The Future
Part Nine: Secrets Revealed
Posted: April 13, 2004
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
They drove up the long driveway in their car. The top was down, and she laughed at the wind in her hair, her right hand firmly in his.
He stopped the car, and they sat there a moment, before getting out. He went to the back to get the bags, but she stopped him.
"We'll get them later. Let's go see our friends."
"Homesick?" he teased.
"Nah." She bumped against him. "Touring Europe with you was awesome. But a month away from home...ok, so maybe I am just a teensy bit homesick." She smiled at him, and he hugged her too him.
"Come on." He nudged her, and she wrapped her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders. They walked towards the huge house.
Halfway up the steps, the door banged open, and a brunette and a red head flew out. Another brunette came and leaned against the door, arms across her chest, she was smiling.
"You're back!" the youngest, the brunette, bounced. Buffy pulled herself from Angel and hugged her sister. "How was Europe?"
"Awesome! With Angel around, who needs a tour guide?!" She smiled back at him.
"Oo." Dawn caught the smile. Buffy laughed. Then Willow wanted a hug.
"You look awesome." Then she turned back to Faith. "See, I told you."
"Told her what?"
"You'd be all glowy. Ever since you came back, you've had the lingering effects. More doom and gloom than our usual Buffy. Faith said that even Honeymoon Sex couldn't wipe the last traces from you." Buffy shot daggers at Faith, who smiled innocently at her. Buffy stuck her tongue out at the younger slayer.
"So, what's new around here?"
"52 new slayers for next year." Willow reported. "And Faith is a great teacher. Teaches them who's boss, then treats them like equals." Willow told her. "She's-"
"If the next words out of your mouth were going to be 'softy' you might want to run now." Faith warned.
"Never!" Willow mocked. Faith huffed good naturedly.
"Oh, Buffy! Dave arrived yesterday. Will helped me move Angel's stuff to your room, and Dave's in his old room." Dawn told her.
Buffy was about to huff and puff, but Angel poked her, and she sighed. "You had no right, but what's done is dome." She glared at her sister, who pretended to be thoroughly chastised. "Go get this Dave. I want to meet the guy dating my sister." Buffy said dangerously. Dawn sent a pleading look over Buffy's shoulder to Angel, then scurried off. Willow and Faith followed, at a slower pace, bantering back and forth. Buffy moved to follow, but Angel grabbed her arm.
"Buffy, play nice. You're parents didn't always approve of your boyfriends, like Pike. And your mom never really liked me."
"What's the point?"
"Bust because he doesn't make you happy, doesn't mean he doesn't make her happy."
She sighed. "Fine. I won't go 'slayer' and 'mom' on him, all at once. Happy?" she asked, pouting.
"Yes." He smiled, hugging her. He smiled a smile she couldn't see, a mischievous smile, and his hands moved downward.
"Hey!" she cried, jumping away from him. "None of that!" She gave him the hairy eyeball.
"Come on, let's go meet this Dave." He took her hand and they entered the school. They sunk down into on of the many couches and chairs situated in the lobby. They were sitting so close together, Buffy was slightly on top of Angel. When Dawn came down the stairs, leading a guy that they both figured to be Dave, Buffy slid over, but not before Angel caught her hand and interlaced his fingers in hers.
Dawn and the guy stopped in front of them, "Buffy, Angel. This is David." She was holding his hand, and she pulled him from behind her. Buffy stood, with Angel's hand on her lower back, and shook his hand.
"Buffy Summers, nice to meet you, David. This is Angel, my husband."
"Dave, please. It's a pleasure to meet you too, and congratulations." Buffy nodded her thanks and sat back down, both her and Angel's hands in her lap. Dawn pulled up a couch, and she and David sat on that.
"I'm sorry to say I have to be the bitch, but ask anyone, I'm good at it." Buffy told David, and Dawn sighed.
"You promised." Angel murmured in her hear, reminding her.
"I did, but I'm still her sister." She whispered back, poking him gently. "Anyway, since you're dating my sister, I'd like to know something about you, besides your name." She told David.
"Well, I grew up in North Hampton, New Hampshire, with my mom, dad, and older sister. Two story house, two car garage, picket fence, pool out back. Average family. I went to Winicunnett High school, and I did pretty well, good grades, right classes. I did once try drugs, but I hated the feeling after you come off from the high. The feeling of helplessness, and the headache." He said, believing that honesty was the best policy.
"What are you studying?"
"Crime Scene Investigation. It's a fascinating field believe me. Did you know, that by counting the generations of flies on a corpse, depending on what species, you could roughly determine the time of death?"
"I certainly didn't." Buffy said. "But the corpses I deal with aren't as dead as they seem." She muttered. Angel poked her.
"What was that?" David asked, leaning forward,
"Never knew flies were so informative. Generally, I just kill them." She improvised. David nodded, glad to have someone interested in his filed of study.
"Um, well, It was nice meeting you, and I'd like to continue this further, but I'm sorta tired, jet lag and all, and I have to be up tonight to escort a group of girls on an outing."
