School Hard
Buffy and Dawn came home to 1630 Revello Drive after having spent the summer visiting their aunt in New York. Most of their time was spent shopping, but they managed to sneak in a bit of sight-seeing. Buffy had been to their aunt's several times, but it was Dawn's first visit to the Big Apple. When they had first arrived she did the typical tourist thing, trying to make plans to see everything in the first day. Not long after dinner-time that day Buffy had had to carry her exhausted pre-teen sister back to their aunt's apartment after putting in a full day and managing to visit Central Park, the Empire State Building, and Coney Island, before returning to Central Park to enjoy their supper of sandwiches from a local mom and pop restaurant.
After exhausting herself the first day Dawn eased up a bit, realizing that she would never see everything New York had to offer in just one day. So the rest of their visit was a bit calmer and in truth more fun for all involved. They visited a few more sites and did a lot of shopping. On the last day Dawn insisted on seeing visiting the Statue of Liberty before they left for Sunnydale. Buffy and Dawn found themselves standing side by side on a high up observation deck on Lady Liberty, looking out on the other tourists and the city, "Look at all these people Dawnie. They are all busy with something, so many people all moving through their day, barely acknowledging one another's existence and totally oblivious to the true evils of this world." Buffy said dryly.
Dawn gently touched her sister's shoulder, "Didn't you tell me that that is the reason we fight those evils? To let the rest of the world go on being oblivious and enjoy their lives the way they want to live. I know you don't like to talk about what happened to you when we fought the Master, but you know I love you right? And that I'll listen if you wanna talk. And I realize it might be something you don't wanna talk to your annoying little sister about, but you could always talk to mom. I know you guys think I'm oblivious to what goes on just because I'm 12, but I notice things, especially with people I care about. I'm a little worried about you Buffy." She said, looking up at Buffy with a sincere, but not pitying look on her face.
"Thanks Dawn," Buffy said wrapping her arm around her little sister's shoulders and giving her a reassuring hug, "I'll be OK, I've been getting better every day, coming here and seeing how excited you've been exploring the city has actually helped me a lot. I won't lie and say I'm over what happened, but I know that when I'm ready to talk I've got a watcher who goes above and beyond his calling, two great friends in Xander and Willow, a wonderful mother who fights hard every day in the same world as these people," She gestures at the city across the harbor, "And then is ready and willing to fight a whole other war with me after her full day of work, and on top of that I have this annoying little sister who is one of the most extraordinary people I have ever had the honor of calling my family and my friend."
Buffy's words brought a smile to Dawn's face and tears to her eyes as she wrapped her arms around the slayer's torso and hugged her tightly, "Well Buffy, I've really liked spending time in New York with you and Aunt Leila, but I think I'm definitely ready to go home. I've really missed mom and my friend Janice, and of course I missed Xander, Willow, and Giles too, heck I even missed Angel a little."
After a few more minutes they watched the sun set over the New York city skyline, "Come on Dawnie," Buffy said softly to the pre-teen who had almost fallen asleep standing up, "We've had a busy day today and we gotta be up early for our flight tomorrow, so whattaya see we head back to Aunt Leila's apartment and get some sleep?"
Buffy saw Xander face off against the vamp that had attacked him and Willow. He was obviously still working out, but he seemed to be a bit rusty on his training as the vamp got past him quickly. Buffy jumped in and landed a few punches on the demon before throwing him at a tree where he was dusted by a broken branch. "Hey Buffy. Welcome back to the 'Dale." Xander said from his position on the ground where the vamp had knocked him down.
"Yeah," Willow added, "When'd you get back?"
"Hey guys, good to be back. Mom picked us up at the airport around noon time. Xander, you know if you were to keep up with your training you coulda handled that vamp on your own. And Wills, hasn't Giles been training you too? Together you guys shouldn't have even broken a sweat against him."
"Well I will admit I've slacked off a little in the training department, but I've kept up my weight training and running." Xander said sheepishly.
"I kinda slacked off in both areas…not completely, but a little. We've been able to handle the new-risers, but we've avoided taking on any of the more experienced vamps on our own, per Giles' advice." Willow admitted.
"Well at least you guys have been working out and being smart about patrols, but you should commit to training and working out. Cause you won't have me to deal with if you get hurt, I'll tell my mom and Dawn why you keep having to be bandaged up…" Buffy trailed off letting her threat linger in the air.
Both Willow and Xander went wide-eyed, "But Buffy we thought we were your friends." Xander pleaded.
"You wouldn't really do that to us would ya?" Willow asked trying her puppy dog eyes on the slayer.
"Wills, yer cute with the puppy dog eyes and all, but you got nothing on Dawnie. So don't even try. Now come on guys, let's hit up The Bronze!" Buffy said with a smile stepping between her friends and wrapping an arm around each of them.
The trio hung out at The Bronze for a while dancing and catching up on one another's lives. Buffy left earlier than normal, wanting to spend some time with her mom, who hadn't seen her in three months. Xander and Willow decided to head home as well and left with Buffy. Xander was the first to leave the group as his house was near The Bronze, just across the invisible border that marked the start of the bad part of town. After saying goodnight their Xander-shaped friend Buffy and Willow set off toward Willow's neighborhood.
