A LONDON DRESS SHOP
"Lift zee arms." Mme Doucette commanded.
Emma raised her arms obediantly. Her mother stood in the corner, making dissaproving cluck-cluck sounds with her tongue.
"The bodice will need to be taken in. She's too small."
The 70-year-old seamstress held the tape measure around Emma's bosom. She frowned.
"She does not eat enough. No breasts! Men still like zee breasts-yes?"
*So now my chest isn't big enough?* Emma wondered. Never close to being man enough for her father, never close to bieng woman enough for her mother. Mummy came over and straightened her posture, her socialite fingernails digging into Emma's bare shoulders. Emma felt like screaming.
Knocking them both unconcious, ripping off the dress and running down the streets of London, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Have you decided what boy you want as your date?" Mummy asked.
"I - haven't r-really thought about it."
"Robbie Pelham is a nice boy. His mother told me....." Her mother continued rambling on and on about Mrs. Pelham and her lovely home, and Mr. Pelham's quite profitable Frozen Food Company. Emma tuned her out, slipping off into daydreams about a 6'3 black boy from Califonia.
******
ONE NIGHT LATER
KENSINGTON
"Wow." Dawn breathed as they stepped out of the taxi onto the Wyndham-Pryce front walkway. "It's like something out of Peter Pan or Mary Poppins."
Spike stared at the doorway with an expression of apprehension on his face.
"It's like something out of my..." He started to say, then abruptly closed his mouth when Buffy looked at him questioningly. The vampire tugged at the collar of his tuxedo and grinned at her.
"Shall we?" He went to link arms with her. Buffy slapped him away. "I wasn't gonna try anything!"
He was her date. Spike was Buffy's date. She had actually come to him and asked him.
"Spike, I never thought I'd ever say this - but will you be my date for the debutante ball?"
"Why don't you go with Gunn?" He'd asked.
"Cause if I go with Gunn, you'll have to go with Dawn - and that is not going to happen. We need dates and you guys are the only boys we know in the entire country."
William the Bloody was not sure he could contain his joy for an entire evening. Since he was her date, she was gonna have to dance with him and everything. She was gonna have to talk to him - and touch him - and let him get her drinks.
In the upstairs hallway, Emma stepped back and saw herself in the mirror.
She looked so different - like a beautiful princess. And she felt like one for the first time in her life. Maybe there was something to all this traditional hokey pokey after all.
"My little girl is all grownup." said Daddy as he adjusted his cufflinks.
"You really like it?" She asked hopefully.
"You're quite lovely. Don't you see how important these traditions are? Do you understand now why I want you to have your place in society and all the duties that come with it?"
"Yes, Daddy. I understand now." She smiled dutifully. Daddy reached down and touched her hair briefly. A strange, sad smile flitted across his face.
"Best get down to your party. " He turned and walked back into his own room.
******
LONDON
A HOTEL ROOM
Faith sprawled on her stomach across the double bed, feet waving in the air. The Slayer surrounded herself with chocolate bars and cans of Coke, with the TV remote in reach.
Kelsie Grammer was fighting Rosanne on Celebrity Death Match tonight. Who needs fancy deb parties when you got entertainment like that?
It wasn't like she wanted to be invited anyway. Spend an entire evening in a stupid, uncomfortable dress, making boring conversation with stuck up rich people? Nooo thanks.
"BUFFY?" Angel called, pounding on the door.
Faith padded over in her stocking feet and opened it.
"Hey, Guys. Buffy and them ain't here."
"That's a relief." Darla muttered under her breath.
"You guys hungry? I got Snickas and Coke?" Faith offered.
"Where is everyone else?"
"At Em's coming out party."
"I wanted to be there." Wesley said quietly. "Ahh, well, I'm sure there will be pictures."
"So you weren't invited?" Cordy asked Faith, her tone slightly gloating.
Faith glared at her. Cordelia, even though everyone kept saying how she'd grown as a person, ect, ect, wasn't making this any easier.
