A/N: ok I'm sorry I haven't updated in like months but I've been really busy with school and such and completely forgot about it until one of my devoted fans (jojo) emailed me and told me to get my act together. So this is for you jojo I hope you enjoy the new chappies and don't get to mad at the huge time jump. Ok love you all. Oh and I realize I forgot to put a disclaimer at the beginning of my story so just for future reference the only characters that belong to me are Kia and Hunter, every one is property of joss and mutant enemy, and I grovel in the shadow of the might and the power that is joss. { SYMBOL 74 \f "Wingdings" \s 10}
A year and a half later.... (He he he aren't I evil?)
"Ugh. Research." Buffy moaned and her head flopped down onto the pages of the large dusty tome spread out before her. Willow Tara Buffy and Giles were all seated around the round table in the middle of the magic box in the early evening. Willow nodded.
"Yeah, I love research and all but this is a bit much. There's nothing here." She proclaimed. Giles sighed and removed his small oval glasses, carefully polishing them on his shirt hem before replacing them on his nose.
"I quite agree. But it just doesn't make sense. The hell mouth has been quite for almost six months now. Either that means the hell mouth is actually quieting down, which I highly doubt, or we are building up to something really big. And I don't want to be caught unawares." Giles told them and flipped open another book only to have a massive coughing fit when a cloud of dust rose from its aged yellow pages. The book snapped shut again and Giles stood up from his chair.
"Alright that's it. I'm going for coffee. Anyone coming?" all three of the girls leapt to their feet and were half way out the door before Giles even made it to the counter to grab his keys.
It had been almost a year and a half since the trip to New York. Things had changed drastically since Kia joined their little family. Anya and Xander got so sick of planning the wedding that three days before their date they eloped and got married in Vegas. Now they lived happily together in their apartment but were looking into houses in Buffy's neighborhood. Buffy and Spike went public with their relationship two weeks after they got back from the trip, not necessarily by choice. Xander and Anya caught them doing inappropriate things on the couch in the training room one night after a long research session. To every ones surprise Xander was not at all surprised. His exact words were "oh comon do you guys actually think I'm that clueless? They came back from the trip together. It was kind of obvious." He said with a 'no duh' tone in his voice. Spike moved into the house on Revellio a week later. Kia moved into the spare room at Giles and got a job at a used bookstore to fill up her spare hours. She went patrolling most nights and hung out with dawn the others. Kia started to open up a little more. Mostly with Spike and Dawn but even that was not much. Occasionally they dragged Kia to the bronze with them but not often. Kia seemed uncomfortable with the amount of male attention and a lot of female too when she went to public gatherings. The hell mouth had spewed at its normal rate for a while then it just seemed to stop. When before Kia and Buffy might have to be out for four hours a night to make a difference in the demon population now they were lucky to get it two kills a night.
Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Giles walked down the sidewalk towards the expresso pump.
"Does any one know where Kia is?" Tara asked. Giles shook his head.
"She wasn't there when I got home but she left a note saying she would be back before midnight." He said sounding a little worried. Buffy patted Giles on the shoulder.
"I'm sure she's fine. She can more than take care of herself." Buffy reassured him. Giles nodded and they went up the steps to the open-air building that was Sunnydale's most prosperous coffee house. They got their coffee and sat down at a table.
"She does this a lot doesn't she." Buffy stated more than asked. Giles sighed.
"I keep trying to get her to open up but it doesn't seem to work. I've tried being nice being angry being anything and nothing works. She's completely shut down." He said wearily. Willow shrugged.
"She'll open up in her own time." She said but the words sounded hollow even to her own ears. The group fell silent. Tara looked over Giles shoulder and saw the slight red-haired girl walk in.
"Oh there she is!" she said. Tara waived her over. Kia sat down next to Giles and smiled slightly.
"Hey." She greeted. Buffy smiled.
"So eighteen in a week. Got any plans?" she asked. Kia looked down and her cheeks turned red. Willow's eyes grew wide.
