DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it
all belongs to Joss Whedon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've also posted the first chapter of my three-chapter ficlet. Please, go check it out; one of my friends set me this challenge which I'm quite proud of.
Chapter 9
That afternoon, at approximately 17:30, Buffy arrived home. She was greeted by Dawn, who had come home from school an hour earlier.
'Buffy!' she rushed down the stairs as soon as she heard someone walk into the house. 'How was work?'
Buffy leaned back onto the wall. She barely nodded. 'OK. . .'
Dawn stood there, hands loosely on her hips, watching her sister for any signs of emotion. 'That's it? Just "OK"? Nothing new about weird-demon- wrestler lady?'
Buffy was torn at that point. Should she tell her sister the truth about what had happened? Tell her sister that she had been offered to fight Kate again that night, and she would go, but wouldn't really fight her in the ring, just find her before the match and kill her? That's what they all wanted her to do.
'Not much,' she finally said. She decided she'd do it her own way.
'So you have to go back there tomorrow?' Dawn sounded disappointed. Buffy was curious about her tone.
'Yeah. . .why do you sound so pooped about it?'
Dawn shrugged. 'I just. . .I don't want you to risk being hurt. And also, it kinda sucked coming home to an empty house.'
Buffy pouted. 'Empty?' she peered around the rooms in her line of vision. 'Where's everybody else?'
Dawn started listing everybody on her fingers. 'Uh. . .Kennedy's at work, Spike's grocery shopping, and Willow and Faith left a note saying they'd gone out together to run an errand.' She gave Buffy a quizzical look. 'Have you noticed how those two have become much chummier? What's up with that?'
Buffy dismissed it. 'Oh. . .I dunno, they found some sports team in common or something. Whatever, I'm just happy they're getting along.'
Dawn raised her eyebrows. 'Tell me about it. . .doesn't Will like, totally hate her?'
Buffy nodded. 'I thought so too. But hey - they've worked out their differences. Good news for everybody.' She started going upstairs towards her room, but then Dawn stopped her.
'Hey sis - do you wanna catch a movie tonight or something?'
Buffy smiled, and was just about to agree, but then she remembered she had something to do that night. 'I. . .can't tonight. I'm busy,' she said apologetically.
Dawn looked at her shoes. She was clearly disappointed - the two of them hadn't had a night to themselves in a long time. 'Oh. . .doesn't matter. Lotta homework anyway.' She shrugged it off, but there was a lot more pain there than Dawn allowed herself to show.
'Maybe some other time?' Buffy suggested hopefully.
Dawn had already started going towards the other room, and she quickly turned around. 'Oh - right. Sure.' She walked away.
Buffy sighed. She hadn't even fought this woman yet, and already she had caused one of those closest to herself pain.
**********
Later that evening, Buffy had gotten dressed in her 'combat' clothes, ready to leave the house. Everybody had come back, and even Xander and Anya had dropped by.
Buffy came down the stairs, fully ready to depart the house in 10 minutes. She just needed to think up an excuse for where she was going. . .
'Hey Buffy!' Willow called from the living room. Buffy approached her, and she was standing with Faith. 'Guess what Faith and I got. . .?'
'Um. . .well, it's gotta be something to do with that team of yours. . .'
Faith jumped in. 'We got tickets - for all of us - to go see the Kings in a game tomorrow night!' she squealed.
'We were thinking of getting them just for the two of us. . .' Willow said, pointing to her and Faith, '. . .but thought it would be way funner if we all went as a group. I mean, how long's it been since we've done something like that?!' She exclaimed excited.
'I'm looking forward to it,' Buffy nodded with a smile. Just then, Spike jumped her from behind, putting his arms around her. 'Hey there, working girl. . .' he whispered in her ear. Willow and Faith could see they weren't really welcome in this scenario, so they walked off, exchanging looks.
Buffy breathed in Spike's scent, as he nuzzled her neck. She hadn't all day; it was so refreshing to her. . .
'Hey you. . .' she said, turning around in his arms to face him. She put her arms around his waist. 'How's your day been?' There foreheads were touching.
'Average. . .apart from last night. You know, some of those gay guys are aggressive when they want something. . .' Buffy gave him a look. 'How's your day been?' he said, going back to the topic at hand, not physically distancing himself from her for one moment.
'Ah. . .boring. My job's a lot easier than I thought it would be, considering I had to fight a demon for it and all.'
'Speaking of. . .thinking of quitting anytime soon?' he said, smiling, but seriously.
'Not yet. Haven't found out enough about demon-wrestler-lady to do that yet,' Buffy explained. Even as she said those lying words, she felt awful. Being this close to the one she loved, she wanted to pour her entire soul out to him. But she knew she had a job to do. . .and was getting paid a lot of money for it.