"I didn't wanna spend my night with a buncha debs anyways."
******
"Who is that man?" Wyndham-Pryce demanded, gesturing down at the crowd below him as he stood on the stairs.
"The elder Miss Summers' escort, Sir."
"That man is William the Bloody."
"I was given to understand that Spike has been incapacitated, Sir. Which would make him quite harmless."
"I don't care if he's in a damn coma! I want him staked and I want him staked now!"
Back down on the dancefloor, Spike was getting up the nerve to ask Buffy to dance. He shifted uncomfortabley in his chair, turning towards her. Buffy was tapping her foot to the impossibley cheery *music* the band was playing.
"Buffy - do you - would you like to -?"
"What, Spike?" She snapped.
"You wannadanceorsomething?" He blurted out.
"What the hell." Buffy sighed. They walked to the dance floor, and after a brief wordless struggle over who would lead, (Buffy won) fell into a rhythm.
Emma stood by the open french doors in the back parlor, looking out into the dark garden. She was holding a framed picture in her hands, looking down at it whistfully. The picture was of a young woman, long dark hair, flowing freely. Dark, sunbronzed skin, almond shaped brown eyes and the teletale indentation on her forhead. The folds of her white sari accentuated her slender frame. Gold bangles hung from her arms and a much younger, happier Daddy had his arm around her waist.
"What you doin' out here by yo self?" Gunn asked.
"Just getting some air. What are you doing back here?"
"Lookin' for the food." He answered truthfully. "Who's that?"
She gestured with the picture in hand.
"Wesley's mum. I never got a chance to meet her. I guess - actually - if she hadn't died, my parents would never have met and I would never have been born."
"Not really in a *party* mood, huh?"
"No, not really. It isn't exactly my party is it? It's theirs. Mummy and Daddy's."
"Dress up their doll and parade her around for all the neighbors?"
"Yes."
"You do look nice."
She blushed.
"Thank you. Mummy is quite dissapointed that they had to take in the bodice of this very expensive Vera Wang dress. Apparently I've failed her in the bosoms department."
"I like your - Even though I'm used ta girls with more meat on 'em - for a skinny, white chick - you" Gunn was having trouble getting it out. It didn't help that his eyes were drawn to her chest as if they had a mind of their own. He forced his eyes down to his feet, after an awkward silence, Emma took a deep breath and went for it.
"Do - Do you want to go upstairs?"
******
"Spike went as Buffy's date?" Angel asked skeptically.
"And don't think he wasn't thrilled." said Faith. A look of embarrasment crossed her face when she realized what she'd let slip.
"Spike - likes - Buffy?" Darla bit her lip to keep the laughter from escaping. "So, where is this party bieng held?"
"At our house in Kensington." Said Wesley. "My father is a parsimnonus man. And the smaller space enables them to only invite the Best People."
"Like the Slayer, and her little sister - Dawn *The Key To The Entire Universe* Summers." Said Cordelia.
"I imagine my father sees that as quite a coup." Wesley agreed. "It means nothing to Lauren, the Summers girls have no social standing, but all the other Watchers will be positively green with envy."
"There are going to be other Watchers there?" Darla asked. "Spike will be walking into a house full of professional vampire killers?"
"Not a housefull, however there will be many in attendance."
"After that news bulletin about his bieng wanted for murder? What if somebody recognizes him?"
"I didn't know you cared so much about Spike?" Cordy commented.
"Family is family and blood is blood."Darla answered.
"We gotta get him outta there." Faith jumped up off her bed. "Spike can't go to jail."
"Believe me." said Wesley. "If they catch him, jail won't be where he ends up."
******
"How do you feel?" Gunn whispered.
"Weird."Emma murrmured. "Nice, but weird."
"It is weird."He agreed. They were lying snuggled together on Emma's pink bed, Paddington Bear and Winnie the Pooh were watching from their shelf. Far more embarrassing was Mr. Devonshire, staring at them with his dissaproving bovine eyes.
"I ain't never been in a bedroom this nice before. Guess you really are a lady."