"Buffy, we can get Faith to take them out. You just got back!" Dawn protested.
"No, Faith's been doing it for over a month, and she's not supposed to be out anyway. It's my turn. Though I might want to train a bit," she murmured, her voice trailing off, as she stood. The others stood as well.
"What type of an outing?" David asked.
"The girls who stay over the summer can't go home, so we take them out to clubs, occasionally. One of the staff have to go along to keep them under control, and to stop any fights."
"Could I come along? I'd love to see some of Cleveland."
"No, I'm sorry, not tonight. Faith's unpredictable, and there's no telling what sort of trouble she's gotten into these girl's heads. But, uh, I'm going to go workout, before I nap, you could come watch, if you want." She offered. Dawn shook her head behind his back, eyes wide.
"Uh, sure."
"Ok then. Hey, Angel, why don't you find Faith? I have to go change into something more . . . . . fighty." He nodded, and she went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He squeezed her hand, letting her know he expected more later on. She smiled, and headed towards the stairs.
Once on the right floor, she headed towards her, no, wait, their room, as the others went their ways.
When she got to the training room, she found that word had gotten around. Faith, Dawn, David, Angel, Willow, Xander, and most of the girls were there.
"Hey guys, bet you all missed me terribly. But I'm back now, don't you fret your little heads over it." She teased. "Before me and Faith start our little match, since it seems to have grown into that, I'd just like to introduce you all to David, Dawn's friend from college. He's a particular guest under this roof," She pointed him out, hoping they'd get the hint. "And now, well, on with our sparring, I guess!" The girls all clapped.
"You sure about this, B? You've been on vacation for a month, or more."
"You know what, you're right. Let's take this easy. I can always beat you up tomorrow." She grinned.
"Alright by me." But Faith had that glint in her eyes, the one even students had come to recognize. None of them wanted that look to be directed towards them.
Things did start out slow, the two senior slayers circled, looking for an opening. Then Faith must have seen one, because she charged in, slowly, for a slayer, anyway. Buffy blocked the attack, and things went from there. Punch, kick, block. Easily caught throws.
David watched, fascinated. It wasn't as intense as the Martial Arts Tournaments, but what could he expect from two women? Even if they were very hot women?
"So, I guess all that screwing you did helped keep you in shape." Faith taunted.
"I could say the same for you." Buffy retorted; her next blow harder and faster than intended. That was all Faith needed.
She ducked and swept Buffy's feet from under her, and she went down, and then did a summersault away. Then she was up and back in the fight. Faith had this grin on her face that the students shivered slightly at. They'd only ever seen her smile like that at vampires and other killable things.
As they began to speed up, and sped up again, David began to be impressed. Very impressed. These two women were taking blows like they were nothing, and giving ten times harder. They were good. But Dawn had a death grip on his hand.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"The last time they fought, they both tried to kill each other, and Faith was in a coma for almost a year." She murmured. He stared at her, eyes wide. These two were dangerous. "Actually, that wasn't the last time. Last time Faith tried to kill mom, and me, and they trashed the house. But then she went to LA and she and Buffy and Angel got into it, and then Faith went to jail." Dawn said as if it was no big, and it happened every day, and turned back to the fight, but the pressure on his hand didn't falter. He just stared, thinking they were all crazy and Buffy was incredibly plucky to take Faith on.
Faith now had the upper hand, and Buffy was on the defensive. Faith sent Buffy on a path towards the wall, and when the older slayer was busy stopping her momentum, she grabbed a sword from a wall. Dawn's grip almost crushed David's hand.
Faith swung and Buffy dodged, rolled and grabbed Angel's broadsword that hung in the glass cabinet with the nicer weapons, much like the one in LA. Then the sword fight began.
Block, parry, trap, strike. One would loose their sword, dodge, flip and or summersault to retrieve the weapon, and then they'd start over. Then they'd go back to chopping, slashing, blocking, striking, parrying. Then another sword was dropped. On and on, an intricate dance of sharp metal.
David and many of the first year girls were almost entranced by the flashing blades. Dawn was worried, Willow was slightly in awe, and Angel was smiling; he knew that both women were going lightly. And he also knew that they still had problems, but both were in secure relationships, and they were fast friends. He had been worried about the swords at first, when Buffy didn't have one, but the blows were glancing, and thought lightning quick, they were big, easy to see and block.
After about five minutes of sword play, Buffy was beginning to breathe abnormally fast. She allowed Faith to knock her sword from her grasp. It clattered to the floor. Faith spun and swung the blade, stopping it at Buffy's neck; she could feel the cold steel against her throat.
"Very funny." She pushed the sword away. Faith held out a hand to help her up.
"Now will you let me take the girls out?"
"Not you too!"
"You just got back, and the girls respect me. We have an..." she looked at the girls, "An understanding."
"What, 'do what you say', and don't wind up dead?" Faith just smirked.
"Something like that."
"Ok, fine, how about this, you take half, I take half. More ground covered, less babysitting." Faith agreed as they put the swords away and left the room.
