Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox,
etc... except of course the ones I make up.
Summary: Spike and Buffy are going to have a baby together!!! I know, I know, it's been done about a million times but I promise that this one is different. Anyway, it also deals with all different types of families that could exist in the Buffyverse.
Spoilers: None really
Continuity: It's the sequel to "Apocalypse now... Again". However, you don't really need to read it to understand this fic. It picks up a few weeks after where "Apocalypse Now... Again" leaves off. Also, I just thought I'd point out that Tara is alive and with Willow, both witches are living with Buffy. Also, Xander and Anya are married.
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A/n: I owe everyone an apology for it being so long since I've updated last so I'm really really really sorry! I'm a sophomore in High School and fourth quarter is crunch-time so I've had crazy amounts of homework. Again, I'm very sorry and I'm really gonna try to get up another chapter ASAP!!! I have about six or seven chapters left so I'm sorta almost done. Anyway, please stick with this fic 'cause I promise it'll be worth it!!! Also, please keep reviewing! Thank you thank you thank you! --RaB--
~*~
FAMILY
Chapter 26: Surprise, Surprise
Dawn kicked hard. She did a roundhouse kick even harder than the last. Giles flinched but bounced back quickly from the power of her blows. He had gotten used to it after all, after Buffy. She was so powerful for a such a young girl. He felt like he couldn't remember Buffy ever being Dawn's age, or younger. Though she acted like a child more than Giles had wanted, she did have to grow up so fast. It was as if she were never really that young. He wondered if it would be the same for Dawn. Or if she would even be around in a year... a month... a week... hell, if she would even be around tomorrow. But he couldn't allow himself to think that way; he didn't dare. It was that sort of mentality that got slayers killed.
Giles was brought back from his being lost in thought by a misdirected kick on Dawn's part that landed right on his ribcage. He flew backwards a few feet and landed hard on his back with a loud thud which knocked the air from his lungs painfully. Janice, who was just watching her best friend train, let out a frightened and worried squeal as Dawn ran to her watcher's side.
"Giles! Oh my God! Giles! Giles, are you all right? I am so, SO sorry!"
Dawn took Giles's hand and put another behind his back to help him sit up. He did without too much trouble and he shook his head in an attempt to stop the world from spinning.
"I uh... I..." he trailed of dazedly.
"Giles, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I missed the target. I am really, really sorry. Is there anything I can get you?"
"I'll get some ice," Janice offered as she headed toward the door of the training room.
"Yeah, yeah," Dawn agreed, "ice would be good."
Giles finally found his eyes in focus and he shook his head apologetically at Dawn. "No, no, Dawn. It... it was my fault. I got... uh... distracted. I wasn't paying attention."
"But I should have been more careful," she insisted. "I should have been more in control. I'm just so..." she trailed off sadly and shook her head, "I just, I wasn't focusing. It's my bad, really."
"Dawn, it's all right," Giles asserted as Dawn helped him get onto his feet.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes," he told her as he straightened his glasses, "besides the small, cartoon birds that are flying about my head, I'm just fine."
Dawn gave her watcher a playful shove and he smiled down at her. "Yeah, fine, joke at me all you want, at least I'm asking," she told him with a sly smirk as she walked toward her water bottle and took a long drink. Janice walked briskly into the room, past Dawn and right to Giles. She handed him the ice pack which he accepted graciously.
"Thank you, Janice," he told her with a slight nod as he walked over to a chair and sat heavily upon it.
"Are you sure you're all right, Mr. Giles?"
"Just Giles," Dawn informed her friend, "I'm telling you, just Giles. 'Mister' is just so formal and respectful and stuff. Giles is just... Giles," she smiled and shrugged.
"Thank you, Dawn," Giles told her sarcastically. "That means so much to hear you say that."
Dawn shrugged. "You know me, always thinking of others."
Giles grinned and nodded. "Of course." He paused, and shifted slightly where he sat so that he could reapply the ice pack to his injured abdomen. "Speaking of thinking, what were you so distracted by just now?"
"Oh, you know, just stuff. Life type stuff."
"Such as..." Giles prompted.
"Just..." Dawn sighed and pulled her hair out of the loose ponytail that it was in, "just everything that's been going on. You know, with the baby and all."
"And with the council, I'm assuming."
"Yeah. Crazy pangs of guilt for that one. And it's like... I'm always on edge, just waiting for Buffy to flip on me, the way Spike did. I mean, I expect it. Hell, I deserve it for being so stupid. But she hasn't said anything about it. She's barely even spoken to me since last week and it's killing me that she's not. I just want her to talk to me, or even yell at me about it, you know?"