"It's not all it's cracked up to be. For instance, Daddy would go absoulutly - what's that American slang term? - Postal. Daddy would *Go Postal* if he found out that I'd even kissed a boy, never mind - what we -."
"Your Dad would have to get in line behind Wesley."
"My brother is a bit overprotective. We're all we've got."
"Had a little sis too. Wouldn't blame Wes at all if he wanted to beat me down. I'd at least hafta let'm try."
Emma went over to her window and opened it, looking down on the neighborhood. Gunn came and stood behind her, encircling her waist with his arms. He could feel her lack of underwear through the dress, her stereotypical white cotton panties were lying on the pink plush carpet a few feet away.
"That's Peter Pan's house, over there. I mean, the house where the book was written."
"It's a book too?"
"Yes." Emma smiled. "The children who lived in the house next door, would make up stories about Never Never Land and the Evil Captain Hook."
"Wow. I did not know that."
"I'm sorry-I-I've never had sex before, I have no idea what you're supposed to talk about afterward."
"This is fine. I'm always learnin' new stuff around you Wyndham-Pryces."
"I used to wish that Peter Pan would come and whisk me away to Never Never Land."
******
"Why are those guys staring at us?" Buffy wondered out loud as she bopped across the dance floor with Spike.
"Must be 'cause we make such a damn gorgeous couple." Spike had his back to the Watchers, who stood above them on the mezzanine.
"They look suspicious. Like they think we stole towls from the bathroom or something."
"Bloody Hell! They saw me?" Spike grinned.
"We are guests in their home!" Buffy lectured. "If we get thrown out because of something you did...."
"Oi was only funnin yah!"
"Why don't you dance with my sister for a while." Spike watched Buffy stomp off and sighed.
God, she was beautiful!
On the mezzanine, the two Watchers observed Spike dancing with Dawn in that careful I'm-dancing-with-my friend's-little-sister-way.
"He's got the Key, Sir. What shall we do?"
"Nothing is to happen to Miss Summers. That is a direct order from Travers himself." Richard Wyndham-Pryce said.
The Special Ops agent known as Smith cocked his crossbow in preparation.
"Think we can hit'm without damage to the Key?"
"I assume that you can. I doubt that your hand will slip, am I correct?"
Smith raised the bow and fired.
Spike heard a whistling through the air and looked up.
Suddenly Spike and Dawn were hit with 110 pounds of Buffy and knocked to the floor. The guests started screaming. Smith missed his target and the crossbow bolt lodged itself firmly in Buffy's right side.
"Buffy!" Dawn shrieked, cradling her sister in her arms. Buffy reached down weakly and yanked the bolt from her body. Blood seeped through the fabric of her white dress.
"Is there a doctor in the house?" Someone yelled.
"No time for that, we gotta go, NOW!" Spike gathered Buffy in his arms and made his way to the door.
"Stop that man - he's a murderer!" Smith shouted, running down the stairs. Emma and Gunn pushed through the crowd on the stairs. Emma made a move to run after her friends, Lauren restrained her with a firm grip on her upper arm. Emma stared at her father with hatred in her eyes.
"They were my friends." She said in a shaky voice.
******
"Where'd you learn to drive?" Cordy cried as she held onto the shoulder strap for dear life.
"Will you just shut up and let me concentrate?" Faith snapped.
"In all fairness, Faith-" Wesley piped up timidly. "That old woman was in the cross walk already."
He would rather have driven, or even had Cordelia drive, but no one dared argue with Faith when she was in Slayer mode.
Faith ran a red light. Wesley closed his eyes and mururmurred a half forgotten prayer.
Faith peeled around a corner, as police sirens grew louder.
"Which number are you?" She hollared over the noise.
"Number 12!" Wesley shouted back.
Faith skidded to a stop outside Wesley's house. Spike was hurrying down the front steps with Buffy in his arms and Dawn and Gunn close behind.
"Ohmigod, B!" Faith gasped.
Go to Part 10a