"You do! Oh! Are they date related plans maybe?" she said eagerly. Kia's face turned almost as red as her hair. Giles looked sharply at the young girl.
"You have a date?" he asked. Kia looked up.
"Just me and Dawn and a couple of people. Not a big." Buffy frowned.
"Dawn didn't mention anything, where are you guys going?" she asked. Kia smiled.
"She said it was a surprise. And you know Dawn. I would need the jaws of life to pry a secret from that girl." Kia said and stole a sip of Giles cappuccino. Giles frowned sternly at Kia.
"Who are these other people?" he asked. Kia looked up at him.
"Janice and a couple of people I don't know. Um I'll ask Dawn." Kia said quickly and stood. "Buffy I'll patrol tonight if it's ok." She said and Buffy nodded. Kia smiled at Giles and left. Giles sighed again.
"You all grow up to fast." He said mournfully. Buffy giggled.
"Giles the girls almost eighteen and I doubt she's ever been alone in a room with a boy let alone on a date. I really wouldn't worry."
Kia let out a little 'oof' as she smashed into the brick wall behind her. The vampire in front of her lunged in for the kill and she flipped him off of her. Another one slammed into her from the side and she hit the ground with an audible thud. She stared into yellow fire eyes and smelled old blood on the vampire's breath. A sudden lethargy seemed to filter into her body and her eyes drifted closed as the vampire's fangs descended on her throat.
She had been fighting for almost a half an hour the vampires had numbered almost eleven in the beginning and now it was down to these last two. She had fought hard but something inside her clicked and she stopped. She could feel the vampire press his fangs against her throat. Then the vampire was gone. She looked down at her hands and saw a thin layer of dust covering them and the stake that had appeared in them. She laid there and watched the last vampire growl at her and run. She lay on the cool grass of the cemetery for a few long minutes before she got to her feet.
A wet trickle raced down her throat and she brought her fingers to her neck. They came away rosy with blood. Kia walked slowly back towards Giles house. Her mind was reeling. She had been ready to die, no, not just ready, she wanted it. Kia couldn't believe it had actually happened but for those few seconds before she brought her stake up she had given up. Craving the darkness that it would bring. Kia shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and walked more quickly.
Buffy and Spike were walking away from the back door of the bronze when Buffy caught sight of a familiar longhaired red head.
"Kia!" she shouted and she and Spike sprinted to catch up with the girl who was shuffling down the road with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Spike tapped Kia on the shoulder and she turned slightly.
"Hey guys." She said smiling, Buffy smiled back but there was a slight frown in her eyes.
"You ok Kia?" she asked. Kia nodded vigorously and pushed her hair back from her face.
"Yeah I'm just a little tired, actually got a little vampy action tonight. But I think they were from out of town..." she trailed off at the expression on spike's face.
"You're bleeding." He said blandly. Kia automatically reached for her neck and smiled weakly.
"Yeah, um, one got in a lucky shot, just a scrape." She said while Buffy pulled her hand away and pushed Kia's hair out of the way.
"Kia this isn't just a scrape. This cut is pretty deep." Buffy said worried. Spike inspected the wound while Kia tried not to meet either of their eyes.
"No finesse. Sloppy. Kia was it a fledgling?" he asked sounding a little angry. Kia shrugged.
"I don't know, there was eleven of them so I got a little to preoccupied to take their status!" Kia exclaimed angry and stalked off. Buffy and Spike trotted after her and Buffy fell in step beside her.
"You all right Kia?" she asked again. Kia nodded.
"Yeah I'm just a little mad that I actually let one of em' get that close." She said and pulled a cigarette out of her coat pocket. She tried to light it but her hands were shaking to badly to get the lighter lit. Spike steadied her hands and she took a deep drag of the smoke.
"Thanks." She said and blew the pale mist out through her nose. Buffy and Spike followed Kia back to Giles to make sure she got home safely and then headed back to Revellio drive and their bed. The shut the door tightly behind them and began to get ready for bed.