Giles walked over and stood beside his slayer. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her with gentle eyes. "If there's one thing I've learned about your sister, it's that Buffy has her own way of going about things. When she's ready to blow up at you, she will. But until then, you owe it to her to let her take her own time."
Dawn nodded understandingly. "I know, it's just that..." she trailed off sadly and shook her head. "Never mind."
"Dawn?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Dawn? What were going to say?"
"It's nothing... I just... I just never feel like I have anyplace to go, when I feel like this."
Janice suddenly jumped into the conversation. "Dawn!"
Dawn spun around to face her best friend and she shook her head insistently. "No, no! I don't mean it like that. I mean... ever! I'll never have anyplace to go ever. Sunnydale is like a trap for me, I'm not allowed to leave. I have responsibilities and prophecies and vampires here and I'm never gonna be allowed to get away from them. Not even for a little while. And every time I get into a fight with Buffy I want to think, 'Gee, it sure will be nice when I can just hightail it outta here' but the fact of the matter is I can't. And I never will. I'm gonna be here till I die, which fortunately, might not be that long then."
Janice walked forward cautiously and put her arms around her best friend who reciprocated eagerly. "Don't think like, Dawn. You're not stuck here," she told her as she pulled back from the embrace, "you're just... here. But just for now."
"Yes, Dawn," Giles agreed, "nothing's really keeping you here, not really. You'll be able to leave. Maybe... maybe not permanently but, I'm sure there will be a time when you get to experience the world. You just may have to wait a little longer than others, that's all."
Dawn sighed with frustration. "But I don't want to have to wait! I know how immature that is but..." Dawn took sudden notice of that familiar look that Giles had on his face and she changed her course. "Yeah, I get it, duty and obligation and all that. You don't have to say it Giles."
"Dawn, I understand how hard this is for you but-"
"Dawn!"
Giles, Dawn, and Janice all turned and the source of Dawn's name being called. Giles grimaced at the speaker. "Funny, I thought I was talking, not that it matters."
Spike shrugged and nodded his head toward Dawn. "Sorry, Rupes, gotta get the slayer. It's patrol time."
Dawn frowned and looked to Giles for his permission to go. He nodded and she headed toward the door. "Hey Janice, you game for a little demon ass- kicking?"
"Always," Janice smiled at her best friend as she followed her from the training room. They geared up, putting stakes in sleeves and bottles of holy water into any pockets that could hold them. Dawn and Janice each grabbed a light jacket and Spike put on his classic duster.
"You ready?" He asked the pair.
Dawn smiled and gripped the stake in her hand firmly. "Let's go."
~*~
"Keep up, Slayer!" Spike commanded Dawn as she trailed behind from a distance. She shot Spike a dark look at the back of his head which she knew he couldn't see. She reasoned that she pretty much deserved the cold manner in which he was treating her, but that still didn't change the fact that she hated it. She ran to catch up with him and Janice did the same, though she stayed behind the two a few paces. She figured it wasn't in her own best interest to suffocate between the tension.
"So what?" Dawn asked as she reached the vampire's side, "you're just calling me slayer now?"
"You got a problem with that? You are the slayer, aren't you?"
Dawn stopped and cocked an eyebrow at Spike as she crossed her arms petulantly. "Do I constantly refer to you as 'vampire'?"
Spike surveyed the girl pursed his lips before blowing a breath of air between them. "Fair enough."
The two continued on with Janice still following close behind, more wary of their surroundings than the other two, who were too wrapped up in being angry with each other to really pay attention.
"Um, Dawn? Spike? Where are we going?"
Spike stopped and looked around. He smiled apologetically at Janice and nodded his head to his right. "We're stopping by Clem's, something I gotta get there before we patrol."
Janice's lips turned up into a bright smile. "Really? So we're going to like, a crypt then? So cool!"
"Yeah, all right. I've been meaning to stop by Clem's anyway, to say 'hi' or whatever," Dawn informed them.
"Wonderful, you'll do it while we're there then."
"Fine."
"Right."
"Could we just go?"
"Already going," Spike smirked at her.
"You are SO frustrating!" Dawn growled at him before storming off in the direction of his old crypt. Janice trailed Dawn and Spike fell into place behind them at a steady pace. It wasn't long before the three entered the crypt.
