Chapter Thirty-Six
Buffy, now thankfully fully dressed, took a deep breath and headed into the kitchen, dragging her feet a little as she thought of the upcoming conversation with her sister. She'd known she'd have to explain things to Dawn sooner or later if she planned on staying here, but she'd been hoping for later rather than sooner. Much later.
The first thing she saw when she stepped through the doorway was Willow and her sister, both seated at the small dining set in the kitchen (which, what the hell did Eric have that for anyway? Did he sit down and read the morning paper - at night - with a warm cup of blood?). Willow jumped to her feet as soon as she caught sight of Buffy, looking so guilty it was almost painful.
"I'm so sorry, Buffy! I didn't mean to pop in on you again - I mean, I did, but I didn't… It was just that Dawn kept asking where you were, and then Spike blabbed and she just wouldn't take no for an answer and-"
"Breathe, Will," Buffy said, sliding into a stool at the counter and glancing over at Eric, who was leaning against the wall apparently having a staring contest with Dawn. She wasn't sure who would win that one… Eric just looked amused, but Dawn looked pissed - pissed off Dawn could stare like no other.
"No more, I swear. I've learned my lesson," Willow said earnestly.
Buffy wanted to assure her it was fine, that she had no way of knowing what she was popping in on, but the words stuck in her throat - blocked by the thought of what her little sister had seen. She needed a serious brain bleaching… Maybe it would be better if Willow did feel a little bad, if it kept a repeat of this from ever happening again. Plus, there was another detail to their visit that Buffy really didn't want to think about right then. That would have to wait until she and Willow were alone... So, Buffy just gave her a nod and a tight smile before turning her attention on Dawn.
Dawn, her eyes still narrowed and locked on Eric, apparently felt Buffy's attention settle on her and spoke without interrupting the stare-down.
"I don't hear from you for ages, then you finally show up and you're all mopey and distracted, then you disappear again. You really thought I'd just let that fly?"
"I was hoping so, yeah." Buffy shrugged. "What, did Spike just call and tattle on me?"
"I called him looking for you, but he was pretty eager to tell me about it. So, is it true? You're seriously living here now? In some other dimension? What the hell, Buffy?" Dawn asked, finally tearing her eyes from Eric to stare at her sister.
"I tried to explain-" Willow put in tentatively.
"Oh, yes, that you 'found happiness somewhere else'," Dawn interrupted scathingly. "Seriously? You just leave? And you don't even tell anyone?"
The "you didn't even tell me" was left unspoken but heard plainly by Buffy anyway.
"Dawn, it wasn't like I was never coming back."
"Dammit, Buffy, I was worried," Dawn said, deflating. "You never answer your phone. You didn't come home for Christmas or New Years…"
"Dawn, I don't have a home," Buffy laughed - then immediately regretted it as both Dawn's and Willow's faces morphed at the same time.
"Oh no, no pity-faces. I didn't say that to make you feel bad or anything. It's just a fact," she said, waving her had around in front of her. When their faces just looked more sad, she snapped, "Knock it off."
"You could've spent Christmas at Slayer Headquarters or with Willow and Kennedy or you could've come stayed with me and Gino at his family's place…" Dawn's voice drifted off as she must've recognized how awkward all of those options would've been. "Yeah, okay. I see your point. But you can see why I was worried, right? What would you do if I was the one that suddenly fell off the grid?"
Buffy had a sudden vision of herself as the Terminator and shook it off. "Yeah, okay, point taken."
An awkward silence settled over the room after that - until Dawn couldn't stand it anymore, that is.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She finally burst out, throwing her hands out to the sides.
"You know, stuff…" Buffy said lamely.
"Stuff as in boinking hot vampires? You could've done that at home - hell, you've been doing that for ages anyway. Why'd you have to come here for some action?"
Eric's eyes had slid from Dawn to Buffy, the feeling of amusement being threaded with surprise and a dash of jealousy.
"I mean, you're the Vampire Slayer," Dawn barreled on. "Like, the prototype for all the other girls, and you've got this weird vampire fetish. I thought it was just Angel and Spike, but apparently it's-"
"Dawn," Buffy hissed. "Shut. Up."
Dawn's jaw snapped shut with a click and a sheepish look washed over her face as she ticked her eyes toward Eric, whose eyebrows had climbed as he mouthed the words "Vampire Slayer".
Willow was eyeing the door like she might make a run for it.
"I like it here," she said slowly, looking Dawn in the eye. "I was bored, okay? All that time you thought I was visiting the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota or making my own syrup in Vermont or laying on a beach in Florida - I was actually somewhere completely different hunting the world's most piddly evil. It was pathetic, so I found something better to do. End of story."
"And what are you doing here that's so much better?"
