Catastrophe

by

Princess McPhee

Disclaimer: I don't claim. Not mine. Bow to Joss Whedon.

Author's Note: As always, I apologize for the wait. I know I'm losing people's interest because by the time a new chapter comes out, they've forgotten the plot of the story, but I really just can't work any faster. Nasty, nasty real life. I really appreciate the fans I do have, so keep reviewing and letting me know you're around, okay? Thanks!

Summary: An AU version of the events after 'The Weight of the World.'

Rating: PG-13

The tension in the hotel grew, slowly but steadily, over the next few days. Dawn was getting ready to go to school at the beginning of the next week, and more anxious about it than she would let on, the result being a snappy and tired teen. Buffy took Spike and went patrolling some nights, but other nights she would catch Angel's worried expression, sigh, and stay home. Spike usually grabbed a weapon and stomped out the door, rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath, when she did that.

Finally, the morning came, and Dawn pulled herself tiredly out of bed. Buffy had offered to stay home the night before, instead of patrolling, but Dawn had promised it was fine if she went out, and Cordelia drove her to school in the morning. Buffy was going to come get her in the afternoon, and she figured that was when she might actually need her sister's support, anyway.

The blond lump sticking out from under a single sheet on the bed opposite Dawn moved a little, and Buffy poked her head out, bleary-eyed. "Getting ready to go?" She asked Dawn.

"Yeah." Dawn grabbed the clothes she was planning on wearing from the closet-- a black mini-skirt and teal-blue halter top, with the leather jacket Anya had give her and a pair of low-heeled boots. Quickly pulling them on, she took a few trial steps on her recently un-splinted foot, testing out the heels, and then grinned. "I was hoping I could do that," She told Buffy. "I wasn't sure. But I didn't want to go to my first day of school in sneakers."

Buffy smiled back, well aware of the necessity to be properly clothed in a new environment. "Looks good, Dawnie. I'll see you this afternoon. Are you sure it's really okay if I don't get up?"

Dawn looked up and down her sister's limp body and exhausted face with an incredulous expression. "Yeah, because you could actually get up if I changed my mind?" She shook her head. "It's fine, Buffy, I promise." Adjusting her stride to accommodate the boot-heels, she quickly got the hang of it once more, and walked out into the lobby.

She didn't see anyone as she stepped into the bathroom and washed her face before she put on lipgloss and a little bit of mascara, but she wasn't sure she wanted to, either. It was seven am on the first day of school in a new city, and she was jittery enough without having to try and reassure more people that she was fine.

When she was done brushing her teeth, washing her face and applying her makeup, she took a deep breath, adjusted her stance until she thought it looked confident, and headed for the kitchen.

Not everyone was around the table-- but almost. Cordy was there, sipping coffee and looking amazing, as usual, with Wesley at her side, already poring over what looked to be another ancient book. Gunn sat on her other side, shoveling donuts into his face and gulping coffee, but he smiled and raised his hand in greeting. Dawn smiled back, and took the seat on the other side of the table, just as Spike walked in, looking as tired as she was sure her sister felt.

"Spike! You didn't have to get up... you and Buffy were out late last night, I told her she could sleep in."

He shrugged and grinned, heading for the fridge. "I know. But I had to see my Niblet off on the way to school, didn't I?"

Dawn got up and hugged him quickly, and he hugged her back despite the surprised look on his face. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Lil' Bit. Anytime."

He drew back, and his eyes caught on her outfit. "You're not planning on wearing that, are you?" He asked.

Dawn looked up and down herself, looking for anything out of place. "Yeah..." She answered slowly. "I was."

"Well, you can't!" Spike was adamant.

Dawn put her hips on her hands in a challenge. "Why not?"

"Because... because that skirt is too short and that shirt is too low and you're too young!"

The teenager rolled her eyes. "I've worn outfits just like this, all summer."

"But now you're going to school! Do you know what that means, Niblet? It means horny, naughty teenage boys are going to be staring at you all day!"

Dawn smirked. "That was kind of what I was hoping for."

"Go change." Spike actually looked like he thought he was going to win this argument.

"No." Dawn was just as stubborn as he was, she was absolutely sure.

"I mean it. You're not going out in that!"

"When did you become my parent?" Instantly, Dawn wished she hadn't said that, but Spike didn't seem to be bothered by it.

"Since your sister isn't up to see what you're wearing!"

"She saw. She said I looked good."

Spike spluttered. "Well, you're still not going out looking like that! She doesn't know what goes on inside teenage boys' ugly little minds!"

Dawn rolled her eyes, and turned away from the vampire. "Cordy?"

Cordy looked up, traced her eyes over her, and shrugged. "Personally, I could never get away with wearing that color. But it looks good on you."

Dawn turned back to the vampire. "See? Cordelia thinks I look good, too."

Spike stalked around her and up to the Seer's side. "You really think she should be allowed out in that?" He asked in his best menacing tone.

Cordy, totally accustomed to Angel's anger, ignored the tone in his voice and shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because there's not enough material there to cover... anything!"

Cordy laughed. "Please. She'll look just like every other girl there."

"Well, maybe she shouldn't!"

Cordy turned away from the vampire. "Dawn, you can wear whatever you want to school. Spike, get lost, I'm trying to read the paper."

Dawn turned her nose up in the air and went back to refrigerator. Exasperated, Spike grabbed his blood and downed it cold, wrinkling his nose as he did so. He then stalked over the table and collapsed in a chair, glaring daggers at Cordelia's head. With the oblivion of someone who had long hours of practice under her belt, she ignored him.

Finally, Dawn poured herself a bowl of cereal, which she then proceeded to scarf down in under two minutes, and dropped the bowl into the sink. "Where are the pups?" She asked the table.