"Hello?" Clem called out from the back of his crypt. He walked toward them with a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "Oh, hey! Spike, Dawn, great to see ya! I didn't know you were comin' tonight." Clem smiled cheerily at his friends and then noticed Janice. "I don't know you do I?"
Janice shook her head and extended her hand. "No. I'm Janice."
Clem took her slim hand in his large, fleshy one and shook it warmly. "Nice to meetcha!"
Janice couldn't help but giggle as she said, "yeah, you too."
"So, Clem," Spike started as he walked toward a chair that was placed close to a poker table set up in the middle of the crypt. "Who's coming tonight?"
"Whoa? Spike, please don't tell me you dragged me and Janice along to poker night."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh no!" Dawn insisted angrily, "I am not gonna sit around here like your bitch and watch you play kitten poker with your friends."
"Kitten poker?" Janice questioned.
"Don't ask," Dawn told her, "let's just go. Sorry, Clem."
"It's all right," he told her, "I understand."
"No, Dawn, wait," Spike told as he grabbed her arm and she spun around.
"What?" She asked, her voice thick with irritation.
"Well, it's just that, it might not be safe for you to go out there right now."
"Excuse me?"
"All I'm saying is that I wouldn't advise it under good *council*."
Dawn felt her face instantly flush red with anger. It was one thing for him to be mad at her, but to speak to her with such blatant malice... that wasn't fair. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she did. She didn't mean to add extra stress to his and Buffy's life, but she did. And she didn't mean to reach up and slap his hard across the face, but she definitely did, leaving a bright pink handprint on his pale, cold flesh.
"You are the biggest asshole!" She told him coldly as she turned her back on him and marched out of the crypt. Janice shot Spike a nasty look before chasing after her friend. Spike realized his mistake a moment too late and he shrugged his shoulders apologetically at Clem before running from his old home.
"Dawn! Wait!" Spike called, but as he expected she simply continued to walk briskly away from him. He ran faster to catch up and he grabbed her arm. She turned around quickly and violently shook his hand from her arm.
"Don't touch me!" She commanded. "Don't you fucking touch me!"
"Look, Dawn-"
"No! Whatever you have to say now, I don't want to hear it. You think I don't already feel awful about what I did? I feel guilty like, twenty-four- seven, and you just have to rub it in, don't you? You can't just understand that it was a mistake and I'm sorry."
"I didn't... Nibblet..."
"Don't call me that!" She screamed infuriated. "Don't call me things that mean you care. You don't care. Just... stay away from me," she told him as she put her hands up and backed away slowly.
He took a forceful step forward. "I will not. You can't-"
"Spike, I'm going to give you fair warning now. If you don't stay the hell away from me you are going to seriously regret it."
She turned on her heel and stormed away from the spot were Spike stood, awe- stricken. Janice kept up with Dawn as best she could. She tried to say things that would give some small amount of comfort to her friend, though she was constantly losing her breath. Dawn did appreciate the effort, Janice was a good friend; however, no matter what Janice said, Dawn knew it couldn't make up for what she had done.
~*~
Dawn padded lightly down the stairs and headed toward the living room. It was just after six in the morning and once again, sleep couldn't seem to find the troubled teen. She walked into the living room and found that her sister seemed to be having the same problem.
Buffy was sitting on the couch, staring somewhat absently out the window. A small smile was playing at the edge of her lips as she leaned her face on her left hand and placed her right hand softly on her belly. Her fingers were continually moving over where her child was constantly growing and though she seemed out of it, Dawn knew that her sister knew she was there.
"I watched the sunrise this morning," Buffy informed her, "it was nice. I don't think I take enough time to enjoy the little things. Though," Buffy began as she shifted her weight so she was facing her sister, "I suppose the sunrise isn't such a little thing."
"I'm sorry," Dawn apologized automatically. "If I'm disturbing you, I could just go."
Buffy smiled gently and shook her head. "Nah. You're not disturbing me at all. C'mere," she told her sister as she patted the couch beside her, "you can sit if you want to, you know."
Dawn obliged willingly and sat on the couch beside Buffy. She put her head down on what was left of her sister's lap. Buffy ran her fingers through Dawn's long brown locks and the younger slayer instantly felt relaxed.
"I don't understand," she confessed.
"Understand what?" Buffy asked.
"Why you aren't freaking out on me. Why you aren't angry."
Buffy took a moment to consider this. She should be angry, she had every reason and right to be angry and yet, she just wasn't. "Basically... I just know that what you did you did by accident and that you would never do anything to hurt me. I can see how bad you feel about all this and I don't think I need to make that worse. I don't feel I need to punish you for making a mistake, granted it was a huge mistake but, a mistake all the same."
