at Serena, who was my girlfriend at the time. It was a whole... thing. I'd rather not go into it too much, actually, but let's just say it involved a lot of deception and lies."
"Well, believe it or not, this isn't the first time this has happened to us," Buffy said. She took a sip of the tea Jenny had made. "Well, not to me or Faith or Xander, but we've met a couple other girls who look exactly like Willow."
Willow smiled a nervous, toothy smile.
"Oh my god!" Jenny exclaimed. "Trina Echolls!"
"We didn't actually meet her," said Faith, nodding. "Just her brother."
"And then there was Michelle in Chicago," Buffy said. "And all of her disturbing... uh... never mind."
"Anyway, it's not something we're unfamiliar with," said Willow.
Rufus shook his head. "Well... you kids have weird lives."
Xander smiled. "You're not wrong."
"Well, let me apologize again," Dan said. "I really don't normally attack girls."
"It's okay," Dawn said, smiling at him. "I get why you did. If someone had messed with me and my friends like that, I'd react violently too."
"Well, still, I should have made sure, first."
"Apology accepted," Dawn said.
"Well, now that that's all cleared up," Rufus said, rubbing his hands together, "what do you kids say we have some dinner?"
"Oh, yeah," Dan said. "Dad made his famous chili. I hope you guys have strong stomachs."
"I ate Buffy's cooking twice a week for a whole summer," Xander said, as Dan, Rufus and Jenny headed for the kitchen to get place settings and check on food. "I think I'm good."
"Hey!" Buffy said, swatting Xander on the shoulder.
"Oh, don't worry, Buffy," Dawn said, wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulder. "I usually messed with your cooking before you served it. It's... probably why we're not dead."
Xander and Willow toasted Dawn as Buffy sat there pouting. Jenny smiled as she set out bowls and spoons, and Dan brought glasses of water.
"First meal you made when I got back to Sunnydale," Faith said, "my first thought was 'Man, and I thought prison food tasted bad.'"
The Humphreys all froze in place, Dan and Jenny staring at her.
"Oh, she's uh, reformed," Xander said, tossing his arm over her shoulder. "Youthful indiscretions, and all that."
"Yeah," said Willow. "Totally all in the past."
"Well good," Rufus said, bringing a large pot over to the table. "I'm sure all of us have things we did that we're not proud of. I certainly do. And while I was never in prison, I have seen the inside of more than my share of jail cells. Young and alone on the road is not a good formula for responsibility. A couple of my band mates nicknamed me D&D."
"Dungeons and Dragons?" Xander asked.
"Drunk and disorderly," Faith said. "I've... been there a few times, too, mostly back in Boston."
"I stole from a dear family friend," said Dawn. "And... other people, too."
"Ditched school for almost a month to work for a fashion designer," said Jenny.
"Cheated on my boyfriend with my best friend," said Willow.
"Who later left his own fiancé at the altar, thank you," Xander said, hand raised.
"Hung out with a guy in order to use the tragedy of his mother's death to improve my chances to get into college," said Dan.
Silence reigned at the table, as they all turned to Buffy.
"Oh," she said. "Turns, right. Um... I burned down my high school gym, then moved to Sunnydale where I was later accused of murder."
The Humphreys stared at her, too.
"I um... was acquitted, though."
"Well, anyway," Rufus said to Faith. "None of us is perfect. You've put your past behind you, and are doing better. That's all anybody can ask."
Faith smiled at him.
Rufus took the lid off the pot with a flourish. "Now let's eat."
* * * * *
"But I think my favorite from that album was Take All of Me," Buffy said. While Xander, Willow and Dawn cleared the table, she was sitting on the couch close to Rufus. Very, very close.
"That's… great," he said, finding it difficult to look at her. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty – she was – but she was looking up at him with puppy dog eyes that just made him uncomfortable. And it didn't help that Dan, Faith and Jenny were right there snickering at them.
"It just… it kind of spoke to me, you know?" she said, placing a hand over her heart. "Here."
"So Faith," Dawn said, walking over to the couches. "How was your big, romantic dinner date last night?"
Faith looked up at her, confused. "My um… my what?"
Dawn smiled and turned around, back toward the kitchen. "The, you know…" she saw Xander slicing his hand across his neck. "The really nice dinner… that… nevermind, I guess."
Faith looked over at Xander. "The really nice what?"
"Well," Xander said. "I was going to take you out to a nice dinner last night. You know, since I asked you out, and we never actually got around to going on a date. I thought it would be nice."
"Why didn't you, then?" Faith asked.
Xander shrugged. "Well… you know…"
"I don't know," she said, standing up and walking over to him.
He sighed. "After making a reservation and ordering a limo and everything… I got back to the room, and found you… and you had just finished setting up all the bread, and the cold cuts. And the beer. And it just looked like you had put a lot of work into that, you know?"
"It was stale bread," Faith said.
"I know."
"And the cold cuts were from a convenience store."
"I know."
"And the beer was really cheap, and not actually very cold," Faith said.
"I'm aware of that, too," Xander said.
"And you wanted that, instead of some fancy restaurant?"
Xander shrugged. "I lived on worse than that for a year after high school. And to be honest, Faith, I didn't care what we ate. It could have been caviar and champagne or worm-infested apples and dirty water, and I would have enjoyed it just the same, because the important thing for me is that I was there with you."