"That was awesome!" David exclaimed to Dawn. Angel overheard and smiled.
~ * ~
Dawn managed to convince Buffy to let her go patrolling with them, so Angel took the opportunity to talk with David. They sat in the teacher's lounge.
"I heard about your wedding. I just wanted to congratulate you. Buffy's hot. And an extraordinary fighter."
"Thanks. She's definitely that, and more."
"Where'd you first meet?"
"I was her history tutor. Big history buff. If you don't learn form it, you're doomed to repeat it, right?"
"Oh, really? History? What periods?"
Angel thought a moment. "The more bloodier moments. Boxer Rebellion, American Revolution, though not so much, the Civil War. Well, a lot of Civil Wars. I'm full blooded Irish, and I've done in depth research on the Irish/English conflict."
"Ah, Irish. Nice countryside."
"Yeah. Buffy and I went there on our honeymoon. I wanted to show her my pa- my family's past." Too close.
"Angel . . . . .that's a nickname, right?"
"Yeah. My given name's Liam. But it's so old fashioned, got me teased as a kid."
"Yeah, I bet. So both of your parents are Irish, right? Did they emigrate, or was that your grandparents?"
"They actually used to live in Ireland. I came over as a teenager. After they passed on."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. It was a long time ago. I try not to dwell on the past." David nodded. "So, what about you? Besides Crime Scene Investigation, what, uh, floats your boat? Lack of better term."
"Drama and Theatre. Karate." Then he gave Angel a slight smile, "Dawn."
"Yeah, she's a special kid."
"How long have you known her? She doesn't talk of her past a lot."
"Well, I've known them for almost 11 years. Buffy anyway. Met Dawn a bit after that. I wasn't always her History tutor, though." He stretched the truth, some of it.
"She's the most alive person I've ever met. She's just the most amazing woman I've had the luck to date. She's so sweet and sensitive, and funny. And alive." Angel chuckled. "What?"
"I've never really thought of her as a woman, as you see her. I knew her mostly as the bratty pre-teen who got into everything. Trouble, mostly. She annoyed Buffy almost out of her mind. Following her to the Bronze, the only hangout in Sunnydale, ratting on Buffy when she snuck out. Younger sibling stuff. A lot like Kathy." He let the name slip without thinking. It was so much easier to talk of his past now that he had forgiven himself almost completely.
"Kathy? Your younger sister?"
"Yeah." He said quietly, slipping into what Buffy, and even Cordy referred to deep brood mode. "She died at age nine. I was 18. So did my parents. The guy who did it was never caught and brought to what the government calls justice, but I know for a fact that he got what was coming to him. I really don't want to talk about it."
"Sure, man. I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
~ * ~
"So, what do you think of David?" Buffy asked, as they got ready for bed that night.
"He's an ok guy. He talked very highly of Dawn. About how alive she is."
"Which comes from being a mystical energy that almost died at the expense of the world, and having suicidal tendencies. Once you're that close to death, life usually takes on a whole new meaning." She said, climbing in to the large bed and scooting towards the center.
"Yeah. I know about that. But what do you think of him?" He also climbed in to the bed, and scooted over to her.
She sighed. "I don't know. He seems stable enough, and he's got good taste, if he likes Dawn. But what type of job is Crime Scene investigation? Sounds like long nights alone to me. I guess I'm just afraid she's gonna get hurt. This is her first real boyfriend."
"You can't protect her anymore, Buffy. She's 20 years old, and a mature adult. She's off at college, too. And I wouldn't be surprised if she's doing some of her own vamp population control, down in Florida. She's a lot like her sister." Buffy looked as if she was about to freak at the idea of Dawn patrolling alone. Then she reconsidered.
"I hate it. She's my little sister." She told him.
"I know." He pulled her close, to comfort her, "I know."
~ * ~
"Dawn, I want to talk to you." Buffy said as they finished breakfast. Dawn knew it was coming.
"What about?" she asked, though she knew. Buffy began walking, and Dawn followed her.
"You were great on patrol last night, and I might just go as far as awesome. And Angel believes that you were experienced, because you were doing it down in Florida. I trust Angel, but I want to hear it from you, first."
"Yeah, I'm part of the slayer parade. I'm part of the gig. And it was hard, at first, but then the instincts kicked in and now I don't loose any. Dave doesn't know, but I really want to tell him. Soon I will. Hopefully."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because of the way you sheltered me! I was always the little sister! Dawn can't do this, and Dawn can't do that, because she's too young! She's the youngest! And with everything you went through, I didn't want you to freak."
"Do you really want my opinion?" Dawn didn't answer, her head hung.
"I would have appreciated you telling me; but Angel's right. You're an adult now. And I can't always be there protecting you. So here's what I'm thinking. I know that I haven't had the best of luck mixing guys and slaying, besides Angel, but you should really tell David, while you're both here. If he's here, with all the others around, he can't say that you're the crazy one, without calling us all crazy. And we can talk some sense in him; educate him in our ways. If he really makes you happy, then I'm here for you. I don't want to see you get hurt, even though I know I can't protect you from a broken heart."