Dawn felt tears coming to her eyes as the comfort of knowing Buffy didn't hate her relieved some of her anxiety. "Thank you," she whispered as a few tears fell heavily from her eyes. "I just wish... I wish Spike felt the same as you. Did he-"
"Tell me about what happened last night?" Buffy asked. "Yeah, he did. He feels pretty bad about it. But you have to understand Dawn that he has every right to be angry about what happened. He was... out of line last night and what he said was just plain immature and he knows that. But Spike is well... Spike. He's gonna deal with things however he feels he needs to deal with them so just don't let it get to you. He'll get over it. You know Spike."
"I just hate when he's so mad at me."
Buffy lifted up her sister's head just enough so that she could plant a warm kiss on her head. "I know, sweetie, I know."
"I'm so distracted by everything that's been going on. I can't eat, I can't concentrate in school, I can't sleep. I don't think I've really slept since they came. I mean, it's not like we haven't had bad in town before, I can deal with that... but having the bad be my fault..."
"Oh, Dawnie," Buffy cooed gently as she continued to stroke her little sister's hair. "I wish I could just make it better for you but this is gonna take some time. It'll be okay if you're just willing give it that."
Dawn grumbled. "When did you become all level headed and rational?" She asked.
"Mmm... about the time I got pregnant."
"I thought that being pregnant was supposed to make you crazy."
Buffy rolled her eyes and poked her sister playfully in the ribs. "Yeah, yeah. Crazy to everyone else, maybe. But no crazier than usual."
Dawn laughed at this as she quipped, "that's debatable."
"Thanks, Dawn. That's nice of you," Buffy informed her sister as she gave her brunette tresses a slight tug. "Anyway, I think the best thing you can do for yourself right now is to just sleep off some of your stress."
Dawn swiftly grabbed a pillow and propped it up against Buffy's swollen belly. "Here is good."
Buffy smiled sweetly at her sister though Dawn could not see her face. She maneuvered her body so that she could give Dawn another kiss on the forehead. She watched as her sister's face became rested, and she could feel Dawn's tense muscles relaxing against her legs.
Dawn felt the beginnings of sleep envelop her. The warmth of going to rested, peaceful place made her entire body relax into her sister. She felt wonderful as she began to drift off, the smell of Buffy and the early morning fresh on her nose. She sighed heavily as Dawn and sleep finally found one another once again.
And then the doorbell rang.
Dawn jerked awake and she figured she must have had maybe thirty whole seconds of sleep. She groaned and yawned and stretched and still felt surprisingly awake. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and noticed for the first time that Buffy was no longer sitting beside her.
"Buffy?" She asked, finding her voice to be sounding much like that of a lost child. She looked around and watched Buffy walking toward the door from the kitchen.
"Morning, sunshine."
Dawn ran her fingers through her hair and stretched her neck. "Hey. How long was I out?"
Buffy checked her watched. "Uh... well it's about ten now so almost four hours."
Dawn smiled to herself, proud for getting that many consecutive hours of sleep. "Cool," she commented offhandedly as she stood and walked toward her sister. "Who's at the door?"
"I suppose we'll find out," she said as she turned the knob and pulled the door open to find herself face to face with a man she didn't recognize and yet, he seemed vaguely familiar.
"Hi," she greeted him as warmly as she could. "Can I help you?"
"Buffy Summers," she stated rather than asked in a painfully familiar voice. "My have you grown! And in more ways than one, I might add."
Buffy furrowed her brow as she attempted to make something of the strange man. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"As a matter of fact, you do. We haven't seen each other for oh... I'd say... seven or eight years. And back then, I was sort of wearing a different body."
"Oh really? And what kind of body would that be?"
"Sort of a puppet."
Buffy's jaw dropped as her recognition of him hit immediately. She was at a loss for words. Though she had so much she knew she wanted to say, nothing could pass the boundary of her lips.
"Buffy?" Dawn whispered, "who is this?"
A smile spread across the older slayer's face and she choked an amused and rather pleased laugh. "Sid?"
The man nodded. "The one and only."
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed excitedly as she stepped aside so that he could come in. "What the hell are you doing here? What are doing alive? What are you doing in a body? Who's body is that?"
"You know, doll, I'd love to answer all of your inquiries but first, I had a long trip here, you think you could get me a drink?"
"Absolutely!" She told him over enthusiastically, "right after I get one for myself."
~*~
TBC...