'So. . .' he said, kissing her nose, her cheeks, her chin, tenderly. 'You wanna go upstairs. . .'
Buffy let the passion take her for a minute, as she kissed him back, but then backed away. Admittedly, not too much though, letting herself stay in his arms.
'I can't. . .I've got something to do tonight. . .' she said apologetically.
'Patrol?' he asked with a puzzled look on his face. 'Because. . .you know you don't have to so often now. Or we could just send out Faith and Kennedy. . .'
She shook her head. 'No, it's not patrolling. . .it's something else.'
He stood back, finally letting go of her. 'What?'
'Just some work stuff. . .' she avoided his gaze, realising at the last minute she was incapable of lying to him. He gave her an expression showing he wanted to know more.
'I've gotta meet up with some new colleagues,' she made up on the spot. 'Just. . .talk over some things, y'know, boring. . .'
'Do you want me to drive you?' he offered. She quickly declined.
'No! No, it's really close by, I can walk.'
'Alright. . .' he reluctantly walked away. 'What time will you be back?'
'Oh, I dunno,' she waved her hand dismissingly. 'A couple of hours? If you need me, you can call me on my cell, I'm taking it with me.'
He nodded. 'See you in a couple of hours then.' He walked into the other room.
She grabbed her coat off the stand. 'I'm going out guys!' she called out. She opened the door, walked out, and quickly closed it behind her, before anybody could come and question where.
Walking down the road, she felt tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away instantly. Why was she crying? She was going to earn a lot more money; she just had to fight some loser she'd beaten the other night. No big.
But she thought back to Dawn's hurt face. . .to Spike's disappointment. . .and she couldn't stand it. Why did things have to be so difficult? Why was it the only job she could get - and keep - was one that required her to unnecessarily fight. . .and lie to those around her?
But she needed to get the income rolling in, what with Dawn going to college soon, and everybody else in the household having measly jobs that barely brought in enough food for the week. She was only thinking of their welfare. . .so surely she could be excused for telling a little white lie?
She fought back the fear, the pain, as she tried to gain enough strength to get ready and fight Kate the Great once again.
**********
A/N: Next up. . .Buffy's fight gets relived, but with some unusual changes. . .and the gang manage to discover Buffy's secret. REVIEW!!!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've also posted the first chapter of my three-chapter ficlet. Please, go check it out; one of my friends set me this challenge which I'm quite proud of.
Chapter 9
That afternoon, at approximately 17:30, Buffy arrived home. She was greeted by Dawn, who had come home from school an hour earlier.
'Buffy!' she rushed down the stairs as soon as she heard someone walk into the house. 'How was work?'
Buffy leaned back onto the wall. She barely nodded. 'OK. . .'
Dawn stood there, hands loosely on her hips, watching her sister for any signs of emotion. 'That's it? Just "OK"? Nothing new about weird-demon- wrestler lady?'
Buffy was torn at that point. Should she tell her sister the truth about what had happened? Tell her sister that she had been offered to fight Kate again that night, and she would go, but wouldn't really fight her in the ring, just find her before the match and kill her? That's what they all wanted her to do.
'Not much,' she finally said. She decided she'd do it her own way.
'So you have to go back there tomorrow?' Dawn sounded disappointed. Buffy was curious about her tone.
'Yeah. . .why do you sound so pooped about it?'
Dawn shrugged. 'I just. . .I don't want you to risk being hurt. And also, it kinda sucked coming home to an empty house.'
Buffy pouted. 'Empty?' she peered around the rooms in her line of vision. 'Where's everybody else?'
Dawn started listing everybody on her fingers. 'Uh. . .Kennedy's at work, Spike's grocery shopping, and Willow and Faith left a note saying they'd gone out together to run an errand.' She gave Buffy a quizzical look. 'Have you noticed how those two have become much chummier? What's up with that?'
Buffy dismissed it. 'Oh. . .I dunno, they found some sports team in common or something. Whatever, I'm just happy they're getting along.'
Dawn raised her eyebrows. 'Tell me about it. . .doesn't Will like, totally hate her?'
Buffy nodded. 'I thought so too. But hey - they've worked out their differences. Good news for everybody.' She started going upstairs towards her room, but then Dawn stopped her.
'Hey sis - do you wanna catch a movie tonight or something?'
Buffy smiled, and was just about to agree, but then she remembered she had something to do that night. 'I. . .can't tonight. I'm busy,' she said apologetically.
Dawn looked at her shoes. She was clearly disappointed - the two of them hadn't had a night to themselves in a long time. 'Oh. . .doesn't matter. Lotta homework anyway.' She shrugged it off, but there was a lot more pain there than Dawn allowed herself to show.