The two girls fell into a silence as they walked, Buffy was thinking through several things, especially what she felt when the Master was draining her. Many thoughts had run through her head, but the one that had stuck with her after Xander had revived her was that she wanted to see Willow again. She had felt sad as she felt the life leeching from her body, sadness for her sister who would have to grow up alone, sad that her mother would have to bury one of her daughters, something no parent should face, but even with that her most pervasive thought was wanting to see her red haired friend again. It was a thought and feeling she did not even realize she had.
Buffy was surprised when she found out she felt that way, not that she had a problem with homosexuality, or that she denied the possibility she might be gay. It was the power behind the emotion that surprised her. She had tried to find something to compare it to, but even the love she had for her mother and sister couldn't come close. So Buffy found herself contemplating these feelings once more as she walked alongside the very person that invaded her thoughts.
Willow had been crushing on Xander as long as she could remember, but ever since the Summers women had moved to Sunnydale and she had learned that the things that went bump in the night really did go bump in the night, she had become friends with these three women and the librarian/slash watcher Giles. The training and friendship she got from them had helped her boost her confidence. She also realized that the love she felt for Xander truly was no more than that of a close friendship. She had been able to move on, had even talked to him about it one night earlier that summer. The realization that she had misinterpreted her love for Xander made her wary about how she now felt toward her friend, Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer.
Her thought at the moment were similar yet unique to her from what Buffy was thinking. Every now and then one of them would notice the silence and start a short lived topic about something or other, then they'd fall back into a not awkward silence. Willow looked up when Buffy stopped suddenly and saw that they were standing in front of her house. "Oh…well, I guess this is me…I'll see you at school tomorrow Buffy. Thanks for walking me home."
"No problem." Buffy replied as she gave her friend a quick hug and said goodnight.
Both felt a tingling sensation rush through their bodies at the brief contact. However both girls were oblivious that the other felt anything. The slayer and the trainee witch parted reluctantly, Buffy waiting until Willow closed the door behind her before she continued on home. When Buffy got home she saw her mom sitting on the couch watching TV. Dawn was curled up next to her with her head resting on their mother's lap. Buffy gave her mom a smile, Hi, hope I didn't keep you up too late waiting for me."
"No, it's only ten. I think Dawn might have a little trouble adjusting to the jet lag. So how was your time with Willow and Xander?" Joyce asked.
"It was really good to see them, they musta known I was comin back to day. Their welcome home present to me was a vamp." Buffy said with a chuckle as she gently picked up her sleeping sister to carry her to her bed.
Joyce followed and when they'd tucked Dawn in for the night they went back down to the kitchen where Joyce made them both a cup of hot cocoa. The eldest Summers was glad to have her daughters home, but was also glad that they'd enjoyed their vacation, "You know Buffy, I think I might go with you next year…it's been a while since I saw my sister, or maybe I'll go and the two of you can stay here."
"She'd like that I'm sure, and I'm sure Dawn would insist on going too, I think she's hooked on the big city now. More so than I was addicted to LA life." Buffy stated then after a brief silence, "Mom…how do you know you love someone?"
Joyce was briefly stunned, not expecting this turn in the conversation, then she smiled at her oldest daughter, "Well for me with your father when we first met I was attracted to him, but it wasn't exactly love at first sight. I felt something g for sure, but it was more lust at first. Then we started hanging out more and more and we built a friendship first, then one day I realized that I was thinking about him every other thought, even when I daydreamed about my future he was there." Joyce finished with a distant look on her face.
"I miss him to mom." Buffy said wrapping her arms around her mother.
"I know Buffy. So this question you asked, are you gonna tell me about this mystery man or are you gonna claim "hypothetical question" until you sort things out yourself? Wait it's not a vampire is it? Cause that would just be too ironic and something from a cheesy romance novel."
"No don't worry not a vampire…" Buffy paused, "Mom, have you ever been in love with another woman?" Joyce's face went blank and she fainted. "Well that coulda been worse I guess." Buffy mumbled as she carried her unconscious mother to her room before going to her own bedroom for the night.
The next morning Buffy found her mother in the kitchen and was nervous about seeing her. Joyce seemed to sense her daughter's presence and called Buffy to sit next to her at the island in the kitchen. "First of all I have to say sorry I fainted on you there, it was quite embarrassing and I want you to know I didn't faint because you asked if I'd ever been in love with a woman. I was just so tense cause I was worried that you were gonna tell me you were in love with Angel or something like that!"
"Oh! God no! I mean I'm sure he's a nice guy…with the soul and all, but he's still a corpse. I'd definitely stake him or at least send him outta town if I ever thought like that. Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked, not wanting her little sis to hear all about her love life, or potential love life.
"She's taking a shower I think. So is this girl you're interested local, from New York, or did you meet her on the plane?"
Buffy paused wondering how much she wanted to tell her mom. Finally she shrugged inwardly thinking that her mom would find out soon enough anyway, "She's local…I go to school with her."
"Is she kinda shy with red hair?" Joyce asked with a smirk.
"You knew!" Buffy shouted accusingly.