~*~
Summary: Spike and Buffy are going to have a baby together!!! I know, I know, it's been done about a million times but I promise that this one is different. Anyway, it also deals with all different types of families that could exist in the Buffyverse.
Spoilers: None really
Continuity: It's the sequel to "Apocalypse now... Again". However, you don't really need to read it to understand this fic. It picks up a few weeks after where "Apocalypse Now... Again" leaves off. Also, I just thought I'd point out that Tara is alive and with Willow, both witches are living with Buffy. Also, Xander and Anya are married.
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A/n: I owe everyone an apology for it being so long since I've updated last so I'm really really really sorry! I'm a sophomore in High School and fourth quarter is crunch-time so I've had crazy amounts of homework. Again, I'm very sorry and I'm really gonna try to get up another chapter ASAP!!! I have about six or seven chapters left so I'm sorta almost done. Anyway, please stick with this fic 'cause I promise it'll be worth it!!! Also, please keep reviewing! Thank you thank you thank you! --RaB--
~*~
FAMILY
Chapter 26: Surprise, Surprise
Dawn kicked hard. She did a roundhouse kick even harder than the last. Giles flinched but bounced back quickly from the power of her blows. He had gotten used to it after all, after Buffy. She was so powerful for a such a young girl. He felt like he couldn't remember Buffy ever being Dawn's age, or younger. Though she acted like a child more than Giles had wanted, she did have to grow up so fast. It was as if she were never really that young. He wondered if it would be the same for Dawn. Or if she would even be around in a year... a month... a week... hell, if she would even be around tomorrow. But he couldn't allow himself to think that way; he didn't dare. It was that sort of mentality that got slayers killed.
Giles was brought back from his being lost in thought by a misdirected kick on Dawn's part that landed right on his ribcage. He flew backwards a few feet and landed hard on his back with a loud thud which knocked the air from his lungs painfully. Janice, who was just watching her best friend train, let out a frightened and worried squeal as Dawn ran to her watcher's side.
"Giles! Oh my God! Giles! Giles, are you all right? I am so, SO sorry!"
Dawn took Giles's hand and put another behind his back to help him sit up. He did without too much trouble and he shook his head in an attempt to stop the world from spinning.
"I uh... I..." he trailed of dazedly.
"Giles, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I missed the target. I am really, really sorry. Is there anything I can get you?"
"I'll get some ice," Janice offered as she headed toward the door of the training room.
"Yeah, yeah," Dawn agreed, "ice would be good."
Giles finally found his eyes in focus and he shook his head apologetically at Dawn. "No, no, Dawn. It... it was my fault. I got... uh... distracted. I wasn't paying attention."
"But I should have been more careful," she insisted. "I should have been more in control. I'm just so..." she trailed off sadly and shook her head, "I just, I wasn't focusing. It's my bad, really."
"Dawn, it's all right," Giles asserted as Dawn helped him get onto his feet.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes," he told her as he straightened his glasses, "besides the small, cartoon birds that are flying about my head, I'm just fine."
Dawn gave her watcher a playful shove and he smiled down at her. "Yeah, fine, joke at me all you want, at least I'm asking," she told him with a sly smirk as she walked toward her water bottle and took a long drink. Janice walked briskly into the room, past Dawn and right to Giles. She handed him the ice pack which he accepted graciously.
"Thank you, Janice," he told her with a slight nod as he walked over to a chair and sat heavily upon it.
"Are you sure you're all right, Mr. Giles?"
"Just Giles," Dawn informed her friend, "I'm telling you, just Giles. 'Mister' is just so formal and respectful and stuff. Giles is just... Giles," she smiled and shrugged.
"Thank you, Dawn," Giles told her sarcastically. "That means so much to hear you say that."
Dawn shrugged. "You know me, always thinking of others."
Giles grinned and nodded. "Of course." He paused, and shifted slightly where he sat so that he could reapply the ice pack to his injured abdomen. "Speaking of thinking, what were you so distracted by just now?"
"Oh, you know, just stuff. Life type stuff."
"Such as..." Giles prompted.
"Just..." Dawn sighed and pulled her hair out of the loose ponytail that it was in, "just everything that's been going on. You know, with the baby and all."
"And with the council, I'm assuming."
"Yeah. Crazy pangs of guilt for that one. And it's like... I'm always on edge, just waiting for Buffy to flip on me, the way Spike did. I mean, I expect it. Hell, I deserve it for being so stupid. But she hasn't said anything about it. She's barely even spoken to me since last week and it's killing me that she's not. I just want her to talk to me, or even yell at me about it, you know?"