"I'm- uh, well-"
"She works for Sophie Anne Leclerq - the Vampire Queen of Louisiana," Eric said. "She's a very valuable asset."
Buffy closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You're working for a vampire?" Dawn shrieked. Her eyes then went dazed as she shook her head sadly. "An intervention. We need to do a vampire intervention for you. A Vampervention. It's totally gotten out of hand. You're a vampire addict, Buffy."
"Dawn, quit being so dramatic. It's-"
"Ohmygod, you don't want to be a vampire, do you?" Dawn interrupted.
"What? No, of course-"
"I don't think she could anyway," Eric said thoughtfully. "The way she reacts to ingesting vampire blood…"
Buffy let her head hit the table with a thump and mumbled, "Thanks for that Eric."
She could feel his amusement swirling through her - he was totally doing this on purpose. Bastard.
"Blood?" Dawn predictably freaked. "You drank vampire blood? Jeez, you'd think after your little fling with Dracula that you'd have gotten that out of your system."
"Dracula?" Shock sizzled through the bond, but Buffy ignored it. It was the only way to stay sane at this point - ignore them all.
"Okay, I think we all need to take a deep breath here," Willow said tentatively stepping forward, apparently seeing that Buffy was about to go into a self-induced coma. "Focus on the positive. Buffy's fine, she likes it here and she can come back and visit all the time. Dawn was worried, because she loves you, Buffy. She just wanted to make sure you were okay-"
"Nosey," Buffy murmured.
"And," Willow said loudly. "Well, that was it really, I just didn't want you two breaking into another argument. How about we try talking about this using 'I feel' statements instead of accusations and judgment?"
"Because that worked so well last time," Buffy said, rolling her head to look at Willow.
Willow flushed a little, apparently also remembering the "Angel Intervention" debacle.
"Well, we're not kids anymore," Willow said, straightening up, then casting a doubtful look at Dawn that turned stern. "We're going to have a civilized adult conversation about this."
"Fine," Dawn said, "I feel that Buffy's lost her damn mind if she's drinking vamp blood."
"Uh, that's not-" Willow started.
"And I feel, that Dawn is already being judge-y after Willow said not to be. Also, the drinking was accidental - I bit him after a mind shattering orgasm."
The look of frozen horror on her sister's face made her own embarrassment at admitting that totally worth it.
"As interesting as this is, I need some rest," Eric said, disappointment plucking at the bond as he pushed away from the counter and headed toward the hall. "I'll leave you three to it. Guest rooms are upstairs."
"Hey, hey, you just wait a minute," Dawn blurted out, making him pause and look back. "I'm not done with you. I need to know about the guy my sister's… seeing."
"The sun's coming up. He has to sleep during the day," Buffy put in quickly, wanting Eric out of there as fast as possible. "Vampires here don't really get much choice in the matter."
"Is that so… I'll remember that," Dawn said, giving Eric a threatening, narrow eyed look.
A flash of alarm went through him as he turned away and left the room without another word. Buffy couldn't really blame him - Dawn could be damn scary when she wanted to be.
"Dawn, was that really necessary?" Willow asked disapprovingly.
"Yes, it was, actually. We all know that Buffy's like a magnet for assholes. Best he learn now to keep his dickish tendencies under wraps," Dawn said with a shrug. "That or get killed in his sleep."
Another sizzle of slight alarm went through the bond and Buffy smothered a grin.
"I appreciate the thought, really," Buffy said. "But I can take care of my own love life."
They both gave her dubious looks.
"Whatever," Dawn said with an eye roll, then brightened. "Hey! We should go shopping while I'm here! I bet I could get stuff here no one at home has even heard of…"
Happy to go along with her sister's mood swings if it meant moving off the topic of Eric and her misadventures in love, Buffy latched on to shopping and ran with it - explaining about brands that were the same, ones that were almost the same, and ones that were new. Maybe they could go tomorrow…
"Pam will be upset if you shop without her," Eric called from deep within the house.
"Quit eavesdropping and go to sleep," Buffy called back with a small smile. "He's right though. We'll have to wait until the sun goes down."
"So Pam's a vampire?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, she's like Eric's BFF," she said with a smirk at his feeling of irritation at her words. "She'd have a fit if we went shopping without her. The sun's coming up anyway, we'll probably sleep until late."
She mentally made a note to invite Sookie too - make up for bailing on her earlier…
She came back to herself to see Willow and Dawn staring at her expectantly.
"What?"
"Sleep?" Dawn asked. "As in, where are we going to?"
It took Buffy a second to realize she didn't know. Eric was an exceptionally crappy host. He hadn't even told her where anything was except the bathroom. He'd said the guest rooms were upstairs, but where the hell were the stairs? And what about her? She wasn't really keen on sleeping next to Eric if he was pretty much dead during the day. Ick factor of about eight right there.