"Something isn't right here. No vamps for a week and all of the sudden she's jumped by a big group of out of towners." Buffy sighed as she pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Spike nodded.
"Your right. There's been this odd feeling in the back of my mind for most of the week. And Kia's birthday is tomorrow. This is just a little too coincidental for my taste." He told her and peeled his shirt off his back. Buffy smiled at him gently and wrapped her arms around his bare torso.
"I love you so much." She told him in a whisper. Spike clutched her tightly to him and buried his face in her golden locks.
"I know baby. I love you too. Now lets get some sleep. We can worry about Kia tomorrow." He told her. Buffy nodded and they continued preparing for sleep.
Giles was asleep by the time Kia got in. Spike and Buffy had walked her to the door then gone home but Kia didn't go inside the small apartment immediately. Instead she lingered out in the courtyard for nearly half an hour, her eyes on the window of Giles bedroom until she saw his light go off. Kia walked through the dark apartment into her room and shut the door behind her.
She had slept on the couch for almost two weeks after she moved in with Giles until he cleaned all the books out of his back room and put in a queen sized bed. Kia flicked on he light switch and cast an immediate warm glow through out the room. She dropped her coat on a chair along with her bag and sat down on the carpet in the middle of the room. She reached on the floor for the remote to her CD player and clicked it on. The familiar strains of switchfoot filtered through her speakers.
Four a.m. two hours ago
I'm wearing out a lonely glow
I miss you more than I could know
Here I am
Here I am
Won't you get me?
Kia laid back on the hard unforgiving carpet and let the words wash over her.
I've got my hand in redemptions side
Whose scars are bigger than these doubts of mine?
Ill fit all of the monstrosities inside
And ill come alive
With my fist down at your feet
I was running out of mysteries
Insecure and incomplete
Here I am
Here I am
Won't you get me?
Kia's hands reached under her bed and pulled out a color photo of a young woman with long dark red hair standing next to a tall beautiful man with cat like green eyes and dark brown hair. The picture was faded and creased with time and lovingly worn away. Kia curled up in a ball on the floor of her room with the picture clutched to her chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and she shook with silent sobs.
My fears have worn me out
My fears have worn me out
My fears have worn me worn me.
A year and a half later.... (He he he aren't I evil?)
"Ugh. Research." Buffy moaned and her head flopped down onto the pages of the large dusty tome spread out before her. Willow Tara Buffy and Giles were all seated around the round table in the middle of the magic box in the early evening. Willow nodded.
"Yeah, I love research and all but this is a bit much. There's nothing here." She proclaimed. Giles sighed and removed his small oval glasses, carefully polishing them on his shirt hem before replacing them on his nose.
"I quite agree. But it just doesn't make sense. The hell mouth has been quite for almost six months now. Either that means the hell mouth is actually quieting down, which I highly doubt, or we are building up to something really big. And I don't want to be caught unawares." Giles told them and flipped open another book only to have a massive coughing fit when a cloud of dust rose from its aged yellow pages. The book snapped shut again and Giles stood up from his chair.
"Alright that's it. I'm going for coffee. Anyone coming?" all three of the girls leapt to their feet and were half way out the door before Giles even made it to the counter to grab his keys.
It had been almost a year and a half since the trip to New York. Things had changed drastically since Kia joined their little family. Anya and Xander got so sick of planning the wedding that three days before their date they eloped and got married in Vegas. Now they lived happily together in their apartment but were looking into houses in Buffy's neighborhood. Buffy and Spike went public with their relationship two weeks after they got back from the trip, not necessarily by choice. Xander and Anya caught them doing inappropriate things on the couch in the training room one night after a long research session. To every ones surprise Xander was not at all surprised. His exact words were "oh comon do you guys actually think I'm that clueless? They came back from the trip together. It was kind of obvious." He said with a 'no duh' tone in his voice. Spike moved into the house on Revellio a week later. Kia moved into the spare room at Giles and got a job at a used bookstore to fill up her spare hours. She went patrolling most nights and hung out with dawn the others. Kia started to open up a little more. Mostly with Spike and Dawn but even that was not much. Occasionally they dragged Kia to the bronze with them but not often. Kia seemed uncomfortable with the amount of male attention and a lot of female too when she went to public gatherings. The hell mouth had spewed at its normal rate for a while then it just seemed to stop. When before Kia and Buffy might have to be out for four hours a night to make a difference in the demon population now they were lucky to get it two kills a night.