'Maybe some other time?' Buffy suggested hopefully.
Dawn had already started going towards the other room, and she quickly turned around. 'Oh - right. Sure.' She walked away.
Buffy sighed. She hadn't even fought this woman yet, and already she had caused one of those closest to herself pain.
**********
Later that evening, Buffy had gotten dressed in her 'combat' clothes, ready to leave the house. Everybody had come back, and even Xander and Anya had dropped by.
Buffy came down the stairs, fully ready to depart the house in 10 minutes. She just needed to think up an excuse for where she was going. . .
'Hey Buffy!' Willow called from the living room. Buffy approached her, and she was standing with Faith. 'Guess what Faith and I got. . .?'
'Um. . .well, it's gotta be something to do with that team of yours. . .'
Faith jumped in. 'We got tickets - for all of us - to go see the Kings in a game tomorrow night!' she squealed.
'We were thinking of getting them just for the two of us. . .' Willow said, pointing to her and Faith, '. . .but thought it would be way funner if we all went as a group. I mean, how long's it been since we've done something like that?!' She exclaimed excited.
'I'm looking forward to it,' Buffy nodded with a smile. Just then, Spike jumped her from behind, putting his arms around her. 'Hey there, working girl. . .' he whispered in her ear. Willow and Faith could see they weren't really welcome in this scenario, so they walked off, exchanging looks.
Buffy breathed in Spike's scent, as he nuzzled her neck. She hadn't all day; it was so refreshing to her. . .
'Hey you. . .' she said, turning around in his arms to face him. She put her arms around his waist. 'How's your day been?' There foreheads were touching.
'Average. . .apart from last night. You know, some of those gay guys are aggressive when they want something. . .' Buffy gave him a look. 'How's your day been?' he said, going back to the topic at hand, not physically distancing himself from her for one moment.
'Ah. . .boring. My job's a lot easier than I thought it would be, considering I had to fight a demon for it and all.'
'Speaking of. . .thinking of quitting anytime soon?' he said, smiling, but seriously.
'Not yet. Haven't found out enough about demon-wrestler-lady to do that yet,' Buffy explained. Even as she said those lying words, she felt awful. Being this close to the one she loved, she wanted to pour her entire soul out to him. But she knew she had a job to do. . .and was getting paid a lot of money for it.
'So. . .' he said, kissing her nose, her cheeks, her chin, tenderly. 'You wanna go upstairs. . .'
Buffy let the passion take her for a minute, as she kissed him back, but then backed away. Admittedly, not too much though, letting herself stay in his arms.
'I can't. . .I've got something to do tonight. . .' she said apologetically.
'Patrol?' he asked with a puzzled look on his face. 'Because. . .you know you don't have to so often now. Or we could just send out Faith and Kennedy. . .'
She shook her head. 'No, it's not patrolling. . .it's something else.'
He stood back, finally letting go of her. 'What?'
'Just some work stuff. . .' she avoided his gaze, realising at the last minute she was incapable of lying to him. He gave her an expression showing he wanted to know more.
'I've gotta meet up with some new colleagues,' she made up on the spot. 'Just. . .talk over some things, y'know, boring. . .'
'Do you want me to drive you?' he offered. She quickly declined.
'No! No, it's really close by, I can walk.'
'Alright. . .' he reluctantly walked away. 'What time will you be back?'
'Oh, I dunno,' she waved her hand dismissingly. 'A couple of hours? If you need me, you can call me on my cell, I'm taking it with me.'
He nodded. 'See you in a couple of hours then.' He walked into the other room.
She grabbed her coat off the stand. 'I'm going out guys!' she called out. She opened the door, walked out, and quickly closed it behind her, before anybody could come and question where.
Walking down the road, she felt tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away instantly. Why was she crying? She was going to earn a lot more money; she just had to fight some loser she'd beaten the other night. No big.
But she thought back to Dawn's hurt face. . .to Spike's disappointment. . .and she couldn't stand it. Why did things have to be so difficult? Why was it the only job she could get - and keep - was one that required her to unnecessarily fight. . .and lie to those around her?
But she needed to get the income rolling in, what with Dawn going to college soon, and everybody else in the household having measly jobs that barely brought in enough food for the week. She was only thinking of their welfare. . .so surely she could be excused for telling a little white lie?
She fought back the fear, the pain, as she tried to gain enough strength to get ready and fight Kate the Great once again.
**********
A/N: Next up. . .Buffy's fight gets relived, but with some unusual changes. . .and the gang manage to discover Buffy's secret. REVIEW!!!
