IMPENDING MIDNIGHT

By: Morpheus Dreamerfall

D Note: All of Buffy and co. belong to Joss Whedon and UPN, etc.  But I own Chad and the others.

Summary: You know the drill: a stranger with no past comes to Sunnyhell, and Dawn finds herself beginning to fall for him, much to the dismay of all those around her.

Timeline: Way after "Wrecked"

Pairings: Dawn/?  -   Buffy/Spike later on (I think)

Archive: Anywhere, just tell me if you want it.

He didn't know for how long he's been running.  If it hadn't been for that asshole bus driver who noticed he carried an expired ticket, he wouldn't have ended here.  He's never heard much of Sunnydale, but he figured he could scrounge enough cash for a trip out.  Staying in one place too long made him nervous – him being a freak and all.  Sighing as he gathered himself up from being kicked out of the Greyhound bus, he retrieved his huge backpack thrown beside him and headed to find an extra cheap motel to spend the night in. 

And that was a few days ago.  Now he got to know the town better and wished he hadn't.

Dawn had snuck out again, relishing the musky night air as she made her way to Spike's crypt.  The platinum blond vampire hadn't been coming over lately, and she missed him.  Buffy would freak if she found out that she'd snuck out again after last time.  Ever since the incident with Willow, it seemed like both Dawn and the young witch were "grounded" by the irate and concerned Slayer.  And at the mention of the chipped vamp, Buffy would either stay silent and space out, or get red-faced angry. 

"A whole lotta denial much?" Dawn thought, wondering what changed since her sister had been chummy with Spike until recently.

So lost in thought was she that she didn't even notice she had picked up strays following her from a safe distance behind.  She almost never saw what hit her.

Dawn tried to scream as six vamps nearly ran her in.  The first one to get to her barely got to sink his teeth on her neck when one of his cohorts burst into dust, revealing a young, dark-haired man in a fighting stance.

Growling, the vampire dropped Dawn and rushed him.

Like poetry in motion, the stranger waded in and out of the remaining vamps like hot knife through butter – each one were dusted as he slammed his palm directly over their hearts in passing.

The fight was over in five seconds flat.

Dawn could've sworn he wasn't using a stake, but then he was moving too fast for her to notice otherwise. 

Once the dust settled, she was able to see him clearly under the glow of the nearby streetlight.  She gasped; he couldn't have been older than her!  About as tall as she was, the young man let out a crooked grin and he studied her as well.

"One might be wondering what the hell you're doing out this late in a town crawling with vampires."  He said, helping her up and looking her over to see if she had been bitten. "You don't look like an out-of-towner like me since you look like you know where you're going, so what gives?"

"I …. Um," Dawn stammered, not believing she was having this conversation.  "I was just trying to visit a friend."

"A friend?"

She nodded.

"The direction you're going leads to the cemetery."

She nodded again.

"You mean your 'friend' lives around the cemetery?"

She nodded to that too.

"Actually," She said weakly. "He lives in a crypt."

"Are you INSANE!?" The young man's eyes all but tore itself from their sockets in surprise.  Dawn winced at the sudden increase in volume.

TBC