Giles walked over and stood beside his slayer. He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked at her with gentle eyes. "If there's one thing I've learned about your sister, it's that Buffy has her own way of going about things. When she's ready to blow up at you, she will. But until then, you owe it to her to let her take her own time."
Dawn nodded understandingly. "I know, it's just that..." she trailed off sadly and shook her head. "Never mind."
"Dawn?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Dawn? What were going to say?"
"It's nothing... I just... I just never feel like I have anyplace to go, when I feel like this."
Janice suddenly jumped into the conversation. "Dawn!"
Dawn spun around to face her best friend and she shook her head insistently. "No, no! I don't mean it like that. I mean... ever! I'll never have anyplace to go ever. Sunnydale is like a trap for me, I'm not allowed to leave. I have responsibilities and prophecies and vampires here and I'm never gonna be allowed to get away from them. Not even for a little while. And every time I get into a fight with Buffy I want to think, 'Gee, it sure will be nice when I can just hightail it outta here' but the fact of the matter is I can't. And I never will. I'm gonna be here till I die, which fortunately, might not be that long then."
Janice walked forward cautiously and put her arms around her best friend who reciprocated eagerly. "Don't think like, Dawn. You're not stuck here," she told her as she pulled back from the embrace, "you're just... here. But just for now."
"Yes, Dawn," Giles agreed, "nothing's really keeping you here, not really. You'll be able to leave. Maybe... maybe not permanently but, I'm sure there will be a time when you get to experience the world. You just may have to wait a little longer than others, that's all."
Dawn sighed with frustration. "But I don't want to have to wait! I know how immature that is but..." Dawn took sudden notice of that familiar look that Giles had on his face and she changed her course. "Yeah, I get it, duty and obligation and all that. You don't have to say it Giles."
"Dawn, I understand how hard this is for you but-"
"Dawn!"
Giles, Dawn, and Janice all turned and the source of Dawn's name being called. Giles grimaced at the speaker. "Funny, I thought I was talking, not that it matters."
Spike shrugged and nodded his head toward Dawn. "Sorry, Rupes, gotta get the slayer. It's patrol time."
Dawn frowned and looked to Giles for his permission to go. He nodded and she headed toward the door. "Hey Janice, you game for a little demon ass- kicking?"
"Always," Janice smiled at her best friend as she followed her from the training room. They geared up, putting stakes in sleeves and bottles of holy water into any pockets that could hold them. Dawn and Janice each grabbed a light jacket and Spike put on his classic duster.
"You ready?" He asked the pair.
Dawn smiled and gripped the stake in her hand firmly. "Let's go."
~*~
"Keep up, Slayer!" Spike commanded Dawn as she trailed behind from a distance. She shot Spike a dark look at the back of his head which she knew he couldn't see. She reasoned that she pretty much deserved the cold manner in which he was treating her, but that still didn't change the fact that she hated it. She ran to catch up with him and Janice did the same, though she stayed behind the two a few paces. She figured it wasn't in her own best interest to suffocate between the tension.
"So what?" Dawn asked as she reached the vampire's side, "you're just calling me slayer now?"
"You got a problem with that? You are the slayer, aren't you?"
Dawn stopped and cocked an eyebrow at Spike as she crossed her arms petulantly. "Do I constantly refer to you as 'vampire'?"
Spike surveyed the girl pursed his lips before blowing a breath of air between them. "Fair enough."
The two continued on with Janice still following close behind, more wary of their surroundings than the other two, who were too wrapped up in being angry with each other to really pay attention.
"Um, Dawn? Spike? Where are we going?"
Spike stopped and looked around. He smiled apologetically at Janice and nodded his head to his right. "We're stopping by Clem's, something I gotta get there before we patrol."
Janice's lips turned up into a bright smile. "Really? So we're going to like, a crypt then? So cool!"
"Yeah, all right. I've been meaning to stop by Clem's anyway, to say 'hi' or whatever," Dawn informed them.
"Wonderful, you'll do it while we're there then."
"Fine."
"Right."
"Could we just go?"
"Already going," Spike smirked at her.
"You are SO frustrating!" Dawn growled at him before storming off in the direction of his old crypt. Janice trailed Dawn and Spike fell into place behind them at a steady pace. It wasn't long before the three entered the crypt.
"Hello?" Clem called out from the back of his crypt. He walked toward them with a bowl of popcorn in his hands. "Oh, hey! Spike, Dawn, great to see ya! I didn't know you were comin' tonight." Clem smiled cheerily at his friends and then noticed Janice. "I don't know you do I?"