"Uh, okay… Let's go get you guys settled in," she said.
She went slowly down the hall, trying to look relaxed and as if she knew where she was going. It turned out not to be too hard. She found the stairs like she'd known exactly where she was going, and the rooms were already set up for guests – four of them, all of them empty. Eric must sleep somewhere else...
"Where's the bathroom? I gotta pee," Dawn asked after examining her room with a critical eye.
"Thanks for sharing. It's down the hall on the left."
Buffy watched her sister walk out of the room and waited until she heard the bathroom door shut before she rounded on Willow - letting loose with the thing that had been bothering her most since they popped in.
"I can't believe you brought her here," she hissed. "Knowing that people can't hop between dimensions all willy-nilly! What am I supposed to do with her for weeks, Will?"
"No, no, she doesn't need to stay that long," Willow said, shaking her head vehemently. "I think being the Key - her core kind of being formed from raw magic lets her hop unaffected, like me."
"You think?"
"Well, she didn't show any side effects from the trip over. None at all - unless you count the mental scarring she got from seeing her big sis all wrapped up in the sexy fun times."
Buffy glared as Willow giggled.
"How's it fair that you two are completely unaffected? I'm the Slayer, shouldn't I be protected, too?"
"You are , just not as much. Any other person would probably be dead by now."
"Oh." What could she really say to that? Then it hit her…
"So, she can come back anytime she wants with no side effects," she gaped.
"Well, not any time. I guess I could make her a ring too-"
"I swear, Will, if you make her one of those rings I'll rain down badness of epic proportions on your witchy head. Every horrible, embarrassing secret I know will be unleashed. Pictures, Will, I have pictures. No. Ring."
"No ring," Willow squeaked as the toilet flushed down the hall.
"Great! Now that we have that straight, I need your help with something else while you're here," Buffy said, speaking fast and shooting a glance toward the bathroom where she could hear Dawn washing her hands. "I learned that Wolfram and Hart came here about eight hundred years ago - long story short, the witches here managed to find a way to kick them out of this dimension and keepthem out. We need to find out-"
She stopped when she heard the bathroom door open, but Willow gave a nod, showing she understood. It wasn't that she didn't trust Dawn with the information, it was that she knew her sister would have a hissy fit like no other if she found out Buffy was planning on poking Wolfram and Hart with a big flaming stick. But if there was a way to lock those bastards out of her home dimension, to keep them from getting their hands on Angel, there was no way she could pass that up.
She said goodnight to Willow and Dawn, noticing the distracted way the former answered - her mind already turning over what Buffy had revealed - and climbed into a bed in the room at the top of the stairs. She and Eric still had a lot to talk about, especially with all he'd heard from her big mouthed sister that night, and she wanted to get it all straight in her mind before she fell asleep. But all that kept rolling through her head was how much lighter she felt now that he was near and they'd mostly cleared things up. There was a smile on her face when sleep finally took her.
Buffy woke around noon and ordered a pizza, then called Sookie. The other girl was not at all happy with Buffy's disappearing act, making her sound like a mother scolding her teenage daughter. She calmed down some after Buffy explained that everything was fine.
"Better than fine, even," she'd added. "Mickey's out of the picture and the police caught the shooter last night. Oh… But you're going to need a new cook. And a new bartender…"
She'd left out that Charles had been plotting her murder. Sookie really didn't need to know that, after all. Sookie had been both pleasantly surprised and a little suspicious about what had gone down the night before, but before she could ask for details, Buffy invited her on their shopping expedition later on. It worked at distracting her - she stutter out a surprised, but pleased, acceptance and agreed to be there just before sunset.
Buffy had just hung up the phone when the pizza arrived. She was on her second piece when Willow came in. She took a piece of pizza from the box and slid into the seat across from Buffy.
"Thought you'd sleep for a while longer," Buffy said after swallowing. "All that dimension hopping's gotta wear a girl out."
"Nah, not really," Willow shrugged. "I really wanted to see what I could find out about that spell today."
"You think it's possible anyone still knows about it? Eight hundred years is a long time…"
"There has to be someone that knows, or some kind of record. I doubt they'd let something that important just get forgotten over time. Spells that scale are tricky - it's hard to tell how if they'll stick and for how long. Just assuming it would last forever and forgetting about it would be really, really stupid."
"Say you do find it," Buffy said, getting up to grab herself and Willow a couple of the cans of soda she'd had the pizza guy bring. "Do you think it could work in our dimension? You saw how different the dimension hopping spell was that Amelia put together for me…"
Willow looked thoughtful as she took the can from Buffy, her eyes focused somewhere else entirely.