Wesley didn't raise his head, but pointed up. "Angel's bedroom," Gunn helped out, grinning. "You've got to see it."

Curious, Dawn bounded up the steps to the second floor and knocked on Angel's door. "Mm-uhm," came the reply, sleepily, and Dawn opened the door. There, lying on the queen bed, on either side of Angel, were Cody and Cassidy, equally asleep with their heads on their paws. Dawn grinned.

"C'mon, guys," she called softly. "Breakfast!"

The excitement in her voice woke them up, and they bounded off the bed and over to her, Cody panting and slobbering, Cassidy yawning widely and following behind. Dawn smiled at her, and petted her brother's head. "Late night, girl?" She knew that, even after the short period of time they'd had to get attached to them, sometimes the dogs laid by the front door until Buffy and Spike came back from patrol.

Dawn led the dogs back downstairs, closing Angel's door on the way, and poured their food into the bowls in the corner of the kitchen. "Eat up," she told them, but they both had their noses in their dishes before she could finish reminding them.

Grabbing the backpack she'd put together the night before from her bedroom, Dawn went back to the kitchen and grabbed Cordy. "Time to go," she told her. Walking around the table, she hugged a still-scowling Spike and kissed his cheek. "I'll be fine," she promised. "And I won't let any boys stare at me." She giggled.

Spike scowled harder for a moment, then met her eyes. "Have a good day, Niblet."

"I'll try," she promised. "See you later."

"I'll be here. Unless they let school run until after sunset, now?"

Dawn giggled again, and shook her head. "Nope. Buffy's coming to pick me up at three-fifteen, so we should be home by three-thirty."

"Okay." He yawned. "I'm going back to bed."

Dawn nodded. "You should. You shouldn't have gotten up in the first place." She frowned at him.

He put his hands up, smiling. "I know, I know. Buffy and I were out all night and we should sleep."

Dawn nodded. "You'll get sloppy if you don't. And I'm not letting my sister go patrolling with a sloppy, sleep-deprived vampire for backup."

"Interesting which one of those things actually bothers you, Niblet. Not the fact that I'm a vampire, but the fact that I might be sloppy or sleep-deprived."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I know. God, my life is weird." She missed the fleeting look of pain that flashed over Spike's face when she said that. Then she thwapped him on the shoulder lightly and glared at him. "And hey! Way to change the subject!"

He grinned. "I'll sleep, I promise."

"Good. Now, Cordy and I have to go, I guess." She glanced at her watch. "We might be late anyway. Hopefully they let you do that on the first day."

Cordy nodded. "They do. Nobody can find their classrooms the first day, anyway. But we do need to leave."

Dawn nodded once more to Spike, and then to Wesley and Gunn as they looked up from their various reading materials. "Bye."

"Good-bye, Dawn."

"Kick ass, Dawnie!"

"I know, I know. I'll sleep."

Dawn grinned, and followed Cordelia out of the lobby and towards the car.

The bustling mass of the school was fairly overwhelming, just as Dawn had thought it would be. As Cordelia pulled up to the drop-off line and stopped, the teenager took a minute to just watch the endless stream of people hustling by before she opened her door.

"Thanks, Cordy."

"No problem. I'll see you later."

Dawn nodded, then reluctantly heaved her body out of the car. She felt as though she was being swallowed by the crowds as she fought her way into them and then walked with the streams of kids, staring at her map.

It didn't take her as long as she thought it would to find her first class, and after that, she asked people where the various rooms were. As huge as the campus seemed on first appraisal, everybody but the freshmen seemed to know where everything was, so Dawn figured she'd learn, too.

It was passing in the halls between second and third period that Dawn saw Kent, surrounded by friends and moving swiftly like all the other upperclassmen, sure of his destination.

Dawn melted into the sidewalls of lockers and waited. She hadn't thought that Kent would be one of the mega-popular people, she'd never been friends with any of them. In fact, in Sunnydale, the popular people tended to tease her and her group of friends rather mercilessly. She hoped that Kent wouldn't see her, knowing that the alternative, him seeing her and then pretending not to, would be worse.

Instead, though, Kent caught her eye and swiftly brought everybody to a halt. "Hey!" He called out, and Dawn almost looked behind her for whoever he was talking to before realizing that that would look mega-dorkish.

"Hey," She responded hesitantly. "It's... it's good to see somebody I recognize."

Kent grinned and walked a little closer. "Guys, Dawn Summers. She's new here, from Sunnydale." They all nodded their heads and said hello, and Dawn looked around her.

"Dawn, this is Chris, Alex, Taylor and Shawn," Kent pointed out. "We're various jocks, but I promise we don't belong to the stereotype." Right then, one of them, Dawn thought it was Alex, burped loudly, and Kent winced, then smiled apologetically. "All the time."

Dawn smiled, glad to see that the only person whose face she recognized wasn't ignoring her, but also a little overwhelmed by the fact that the mega-popular crowd was talking to her, civilly. "How-" she started to speak, but the bell cut her off. She glanced up at the clock and frowned. "I'd better get going."

Kent nodded. "Sure. Meet us in the lunchroom at lunch?" He smiled. "Imagine that. We're going to eat lunch, in the lunch room." He paused. "We'll have some more people for you to meet, some girls, too."

Dawn nodded thankfully, glad that she wasn't going to have to spend lunch alone in the corner with her books. "Great."

With a last nod, Kent took off, his buddies following him. Dawn wondered briefly what she was getting into, trying to befriend the guy who seemed to be the leader of a large group of the popular people, but then she decided that if she'd caught their eye, she wasn't going to ignore the benefits that came with it.

Heading off to her next class in the opposite direction from the way the guys had gone, Dawn smiled a little, thinking that maybe school wouldn't suck as bad as it had seemed at first.

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