Janice shook her head and extended her hand. "No. I'm Janice."
Clem took her slim hand in his large, fleshy one and shook it warmly. "Nice to meetcha!"
Janice couldn't help but giggle as she said, "yeah, you too."
"So, Clem," Spike started as he walked toward a chair that was placed close to a poker table set up in the middle of the crypt. "Who's coming tonight?"
"Whoa? Spike, please don't tell me you dragged me and Janice along to poker night."
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh no!" Dawn insisted angrily, "I am not gonna sit around here like your bitch and watch you play kitten poker with your friends."
"Kitten poker?" Janice questioned.
"Don't ask," Dawn told her, "let's just go. Sorry, Clem."
"It's all right," he told her, "I understand."
"No, Dawn, wait," Spike told as he grabbed her arm and she spun around.
"What?" She asked, her voice thick with irritation.
"Well, it's just that, it might not be safe for you to go out there right now."
"Excuse me?"
"All I'm saying is that I wouldn't advise it under good *council*."
Dawn felt her face instantly flush red with anger. It was one thing for him to be mad at her, but to speak to her with such blatant malice... that wasn't fair. She didn't mean to hurt him, but she did. She didn't mean to add extra stress to his and Buffy's life, but she did. And she didn't mean to reach up and slap his hard across the face, but she definitely did, leaving a bright pink handprint on his pale, cold flesh.
"You are the biggest asshole!" She told him coldly as she turned her back on him and marched out of the crypt. Janice shot Spike a nasty look before chasing after her friend. Spike realized his mistake a moment too late and he shrugged his shoulders apologetically at Clem before running from his old home.
"Dawn! Wait!" Spike called, but as he expected she simply continued to walk briskly away from him. He ran faster to catch up and he grabbed her arm. She turned around quickly and violently shook his hand from her arm.
"Don't touch me!" She commanded. "Don't you fucking touch me!"
"Look, Dawn-"
"No! Whatever you have to say now, I don't want to hear it. You think I don't already feel awful about what I did? I feel guilty like, twenty-four- seven, and you just have to rub it in, don't you? You can't just understand that it was a mistake and I'm sorry."
"I didn't... Nibblet..."
"Don't call me that!" She screamed infuriated. "Don't call me things that mean you care. You don't care. Just... stay away from me," she told him as she put her hands up and backed away slowly.
He took a forceful step forward. "I will not. You can't-"
"Spike, I'm going to give you fair warning now. If you don't stay the hell away from me you are going to seriously regret it."
She turned on her heel and stormed away from the spot were Spike stood, awe- stricken. Janice kept up with Dawn as best she could. She tried to say things that would give some small amount of comfort to her friend, though she was constantly losing her breath. Dawn did appreciate the effort, Janice was a good friend; however, no matter what Janice said, Dawn knew it couldn't make up for what she had done.
~*~
Dawn padded lightly down the stairs and headed toward the living room. It was just after six in the morning and once again, sleep couldn't seem to find the troubled teen. She walked into the living room and found that her sister seemed to be having the same problem.
Buffy was sitting on the couch, staring somewhat absently out the window. A small smile was playing at the edge of her lips as she leaned her face on her left hand and placed her right hand softly on her belly. Her fingers were continually moving over where her child was constantly growing and though she seemed out of it, Dawn knew that her sister knew she was there.
"I watched the sunrise this morning," Buffy informed her, "it was nice. I don't think I take enough time to enjoy the little things. Though," Buffy began as she shifted her weight so she was facing her sister, "I suppose the sunrise isn't such a little thing."
"I'm sorry," Dawn apologized automatically. "If I'm disturbing you, I could just go."
Buffy smiled gently and shook her head. "Nah. You're not disturbing me at all. C'mere," she told her sister as she patted the couch beside her, "you can sit if you want to, you know."
Dawn obliged willingly and sat on the couch beside Buffy. She put her head down on what was left of her sister's lap. Buffy ran her fingers through Dawn's long brown locks and the younger slayer instantly felt relaxed.
"I don't understand," she confessed.
"Understand what?" Buffy asked.
"Why you aren't freaking out on me. Why you aren't angry."
Buffy took a moment to consider this. She should be angry, she had every reason and right to be angry and yet, she just wasn't. "Basically... I just know that what you did you did by accident and that you would never do anything to hurt me. I can see how bad you feel about all this and I don't think I need to make that worse. I don't feel I need to punish you for making a mistake, granted it was a huge mistake but, a mistake all the same."