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
~ * ~
That night, most of the school headed towards the hottest teen club in town. Giles opted to stay with those students who opted not to go out partying, preferring a quiet night with a good book. But the others went; Robin, Faith, Willow, Xander, Buffy, Angel, Dawn and David, besides any of the original Sunnydale Potential Crew.
They grabbed the majority of the tables, and had a good time. Buffy, Faith, Willow all danced, joined by some of the SdPC, sometimes Dawn would join them; Buffy and Xander danced; Buffy and Angel; Faith and Angel; and many other different combinations. But David would only dance with Dawn, no matter how much cleavage the Dark Slayer would show or taunt him with.
Buffy, Faith and Dawn took turns scanning for vampires. This was supposed to be the girls' night off, but there were always vamps to deal with. Dawn was the newest at sensing vampires, and even Faith needed some confirmation at times. They had never had Giles impart his wisdom on sensing vampires on them. Once a vampire was pin pointed, either one of the three went to deal with it personally, or they sent one of the girls. It was a very popular club, and any dark place with lots of grinding bodies and unsuspecting victims were popular for vampires; there were vampires almost out in force that night.
After the fifth vampire was found, Dawn took the 'gig' She got up from the table with her purse, and concealed stake, making the usual excuses. Buffy asked if she wanted her to go with, but Dawn declined. Buffy watched as she weaved through the crowd, after the vampire and his victim, headed towards both the outside doors, and the bathrooms.
Fifteen minutes later, she came back in, wiping her shirt and hands off.
Buffy noticed that David had also noticed her entrance.
"Hey! What'd I miss?" Dawn asked, sliding in between Buffy and David.
"Nothing much." Buffy supplied.
"Where'd you go? Why did you go outside?" David asked.
"Oh, I had something I had to take care of. Don't worry about it."
Buffy leaned in towards her sister, and they had a hushed conversation, "Any problems?"
"Only both of them." Dawn whispered back.
"Dawn! If I had known-I'd have never let you go alone!"
"No big. I've dealt with worse."
"That's what scares me." They separated, and rejoined the conversation, Xander backtracking in his narrative with the ease of someone long used to back tracking.
David only partly listened to the conversation, and the jokes Xander was using to make everyone laugh. Instead, he watched them. Buffy, Dawn, Faith. Each would take turns; they seemed to search the crowd. Then they'd either slip off, and out the door themselves, coming back ten or so minutes later, or they went to one of the students. When they went themselves, they would make some excuse, and the others would nod, give them secretive smiles. As they walked, Dawn was breathing deep, trying to calm her nerves, he could tell by the motion in her shoulders, Faith's step had a bounce in it, and Buffy went with grim determination. And when they finally came back, Dawn was bubbly, Faith was, well.... she seemed hot and bothered, and Robin didn't have a problem with being an outlet. And Buffy, when she came back, she was sorta somber.
If they'd send one of the students, whoever was chosen would gulp, if she were younger, and more excited if she was older. They were all sort of nervous. Buffy would give them some advice, it seemed, for they'd nod, and really listened, and then Buffy would hand her something. The girl would take it, and slip into the crowd. Then, when she came back, all the girls sitting with her would pat her on the back, give her high fives. She'd be boisterous. Even the 'teachers', Willow, Buffy, Faith, they would smile the girl's way, and she would beam. Something was definitely up, and he was going to find out.
Dawn noticed David's funk, but didn't mention it to anyone. Even the provocative dancing Faith was doing after her fifth staking wasn't drawing his eyes. While other guys were drooling and tripping over themselves to be near when both the Fair and Dark slayers danced together, and even Angel and Robin, trying to act nonchalant at the attention from the other gender their significant others were drawing, they couldn't help but stare. But David barely sent a look their way. He was sullen and silent, brooding. Maybe he really had noticed. God, she hoped so. She couldn't go on like this much longer.
They got a total of 15 vamps that night, and Buffy was pleased. She had only had to bail out Jen, a third year that almost learned just how sharp those teeth were. A quick bandage and a few words for her wounded pride, and the bubbly 13 year old was back to almost normal. As they left in a huge group, the itching in her neck became more irritating, and she rubbed it absently. Angel noticed and slowly pulled her hand from his bite mark, to stop the damage her nails were doing to the spot. He brushed the mark with his fingers. He knew it was his fault she had the scar. She nodded, as if she knew what he was thinking, and maybe she did. They had a deep connection.
David and Dawn trailed behind the group, being the last to leave the building, since Dawn had forgotten her purse. Dawn rubbed the skin between her thumb and forefinger, trying to release some of her tension. The girls were still as boisterous as ever.
"Dawn." He stopped her. "What's going on?"
"Huh?" she was sort of out of it, wondering when he was going to ask about it, she knew he had figured something out. She was so busy worrying, she almost missed the question.
"What's going on? And don't tell me nothing."