"Knew what?" Dawn asked as she walked into the kitchen to get herself a bowl of cereal.
"Tell ya later Dawnie." Buffy covered quickly.
Later that night the Summers women found themselves at the first day "barbeque/family night" hosted by the teaching staff of Sunnydale Middle School. Dawn was having as much fun as could be expected, at least Buffy and her mom had managed to avoid embarrassing her in front of her classmates, "You know mom we didn't have to come to this thing."
"Oh, I thought you wanted to be here…" Joyce replied with a slight frown.
"Not really, I mean it's nice of the teachers to do, but I've already got friends and I know everyone in my classes. And you've met my friends and their families and know that they're all good…and human. I honestly woulda rather hung out at home tonight just the three of us, or maybe with Xander, Willow, and Giles since I haven't seen them yet."
"Well if you wanna go then let Buffy know we're leaving, we can call the others on the way home." Joyce gave her daughter a soft smile.
Dawn started walking over to where Buffy was talking to Janice's older brother. Suddenly the front window shattered and vamps started pouring in. "I jus love crashin a party." Said the leader a vamp with platinum blond hair wearing leather trench coat.
The pack of blood suckers began advancing on the partiers and Buffy threw one of the buffet tables at them, tripping several up. The students, staff, and families scattered down the various halls to get away from the disfigured intruders. Buffy, Dawn and Joyce ended up in a storage room with Janice and the school's principal and a couple other adults. While Joyce and Buffy were arguing with the principal Dawn took the initiative, "Hey! Will you all quit bickering like a bunch of pre-teens? I texted Giles, Angel, Xander, and Willow."
"Good thinking Dawn. See mom, I told you there was a reason we kept her around." Buffy said with a smile while gently punching Dawn's shoulder.
Buffy and Joyce turned back to talk to the other parentals present after telling Dawn to let them know when the other Scoobies arrived. Dawn meanwhile turned her attention to her friend Janice who was huddled in the corner, where the youngest Summers knelt next to her the other twelve year old. Once Janice felt the comforting hand on the shoulder the immediately leaned against the other girl's body and Dawn instinctively wrapped her arms around her friend. Guessing at what was bothering her friend Dawn whispered in Janice's ear, "Don't worry Jan, I'm sure your family is fine." This seemed to have little real effect on the scared girl so Dawn stayed there with her arms wrapped around her, rocking gently and repeating comforting words in her friend's ear.
Xander, Giles, and Willow arrived and help usher people out of the building and to safety while Angel and Buffy provided the distraction. The slayer had taken out half a dozen bottom-of –the-barrel vamps when she came across the bleached wonder once again. "So short stack, you itchin to be slayer number three on my belt?"
"You know, if I took every vampire seriously who ever claimed to have killed a slayer, then our line would be wiped out by now. If it's all the same to you I'd rather skip the witty banter this time and just got on with the fisticuffs. Cause I've had a long day and wanna get home so I can relax."
"Fine…if you wanna end your life on a dull note then I aint gonna try an stop ya."
Slayer and Vampire clashed in the darkened halls of the school. The slayer had the upper hand as far as strength and speed were concerned, but the vampire had experience, knowledge, and cockiness on his side making them rather evenly matched. They traded blows back and forth for a short time neither of them landing any truly good blows.
After a few more minutes the peroxided wonder got a feel for how his opponent moved and fought. He knocked her to the ground and ripped a piece of a 2x4 out of the wall and was about to make the death blow on the stunned slayer. "Well it's been a fun lil dance pet, but I hear the curtain call."
Angel ran into the hall they were in just as the vamp cocked back his arm to strike, "Spike? No! Buffy!" He roared as he placed himself between Spike and the slayer, the 2x4 piercing his heart before anything could be done to stop it.
"Bummer for you Angelus, sorry bout your tough break there mate." Spike said as he reared back for a second try and Angel crumbled to dust.
Suddenly Spike was knocked from his feet be a vicious blow to the head, "You get the Hell away from my daughter!" Joyce warned brandishing a fire axe.
"Women!" Spike growled angrily as he rushed out the way he had come in, pausing briefly to look at the pile of ashes that had once been his grandsire Angelus.
"Thanks for the save there mom." Buffy praised.
"Well, I guess you can't live with the slayer without picking up a thing or two." Joyce responded wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder before adding, "Besides, no one messes with my girls."
"Got that right. Where's Dawn?"
"She's the others, she insisted on being among the last evacuated, consequently when I last saw them Janice had still refused to leave her side."
"Janice'll be alright, we just gotta get her back to her family…what's that look for?"
"Buffy, Janice is gonna be staying with us tonight her parents went with her brother Jace to the hospital…he had a set of puncture wounds in his neck." Joyce said softly while pulling her daughter tighter with her one arm.
Buffy was silent for a moment, silently adding Jace's name to the ever growing list of people she had failed since being called, "Well at least she seems to feel comfortable and safe around Dawnie right now."
"Jace could still pull through Buffy, he wasn't breathing on his own power, but he still had a pulse. There's a chance for him still."
"I hope so, for Janice's sake." Buffy said sincerely while adding in her head, And for my sake.