Willow, Tara, Buffy, and Giles walked down the sidewalk towards the expresso pump.
"Does any one know where Kia is?" Tara asked. Giles shook his head.
"She wasn't there when I got home but she left a note saying she would be back before midnight." He said sounding a little worried. Buffy patted Giles on the shoulder.
"I'm sure she's fine. She can more than take care of herself." Buffy reassured him. Giles nodded and they went up the steps to the open-air building that was Sunnydale's most prosperous coffee house. They got their coffee and sat down at a table.
"She does this a lot doesn't she." Buffy stated more than asked. Giles sighed.
"I keep trying to get her to open up but it doesn't seem to work. I've tried being nice being angry being anything and nothing works. She's completely shut down." He said wearily. Willow shrugged.
"She'll open up in her own time." She said but the words sounded hollow even to her own ears. The group fell silent. Tara looked over Giles shoulder and saw the slight red-haired girl walk in.
"Oh there she is!" she said. Tara waived her over. Kia sat down next to Giles and smiled slightly.
"Hey." She greeted. Buffy smiled.
"So eighteen in a week. Got any plans?" she asked. Kia looked down and her cheeks turned red. Willow's eyes grew wide.
"You do! Oh! Are they date related plans maybe?" she said eagerly. Kia's face turned almost as red as her hair. Giles looked sharply at the young girl.
"You have a date?" he asked. Kia looked up.
"Just me and Dawn and a couple of people. Not a big." Buffy frowned.
"Dawn didn't mention anything, where are you guys going?" she asked. Kia smiled.
"She said it was a surprise. And you know Dawn. I would need the jaws of life to pry a secret from that girl." Kia said and stole a sip of Giles cappuccino. Giles frowned sternly at Kia.
"Who are these other people?" he asked. Kia looked up at him.
"Janice and a couple of people I don't know. Um I'll ask Dawn." Kia said quickly and stood. "Buffy I'll patrol tonight if it's ok." She said and Buffy nodded. Kia smiled at Giles and left. Giles sighed again.
"You all grow up to fast." He said mournfully. Buffy giggled.
"Giles the girls almost eighteen and I doubt she's ever been alone in a room with a boy let alone on a date. I really wouldn't worry."
Kia let out a little 'oof' as she smashed into the brick wall behind her. The vampire in front of her lunged in for the kill and she flipped him off of her. Another one slammed into her from the side and she hit the ground with an audible thud. She stared into yellow fire eyes and smelled old blood on the vampire's breath. A sudden lethargy seemed to filter into her body and her eyes drifted closed as the vampire's fangs descended on her throat.
She had been fighting for almost a half an hour the vampires had numbered almost eleven in the beginning and now it was down to these last two. She had fought hard but something inside her clicked and she stopped. She could feel the vampire press his fangs against her throat. Then the vampire was gone. She looked down at her hands and saw a thin layer of dust covering them and the stake that had appeared in them. She laid there and watched the last vampire growl at her and run. She lay on the cool grass of the cemetery for a few long minutes before she got to her feet.
A wet trickle raced down her throat and she brought her fingers to her neck. They came away rosy with blood. Kia walked slowly back towards Giles house. Her mind was reeling. She had been ready to die, no, not just ready, she wanted it. Kia couldn't believe it had actually happened but for those few seconds before she brought her stake up she had given up. Craving the darkness that it would bring. Kia shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind and walked more quickly.