"What's going on? What do you mean?" she wanted to be sure, so she played the innocent card for now, trying to catch the attention of her older sister and brother in law.
"You know exactly what I mean, damn it. Don't play blond. That's your sister."
She sighed. This was it. "You really wanna know? Can you take the truth, David?" She noticed Buffy and Angel were now trailing behind the pack of girls.
"Yes."
She sighed again. "You're not going to believe me, if I tell you." She said.
"Try me."
"I could, ah, show you." Buffy and Angel joined them. "He's figured something out." Buffy nodded, glad that her sister was finally going to get the chance to test her relationship, and saddened, in case the test failed. She headed towards the closest cemetery, Angel and Dawn hot on her heels. David had no choice but to follow. Buffy led them through the cemetery to a fresh grave.
"Here. Fits the bill." Angel and Dawn nodded. The three sat on a nearby statue base.
"What are we doing here?" David asked.
"Waiting, for now." Buffy said, crossly. "And David, don't get me wrong, and all, you're a nice guy, and you make Dawn happy, but you need to find this out before it goes any farther. I will not have Dawn's heart broken, once it's too late to be able to fix it, like mine was, once upon a time." She nudged Angel.
"I thought you had forgiven me! You know it was just as hard on me as it was you, harder, because I didn't know if I'd ever seen you alive again."
"Forgiven, but never forgotten. Like a steel trap, remember?" she pointed to her head. Then they settled down to wait. Fifteen minutes later, Buffy and Dawn's enhanced hearing picked up the sound on fists and nails against a wooden door. Buffy involuntarily shuddered.
It was almost two minutes before they all saw the hand.
"What the hell-"
"Just wait. It gets freakier." Buffy advised. Then she looked at her sister, going back to their conversation.
"It's dangerous! Are you sure you can't just tell him?!"
"No, if I know Dave like I think I do, he's not the 'tell' type. Show, and later tell, but not tell, then show. This is the only way. Besides, with you and me there, what's one little vamp? We've both faced worse odds. And you know it."
Buffy sighed, a hand straying to her stomach unconsciously. She hadn't been able to get out of this stupid plan then, and unable to know. Angel's arms tightened around her waist. She hated having him there, more than anything, and they both were aware of that. She looked at him, pleading, but he just held her tighter.
The vampire slowly crawled out of his grave, and Buffy could see the terror in David's eyes as the thing emerged. And it wasn't just because she was looking for it.
"W-what is that thing? What the hell's with his face?!"
"That is a vampire. Highly dangerous." Buffy said, standing up, shedding Angel's arms. "Unless, of course, you are the vampire slayer." She stepped up to David, and pushed him back by Angel, and Dawn stood beside her. The vampire finally righted itself, and looked at the two girls.
"Her. She's older." Dawn pointed at Buffy.
And that just ticked her off. "What?! This was your idea! And you are so bigger."
"Hey! You were the one to choose this grave!"
"I have more experience, and there for, you being the newbie, you need the experience."
"I'm the youngest, and therefor, it's your job to protect me!"
"Then you shouldn't have gotten chosen!"
"It chose me! Just like it chose you!"
"Girls, he's getting away." Angel pointed out. Buffy ran after him and staked him in one fluid motion, and he was dust. Which was just too much for David.
"That was so your fault he almost got away." Buffy said, turning on her sister.
"It was so not!" she cried.
"Uh, girls? Girls?!" Angel called.
"What?!" they both cried, turning on him.
"We have another problem." He pointed to the fainted David, lying on the ground.
Buffy just sighed. "He's your boyfriend, you carry him." She said, uncharacteristically mean, and she set off, leaving a bewildered Dawn and Angel behind. He shrugged at her, as she picked up David, and they hurried after Buffy.
~ * ~
"What's going on with you?!" Angel asked as they got ready for bed that night.
She sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "I don't know." She sat on the edge of the bed heavily. "I just don't know." She repeated, but this time it was laced with fear. "Some-something's wron- no, not wrong, but not right either. Here." She touched her head, "here," her heart, "and here." She placed her hand on her stomach. He sat next to her, pulling her close. "My head and heart know that something's off, but my stomach.....it just feels funny."
"Well, let me make an appointment for you-"
"No! No. No hospital. No doctors. Please." She said, pleading with him.
"Buffy." He tried to placate her, "If something's wrong, then they can make it right."
"Not tonight. Please." she rested her head on his chest, and he kissed her forehead.
"Ok," he murmured, then, "Come on. Bed time. You're sleep deprived as it is." She nodded, and let him pull back the covers for her. Then he slid beneath the covers on his own side, and scooted to the center, where she was, wrapping his arms around her once more. "I love you, Buffy. And I only want what's best for you."
"I know. I love you too." But the nagging thoughts that something wasn't right plagued her that night.
~ * ~
Dawn pulled the covers over David, then sat on the other side of the bed, before taking off her shoes, and slipping under the covers as well.
Sometimes during the night, he rolled over, now sleeping, and embraced her.
