FINAL FIFTH
NOTE: I own none of Joss's characters but I do own my personal characters.
A/N: This is the sequel to my story, Potential Second Chance, or PSC as I like to call it. You might not be familiar with some of my characters so you're going to have to read PSC.
CHAPTER 2
Buffy, Willow, and Dawn sat around the living room of the Summers home that early evening, Willow typing away at her laptop, sitting at the coffee table. Buffy stared over the witch's shoulder at times to see what she was doing but her glance usually made its way over to Dawn, who sat in an arm chair, staring in the direction of the basement.
"Big ol' nickel for your thoughts, Dawnie," Buffy said.
Dawn turned towards her sister. "Huh? Oh, I was just wondering what they're doing down there."
"You know what they're doing," Willow said, still typing away at her computer, not looking up from the screen. "Autumn is being all teenaged-y and Wesley's being all watcher-y."
Downstairs in the basement, a place that had been adopted as Autumn's new training area, the red head and Wesley stood going over some basic moves, or what Wesley thought was basic moves.
"You can handle what you need to," Wesley said, making his way to the back of Autumn, suddenly wrapping an arm around her neck. "But what would you do if a vampire as large as me came up behind you and—?" Autumn suddenly kicked him in the leg, making Wesley fall back, rubbing his leg furiously.
"How's that?" Autumn asked sweetly, turning around to face him.
"Not exactly what I had in mind," Wesley grunted, still holding his aching leg.
"You are such a girl," Autumn giggled softly then got from Wesley what she had named "the watcher" look. "Sorry."
"All right." Wesley slowly stood up again. "That might be enough for today." He glanced around. "What happened to Maggie tonight?"
"She said something about having to crash or whatever," Autumn replied with a shrug.
Maggie lay snuggled up in her bed still fully clothed from school, her face trapped under half a dozen pillows, a blanket on top of her body, and snores coming now and again.
"Mmm... magically delicious," the young blonde girl murmured in her sleep.
Autumn headed into the living room, followed by Wesley, both coming up from the basement, seeing that Spike had joined the three girls in the living room. Autumn wore a pair of white jogging pants with a long, pink stripe going down each side of the legs, and a pink tanktop to match the stripes. She also wore an exhausted look on her face.
"How was it?" Dawn asked Autumn.
"I'm all wiped like," Autumn replied, flopping down on the couch between Spike and Buffy.
Wesley's heart went out for his young charge a little as he said, "Why don't I take you to get something to eat?"
Autumn glanced at him. "No thanks, Wes. I'm eating with Fred tonight."
"Again?" Wesley asked, curious as to why she had been spending so much time with her.
"Well, you know, I like Fred," Autumn shrugged. "She's good with the whole listening thing."
"Speaking of AI," Spike suddenly piped up, turning his attention to Buffy. "Where's your future hubby?"
Buffy raised an eyebrow at him and replied cooly, "Angel is still in LA. He still has some things to finish."
"Must make for those cold, lonely nights," Spike muttered, turning his head away and staring straight ahead.
Fred and Gunn were in the living room of their new apartment later on that evening, unpacking the several boxes that they had left.
"Fred?" Gunn called to her, picking something up out of a box. "Exactly how many dart guns did you bring from the hotel?"
"Oh, come on, Charles," Fred smiled at him. "They're like... souvenirs." She pouted a little.
"I'm gonna miss it, too," Gunn sighed, sitting the gun back into the box. The doorbell went off then. "Got it." Gunn made his way over to the front door, revealing it to be Autumn. "Hey, Otty," he greeted, using the nickname he and Fred had developed for the girl.
"Hey," Autumn returned the greeting, entering the apartment. "I see you guys aren't all snuggled in like."
"Yeah," Fred nodded, looking around at all of their boxes. "I guess not."
"I'll go order a pizza," Gunn said to them, heading for the bedroom.
Fred turned to Autumn and smiled. "So how was school, Otty?"
Autumn returned her smile. "School-ish," the teenager replied. "Except for Wesley monitoring me at every period except for lunch."
Fred giggled a little, pushing a strand of brown hair behind her left ear. "Sounds like him." She and Autumn took a seat on the couch, Autumn releasing a light sigh. "Are you OK?" Fred asked softly, a little concern in her voice.
"Mm-hmm," Autumn nodded. "Just a little tired."
"Is everything all right?"
Autumn glanced towards Fred. She just always seemed to... care. "Just the whole slayer thing. It can take a lot out of you."
Fred put an arm around her, the move very natural to both of them. "I can't exactly fix the slayer thing but I think chocolate ice cream is the best cure for the tired part."
Autumn's smile increased as she nodded.
A/N: I realize that this chapter is really short and I apologize for that. Ever been to high school? It takes a lot out of you so that you can't focus on the whole writing thing. You know what would be good? Reviews.