Dawn felt tears coming to her eyes as the comfort of knowing Buffy didn't hate her relieved some of her anxiety. "Thank you," she whispered as a few tears fell heavily from her eyes. "I just wish... I wish Spike felt the same as you. Did he-"
"Tell me about what happened last night?" Buffy asked. "Yeah, he did. He feels pretty bad about it. But you have to understand Dawn that he has every right to be angry about what happened. He was... out of line last night and what he said was just plain immature and he knows that. But Spike is well... Spike. He's gonna deal with things however he feels he needs to deal with them so just don't let it get to you. He'll get over it. You know Spike."
"I just hate when he's so mad at me."
Buffy lifted up her sister's head just enough so that she could plant a warm kiss on her head. "I know, sweetie, I know."
"I'm so distracted by everything that's been going on. I can't eat, I can't concentrate in school, I can't sleep. I don't think I've really slept since they came. I mean, it's not like we haven't had bad in town before, I can deal with that... but having the bad be my fault..."
"Oh, Dawnie," Buffy cooed gently as she continued to stroke her little sister's hair. "I wish I could just make it better for you but this is gonna take some time. It'll be okay if you're just willing give it that."
Dawn grumbled. "When did you become all level headed and rational?" She asked.
"Mmm... about the time I got pregnant."
"I thought that being pregnant was supposed to make you crazy."
Buffy rolled her eyes and poked her sister playfully in the ribs. "Yeah, yeah. Crazy to everyone else, maybe. But no crazier than usual."
Dawn laughed at this as she quipped, "that's debatable."
"Thanks, Dawn. That's nice of you," Buffy informed her sister as she gave her brunette tresses a slight tug. "Anyway, I think the best thing you can do for yourself right now is to just sleep off some of your stress."
Dawn swiftly grabbed a pillow and propped it up against Buffy's swollen belly. "Here is good."
Buffy smiled sweetly at her sister though Dawn could not see her face. She maneuvered her body so that she could give Dawn another kiss on the forehead. She watched as her sister's face became rested, and she could feel Dawn's tense muscles relaxing against her legs.
Dawn felt the beginnings of sleep envelop her. The warmth of going to rested, peaceful place made her entire body relax into her sister. She felt wonderful as she began to drift off, the smell of Buffy and the early morning fresh on her nose. She sighed heavily as Dawn and sleep finally found one another once again.
And then the doorbell rang.
Dawn jerked awake and she figured she must have had maybe thirty whole seconds of sleep. She groaned and yawned and stretched and still felt surprisingly awake. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and noticed for the first time that Buffy was no longer sitting beside her.
"Buffy?" She asked, finding her voice to be sounding much like that of a lost child. She looked around and watched Buffy walking toward the door from the kitchen.
"Morning, sunshine."
Dawn ran her fingers through her hair and stretched her neck. "Hey. How long was I out?"
Buffy checked her watched. "Uh... well it's about ten now so almost four hours."
Dawn smiled to herself, proud for getting that many consecutive hours of sleep. "Cool," she commented offhandedly as she stood and walked toward her sister. "Who's at the door?"
"I suppose we'll find out," she said as she turned the knob and pulled the door open to find herself face to face with a man she didn't recognize and yet, he seemed vaguely familiar.
"Hi," she greeted him as warmly as she could. "Can I help you?"
"Buffy Summers," she stated rather than asked in a painfully familiar voice. "My have you grown! And in more ways than one, I might add."
Buffy furrowed her brow as she attempted to make something of the strange man. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"As a matter of fact, you do. We haven't seen each other for oh... I'd say... seven or eight years. And back then, I was sort of wearing a different body."
"Oh really? And what kind of body would that be?"
"Sort of a puppet."
Buffy's jaw dropped as her recognition of him hit immediately. She was at a loss for words. Though she had so much she knew she wanted to say, nothing could pass the boundary of her lips.
"Buffy?" Dawn whispered, "who is this?"
A smile spread across the older slayer's face and she choked an amused and rather pleased laugh. "Sid?"
The man nodded. "The one and only."
"Oh my God!" She exclaimed excitedly as she stepped aside so that he could come in. "What the hell are you doing here? What are doing alive? What are you doing in a body? Who's body is that?"
"You know, doll, I'd love to answer all of your inquiries but first, I had a long trip here, you think you could get me a drink?"
"Absolutely!" She told him over enthusiastically, "right after I get one for myself."
~*~
TBC...
~*~