He woke up, with Dawn in his arms, and smiled. Then he remembered, and he pulled away from her. She was awake instantly.
"Dave. You're awake."
"Stay away from he." He shied away from her reach.
"David..."
"No, you and your sister, and her husband...you're all freaks!"
"Don't bring Angel into this! He didn't have a choice in this. None of us did."
"Us? There are more of you?!"
"Look around you, David! Every single girl in this school, besides Willow, and about 100 more, trained, 200 more that are coming back in August, and so many more unsuspecting girls out there, only 10 and 11 years old, who don't even know the cruel joke Destiny has decided to play on them. They think they're normal. They have no idea. Not about the pain, and the suffering, the heartache of loosing your only sister-"
"But I-"
"Twice. CPR." She half lied. "And blood transfusions."
"Why didn't-"
"I tell you before? Because, at first, I wanted to just forget it. I wanted to be normal! And then...the idea that I was the only trained one in Florida....I could do some good, without Buffy stopping me, sheltering me. And I've wanted to tell you, for so long, so badly. You have no idea how many nights I wanted to stay...but my duty, my destiny, always got in the way! Besides, that I knew you'd never give me a chance if you knew. Look at your reaction now!" She accused, but then she backed down. "I never thought I'd feel this way," she murmured, and he had to lean in to hear her. "Look at mom and dad. And Buffy, and all her collision course romances. I swore I'd never fall in love, it was just too painful. Too many tears. But here I am. I-I think- I think I'm in-love with you. And I need to know, now, if this isn't going to work, between us." And then she cursed herself, for the silent tears coursing down her pale cheeks. She had known this was gonna be tough, but she had promised herself she wouldn't cry.
He came over to her, where she was kneeling on the bed. He wiped away a tear, "I love you too, Dawn. But...this is all so much, too much to take in right now!" she just looked at him, tears welling and spilling over, now unheeded.
"Fine...I understand. "she said, jerkily. She pulled away from him. He pulled her back, and crushed her against him, allowing her to cry on his shoulder.
"But give me time. I love you, and I'm not letting go that easy. Let me work this over in my mind, ok Dawn? I'm sure I'll get used to the idea of you being a super hero eventually." She nodded, giving him a watery smiled. He hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of her, but then leaned down and kissed her gently. She tasted of salt and oranges.
She took this to say that things were going to be ok between them. They would get through this.
She smiled as she let just a touch of the passion she felt for him out into her kisses, watching as he responded, before closing her eyes to the fire.
Part Nine: Secrets Revealed
Posted: April 13, 2004
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They drove up the long driveway in their car. The top was down, and she laughed at the wind in her hair, her right hand firmly in his.
He stopped the car, and they sat there a moment, before getting out. He went to the back to get the bags, but she stopped him.
"We'll get them later. Let's go see our friends."
"Homesick?" he teased.
"Nah." She bumped against him. "Touring Europe with you was awesome. But a month away from home...ok, so maybe I am just a teensy bit homesick." She smiled at him, and he hugged her too him.
"Come on." He nudged her, and she wrapped her arm around his waist, his arm around her shoulders. They walked towards the huge house.
Halfway up the steps, the door banged open, and a brunette and a red head flew out. Another brunette came and leaned against the door, arms across her chest, she was smiling.
"You're back!" the youngest, the brunette, bounced. Buffy pulled herself from Angel and hugged her sister. "How was Europe?"
"Awesome! With Angel around, who needs a tour guide?!" She smiled back at him.
"Oo." Dawn caught the smile. Buffy laughed. Then Willow wanted a hug.
"You look awesome." Then she turned back to Faith. "See, I told you."
"Told her what?"
"You'd be all glowy. Ever since you came back, you've had the lingering effects. More doom and gloom than our usual Buffy. Faith said that even Honeymoon Sex couldn't wipe the last traces from you." Buffy shot daggers at Faith, who smiled innocently at her. Buffy stuck her tongue out at the younger slayer.
"So, what's new around here?"
"52 new slayers for next year." Willow reported. "And Faith is a great teacher. Teaches them who's boss, then treats them like equals." Willow told her. "She's-"
"If the next words out of your mouth were going to be 'softy' you might want to run now." Faith warned.
"Never!" Willow mocked. Faith huffed good naturedly.
"Oh, Buffy! Dave arrived yesterday. Will helped me move Angel's stuff to your room, and Dave's in his old room." Dawn told her.
Buffy was about to huff and puff, but Angel poked her, and she sighed. "You had no right, but what's done is dome." She glared at her sister, who pretended to be thoroughly chastised. "Go get this Dave. I want to meet the guy dating my sister." Buffy said dangerously. Dawn sent a pleading look over Buffy's shoulder to Angel, then scurried off. Willow and Faith followed, at a slower pace, bantering back and forth. Buffy moved to follow, but Angel grabbed her arm.
"Buffy, play nice. You're parents didn't always approve of your boyfriends, like Pike. And your mom never really liked me."
"What's the point?"