Faith looked up at him for a second, and then pulled him down into a deep and lasting kiss.
And Willow, who had been watching the scene along with everyone else, leaned over to Dawn and said, "Well, somebody's getting lucky tonight."
* * * * *
"That's a wonderful group of friends you've got there," Rufus said. He and Xander were currently perched on the fire escape outside of Dan's room, drinking a couple of beers.
"It's too bad Giles couldn't make it," Xander said. "I would have liked for you to meet him. He's a great guy. Kind of... rode herd on us kids back in Sunnydale. Helped us out a lot."
"I'd love to have met him," Rufus said. "How are your parents, by the way?"
Xander took a deep breath, then released it slowly. "I don't really know," he said. "We haven't spoken much since I called off my wedding. I kind of made sure they got out of Sunnydale okay, and that... was about it." He furrowed his brow. "I don't have to tell you how they... were. Or are."
Rufus shook his head.
"I send Mom an e-mail every few months. Occasionally she writes back." Xander shrugged. "I'm not bitter about it, not anymore, but these people... they're my family now, you know?"
Rufus nodded. "I only hope my kids are lucky enough to have... family like this, when they're your age."
Xander smiled.
"Listen," Rufus said. "I know things are going well, and you've got your friends here. But if you ever need a place to crash, or just somewhere to get away for a little while, you're always welcome here. We'd love to see more of you."
"I appreciate it," Xander said. "I'd love to make it up here more often. My job kind of takes me all over the country, so I don't actually have much free time. We're actually here on business, technically."
"What business is that, exactly?" Rufus asked. "I've never been clear on what it is you do."
Xander smiled. "I'm kind of the... co-head recruiter for an exclusive all-girls school in Cleveland," he said. "We're here to talk to a student, actually."
"Oh yeah? What school?"
"Some rich school in Manhattan," Xander said. "Um... Car... no... Con... yeah. Constance... Ballet?"
"Constance Billard?" Rufus asked. "You're trying to recruit a girl *away* from Constance Billard?"
"Uh, I guess," Xander said. "Is that bad?"
Rufus shook his head. "No... it's just... well, Constance Billard is full of very rich girls who are used to always getting what they want. Also, a diploma from Constance Billard can really help a girl get into the college of her choice. I've actually managed to scrape together enough money to send Jenny there, and Dan goes to the sister school, St. Jude's. They're very good schools, and the kids there are unlikely to want to leave, even if it's only because they're very in tune, in touch, and ingrained in New York high society."
Xander nodded slowly, taking a sip from his beer. "Well, we've got a really good pitch."
Rufus smiled. "Xander... I don't want to discourage you," he said. "But –"
"But you're about to anyway," Xander said, smiling. "It's cool, Uncle Rufus. It's a good school. I get it."
"A great school."
Xander held up his hand. "Listen... this isn't going to make a lot of sense to you, but just hear me out. Back in Sunnydale, my friends and I did some stuff. Not bad stuff, but we were kind of... important to the town. When Sunnydale was dying – and trust me, everyone there knew it was – there are some measures that we took to... ensure the safety of the people there. Measures that affected people far and wide.
"And now we have a responsibility to these people – these girls, actually– to ensure that they have help, if they need it. Now you said these girls are rich, for the most part. That's great, but sometimes money isn't enough. Sometimes what they need is someone who can relate. Someone who knows what they're going through." Xander shook his head. "Maybe we approach her, and she says no. She writes us off, tells us not to contact her. That's fine. But we have to try."
Rufus took a moment to soak that all in, then slowly began to nod. "Okay. You're right, there's a lot of that I don't understand. But if for whatever reason you and your friends feel you have some sort of responsibility to this girl, then by all means, you should do what you feel is right." He patted Xander on the back. "I can't believe how much you've grown since I last saw you."
"What?" Xander said, mocking offense. "I'm only like 10 pounds heavier. Okay, maybe 20."
"Not what I meant, Xander," Rufus said, patting him on the back.
"I know," Xander said, smiling.
"Hey, and maybe Dan or Jenny even know this girl," Rufus said. "That could be a way to talk to her without seeming creepy."
"Always a bonus," said Xander.
"What's her name?" Rufus asked, taking a sip of his beer.
"Blair Waldorf," Xander said.
Rufus spewed his beer out over the fire escape. He leaned on his elbow and looked up at Xander. "You're recruiting Blair Waldorf?"
"Uh, yeah," Xander said. "Is that a bad thing?"
Rufus sighed. "Well, it... could be interesting." He leaned into the apartment and called out for his son. "So your friend Buffy," he said. "She's a little..."
"Intense? Insane?"
"I was going to go with odd," Rufus said.
Xander shrugged. "She's a fan. If you've got any old album covers around, it would really mean a lot to her if you could sign one. She... well, we all lost a lot when Sunnydale went down."
"Of course, no problem," Rufus said, smiling. "It is nice to have contact with fans."
"Probably because it happens so rarely," Dan said, sticking his head out of his bedroom window. "You guys need something?
Rufus smiled at him. "This is going to sound weird," he said. "But we're... going to need you to call Serena."
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End Chapter 2