"It's possible… I wouldn't know until I saw what it entailed. But even if it was completely different, I might be able to figure out how to rework it. I'd have to see the full extent of it and what its original intent was. Right now, I have no clue about how to even start a dimensional wall like that…"
She sounded disgruntled about that, like she should know how to do something as massive as a dimensional block without the help of a spell put together by probably hundreds, or even thousands, of witches centuries before. Buffy bumped her leg under the table.
"Knock it off. It's not on you to be master of the universe or something. We'll get the info and we'll go from there, 'kay?"
Willow gave a determined nod. "Right. I'm off then. I'll be back around sunset."
"Watch your back," Buffy warned. "I hear some of the witches here can be really nasty."
"So can I," Willow smirked darkly before disappearing.
"Nice to know Scary Will is still alive and kicking in there somewhere," Buffy mumbled sarcastically, shoving the remainder of her crust in her mouth before heading back to bed.
A handful of hours later found Buffy in the bathroom downstairs getting ready for their girls night out. Dawn had dragged her out of bed a while ago for a pre-shopping shopping trip after she found out that Buffy had absolutely nothing at Eric's house (and didn't that just prompt a whole new round of squawking from her sister - "You don't have anything here? Not even a toothbrush?") So now she was in front of the mirror with bag of makeup and hair goodies at her feet while Dawn was probably in the same position in the bathroom upstairs.
"So, what exactly is a 'vampire slayer'," Eric asked, making Buffy jump and almost tear out the chunk of hair she was curling as he strode into the bathroom in a pair of drawstring sleep pants.
"Why are you up?" She asked, trying not to stare at his chest in the mirror - she was working hard at keeping the lusty feelings locked away while her little sister was in the house. "The sun's not down yet."
"Curiosity allowed me to fight the sun's drain," he said with faux gravity that made Buffy roll her eyes as he sat down on the edge of the bathtub.
"You can do that? Just get up early?"
"Sunset's only an hour away. Are you going to answer my question?"
"Will you leave it alone if I say no?"
"No."
"Yeah, didn't think so," she sighed, wrapping another strand in the curling iron. "The spiel goes something like, 'One girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer'. Totally over dramatic. Basically some crazy shaman guys gave a bunch of power to a girl to fight evil way back in the day. When she died, a new girl got the power and the job title, and so on and so forth."
"Just one? For the entire world?"
"Yep. Well, it used to be just one. We changed that close to two years ago. Now there are tons of Slayers."
Eric pondered that in silence for a few minutes as Buffy finished curling.
"You seem young for such a job," He said finally.
"I was fifteen when I was chosen," she answered as she dug around in the drug store bag at her feet for some mascara.
"Fifteen?" He repeated, shock flicking though the bond. "How is someone so young expected to carry such a responsibility?"
"We weren't, I guess. At least not for long. Slayer shelf-life is only about a year or two. I'm ancient by Slayer standards," she said, shooting him a grin. It melted away at the hard look on his face. "Sorry, fatalistic Slayer humor takes some getting used to, I guess…"
"What did you mean when you said you didn't have a home," he asked, eyes boring into her even after she turned her attention back to the bag at her feet.
"Eric, do we really have to-"
"Yes."
She sighed and snatched some lip gloss out of the bag and sat it on the counter - reminding herself that she'd decided to be more open with him.
"It was my own choice, it wasn't like I was kicked out or anything. Well, there was that one time… See, I used to have a home, but it got sucked into a giant hole that was really the mouth to Hell. Then everyone kind of split up and they thought I should get to live a non-evil-fighting life because I wasn't the only Slayer anymore. Or the only not in jail anyway. But I didn't really want that anymore, so I just kind of wandered around and fought really lame, left-over evil. So, you see, the no home thing was totally by choice."
"I think your answer just raised ten more questions," he said, sounding half awed and half annoyed.
"Well, too bad. I don't have time to answer them," she said, putting her hair up in a clip and deciding she was presentable enough for the night. "We don't really have time for that. Pam will be here soon and if I don't go keep Dawn company, she'd going to come down here and start harassing you again."
Eric's lip curled slightly in distaste at that thought. She couldn't really blame him – Dawn harassment was in her top ten of least favorite things too, right under getting shot, stabbed or set on fire.
"Wait, you have to answer one more thing," he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her around before she could leave the bathroom. The look on his face was so intense it was almost scary.
"Okay, what?" She asked slowly, a spike of anxiety shooting through her about what question he could have that would make him look so serious.
"Tell me about Dracula?"
She blinked at him in surprise. "Uh, well, he's an ass. Totally full of himself. Kinda stalker-y too. And he poofs into smoke whenever you stake him. Every single time. So annoying."
She heard someone knocking at the front door and left Eric standing speechless in the bathroom.