"Bust because he doesn't make you happy, doesn't mean he doesn't make her happy."
She sighed. "Fine. I won't go 'slayer' and 'mom' on him, all at once. Happy?" she asked, pouting.
"Yes." He smiled, hugging her. He smiled a smile she couldn't see, a mischievous smile, and his hands moved downward.
"Hey!" she cried, jumping away from him. "None of that!" She gave him the hairy eyeball.
"Come on, let's go meet this Dave." He took her hand and they entered the school. They sunk down into on of the many couches and chairs situated in the lobby. They were sitting so close together, Buffy was slightly on top of Angel. When Dawn came down the stairs, leading a guy that they both figured to be Dave, Buffy slid over, but not before Angel caught her hand and interlaced his fingers in hers.
Dawn and the guy stopped in front of them, "Buffy, Angel. This is David." She was holding his hand, and she pulled him from behind her. Buffy stood, with Angel's hand on her lower back, and shook his hand.
"Buffy Summers, nice to meet you, David. This is Angel, my husband."
"Dave, please. It's a pleasure to meet you too, and congratulations." Buffy nodded her thanks and sat back down, both her and Angel's hands in her lap. Dawn pulled up a couch, and she and David sat on that.
"I'm sorry to say I have to be the bitch, but ask anyone, I'm good at it." Buffy told David, and Dawn sighed.
"You promised." Angel murmured in her hear, reminding her.
"I did, but I'm still her sister." She whispered back, poking him gently. "Anyway, since you're dating my sister, I'd like to know something about you, besides your name." She told David.
"Well, I grew up in North Hampton, New Hampshire, with my mom, dad, and older sister. Two story house, two car garage, picket fence, pool out back. Average family. I went to Winicunnett High school, and I did pretty well, good grades, right classes. I did once try drugs, but I hated the feeling after you come off from the high. The feeling of helplessness, and the headache." He said, believing that honesty was the best policy.
"What are you studying?"
"Crime Scene Investigation. It's a fascinating field believe me. Did you know, that by counting the generations of flies on a corpse, depending on what species, you could roughly determine the time of death?"
"I certainly didn't." Buffy said. "But the corpses I deal with aren't as dead as they seem." She muttered. Angel poked her.
"What was that?" David asked, leaning forward,
"Never knew flies were so informative. Generally, I just kill them." She improvised. David nodded, glad to have someone interested in his filed of study.
"Um, well, It was nice meeting you, and I'd like to continue this further, but I'm sorta tired, jet lag and all, and I have to be up tonight to escort a group of girls on an outing."
"Buffy, we can get Faith to take them out. You just got back!" Dawn protested.
"No, Faith's been doing it for over a month, and she's not supposed to be out anyway. It's my turn. Though I might want to train a bit," she murmured, her voice trailing off, as she stood. The others stood as well.
"What type of an outing?" David asked.
"The girls who stay over the summer can't go home, so we take them out to clubs, occasionally. One of the staff have to go along to keep them under control, and to stop any fights."
"Could I come along? I'd love to see some of Cleveland."
"No, I'm sorry, not tonight. Faith's unpredictable, and there's no telling what sort of trouble she's gotten into these girl's heads. But, uh, I'm going to go workout, before I nap, you could come watch, if you want." She offered. Dawn shook her head behind his back, eyes wide.
"Uh, sure."
"Ok then. Hey, Angel, why don't you find Faith? I have to go change into something more . . . . . fighty." He nodded, and she went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He squeezed her hand, letting her know he expected more later on. She smiled, and headed towards the stairs.
Once on the right floor, she headed towards her, no, wait, their room, as the others went their ways.
When she got to the training room, she found that word had gotten around. Faith, Dawn, David, Angel, Willow, Xander, and most of the girls were there.
"Hey guys, bet you all missed me terribly. But I'm back now, don't you fret your little heads over it." She teased. "Before me and Faith start our little match, since it seems to have grown into that, I'd just like to introduce you all to David, Dawn's friend from college. He's a particular guest under this roof," She pointed him out, hoping they'd get the hint. "And now, well, on with our sparring, I guess!" The girls all clapped.
"You sure about this, B? You've been on vacation for a month, or more."
"You know what, you're right. Let's take this easy. I can always beat you up tomorrow." She grinned.
"Alright by me." But Faith had that glint in her eyes, the one even students had come to recognize. None of them wanted that look to be directed towards them.
Things did start out slow, the two senior slayers circled, looking for an opening. Then Faith must have seen one, because she charged in, slowly, for a slayer, anyway. Buffy blocked the attack, and things went from there. Punch, kick, block. Easily caught throws.
David watched, fascinated. It wasn't as intense as the Martial Arts Tournaments, but what could he expect from two women? Even if they were very hot women?
"So, I guess all that screwing you did helped keep you in shape." Faith taunted.
"I could say the same for you." Buffy retorted; her next blow harder and faster than intended. That was all Faith needed.