Buffy and Spike were walking away from the back door of the bronze when Buffy caught sight of a familiar longhaired red head.
"Kia!" she shouted and she and Spike sprinted to catch up with the girl who was shuffling down the road with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Spike tapped Kia on the shoulder and she turned slightly.
"Hey guys." She said smiling, Buffy smiled back but there was a slight frown in her eyes.
"You ok Kia?" she asked. Kia nodded vigorously and pushed her hair back from her face.
"Yeah I'm just a little tired, actually got a little vampy action tonight. But I think they were from out of town..." she trailed off at the expression on spike's face.
"You're bleeding." He said blandly. Kia automatically reached for her neck and smiled weakly.
"Yeah, um, one got in a lucky shot, just a scrape." She said while Buffy pulled her hand away and pushed Kia's hair out of the way.
"Kia this isn't just a scrape. This cut is pretty deep." Buffy said worried. Spike inspected the wound while Kia tried not to meet either of their eyes.
"No finesse. Sloppy. Kia was it a fledgling?" he asked sounding a little angry. Kia shrugged.
"I don't know, there was eleven of them so I got a little to preoccupied to take their status!" Kia exclaimed angry and stalked off. Buffy and Spike trotted after her and Buffy fell in step beside her.
"You all right Kia?" she asked again. Kia nodded.
"Yeah I'm just a little mad that I actually let one of em' get that close." She said and pulled a cigarette out of her coat pocket. She tried to light it but her hands were shaking to badly to get the lighter lit. Spike steadied her hands and she took a deep drag of the smoke.
"Thanks." She said and blew the pale mist out through her nose. Buffy and Spike followed Kia back to Giles to make sure she got home safely and then headed back to Revellio drive and their bed. The shut the door tightly behind them and began to get ready for bed.
"Something isn't right here. No vamps for a week and all of the sudden she's jumped by a big group of out of towners." Buffy sighed as she pulled her hair out of its ponytail. Spike nodded.
"Your right. There's been this odd feeling in the back of my mind for most of the week. And Kia's birthday is tomorrow. This is just a little too coincidental for my taste." He told her and peeled his shirt off his back. Buffy smiled at him gently and wrapped her arms around his bare torso.
"I love you so much." She told him in a whisper. Spike clutched her tightly to him and buried his face in her golden locks.
"I know baby. I love you too. Now lets get some sleep. We can worry about Kia tomorrow." He told her. Buffy nodded and they continued preparing for sleep.
Giles was asleep by the time Kia got in. Spike and Buffy had walked her to the door then gone home but Kia didn't go inside the small apartment immediately. Instead she lingered out in the courtyard for nearly half an hour, her eyes on the window of Giles bedroom until she saw his light go off. Kia walked through the dark apartment into her room and shut the door behind her.
She had slept on the couch for almost two weeks after she moved in with Giles until he cleaned all the books out of his back room and put in a queen sized bed. Kia flicked on he light switch and cast an immediate warm glow through out the room. She dropped her coat on a chair along with her bag and sat down on the carpet in the middle of the room. She reached on the floor for the remote to her CD player and clicked it on. The familiar strains of switchfoot filtered through her speakers.
Four a.m. two hours ago
I'm wearing out a lonely glow
I miss you more than I could know
Here I am
Here I am
Won't you get me?
Kia laid back on the hard unforgiving carpet and let the words wash over her.
I've got my hand in redemptions side
Whose scars are bigger than these doubts of mine?
Ill fit all of the monstrosities inside
And ill come alive
With my fist down at your feet
I was running out of mysteries
Insecure and incomplete
Here I am
Here I am
Won't you get me?
Kia's hands reached under her bed and pulled out a color photo of a young woman with long dark red hair standing next to a tall beautiful man with cat like green eyes and dark brown hair. The picture was faded and creased with time and lovingly worn away. Kia curled up in a ball on the floor of her room with the picture clutched to her chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and she shook with silent sobs.
My fears have worn me out
My fears have worn me out
My fears have worn me worn me.