She ducked and swept Buffy's feet from under her, and she went down, and then did a summersault away. Then she was up and back in the fight. Faith had this grin on her face that the students shivered slightly at. They'd only ever seen her smile like that at vampires and other killable things.
As they began to speed up, and sped up again, David began to be impressed. Very impressed. These two women were taking blows like they were nothing, and giving ten times harder. They were good. But Dawn had a death grip on his hand.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"The last time they fought, they both tried to kill each other, and Faith was in a coma for almost a year." She murmured. He stared at her, eyes wide. These two were dangerous. "Actually, that wasn't the last time. Last time Faith tried to kill mom, and me, and they trashed the house. But then she went to LA and she and Buffy and Angel got into it, and then Faith went to jail." Dawn said as if it was no big, and it happened every day, and turned back to the fight, but the pressure on his hand didn't falter. He just stared, thinking they were all crazy and Buffy was incredibly plucky to take Faith on.
Faith now had the upper hand, and Buffy was on the defensive. Faith sent Buffy on a path towards the wall, and when the older slayer was busy stopping her momentum, she grabbed a sword from a wall. Dawn's grip almost crushed David's hand.
Faith swung and Buffy dodged, rolled and grabbed Angel's broadsword that hung in the glass cabinet with the nicer weapons, much like the one in LA. Then the sword fight began.
Block, parry, trap, strike. One would loose their sword, dodge, flip and or summersault to retrieve the weapon, and then they'd start over. Then they'd go back to chopping, slashing, blocking, striking, parrying. Then another sword was dropped. On and on, an intricate dance of sharp metal.
David and many of the first year girls were almost entranced by the flashing blades. Dawn was worried, Willow was slightly in awe, and Angel was smiling; he knew that both women were going lightly. And he also knew that they still had problems, but both were in secure relationships, and they were fast friends. He had been worried about the swords at first, when Buffy didn't have one, but the blows were glancing, and thought lightning quick, they were big, easy to see and block.
After about five minutes of sword play, Buffy was beginning to breathe abnormally fast. She allowed Faith to knock her sword from her grasp. It clattered to the floor. Faith spun and swung the blade, stopping it at Buffy's neck; she could feel the cold steel against her throat.
"Very funny." She pushed the sword away. Faith held out a hand to help her up.
"Now will you let me take the girls out?"
"Not you too!"
"You just got back, and the girls respect me. We have an..." she looked at the girls, "An understanding."
"What, 'do what you say', and don't wind up dead?" Faith just smirked.
"Something like that."
"Ok, fine, how about this, you take half, I take half. More ground covered, less babysitting." Faith agreed as they put the swords away and left the room.
"That was awesome!" David exclaimed to Dawn. Angel overheard and smiled.
~ * ~
Dawn managed to convince Buffy to let her go patrolling with them, so Angel took the opportunity to talk with David. They sat in the teacher's lounge.
"I heard about your wedding. I just wanted to congratulate you. Buffy's hot. And an extraordinary fighter."
"Thanks. She's definitely that, and more."
"Where'd you first meet?"
"I was her history tutor. Big history buff. If you don't learn form it, you're doomed to repeat it, right?"
"Oh, really? History? What periods?"
Angel thought a moment. "The more bloodier moments. Boxer Rebellion, American Revolution, though not so much, the Civil War. Well, a lot of Civil Wars. I'm full blooded Irish, and I've done in depth research on the Irish/English conflict."
"Ah, Irish. Nice countryside."
"Yeah. Buffy and I went there on our honeymoon. I wanted to show her my pa- my family's past." Too close.
"Angel . . . . .that's a nickname, right?"
"Yeah. My given name's Liam. But it's so old fashioned, got me teased as a kid."
"Yeah, I bet. So both of your parents are Irish, right? Did they emigrate, or was that your grandparents?"
"They actually used to live in Ireland. I came over as a teenager. After they passed on."
"I'm sorry."
"It's ok. It was a long time ago. I try not to dwell on the past." David nodded. "So, what about you? Besides Crime Scene Investigation, what, uh, floats your boat? Lack of better term."
"Drama and Theatre. Karate." Then he gave Angel a slight smile, "Dawn."
"Yeah, she's a special kid."
"How long have you known her? She doesn't talk of her past a lot."
"Well, I've known them for almost 11 years. Buffy anyway. Met Dawn a bit after that. I wasn't always her History tutor, though." He stretched the truth, some of it.
"She's the most alive person I've ever met. She's just the most amazing woman I've had the luck to date. She's so sweet and sensitive, and funny. And alive." Angel chuckled. "What?"
"I've never really thought of her as a woman, as you see her. I knew her mostly as the bratty pre-teen who got into everything. Trouble, mostly. She annoyed Buffy almost out of her mind. Following her to the Bronze, the only hangout in Sunnydale, ratting on Buffy when she snuck out. Younger sibling stuff. A lot like Kathy." He let the name slip without thinking. It was so much easier to talk of his past now that he had forgiven himself almost completely.
"Kathy? Your younger sister?"
"Yeah." He said quietly, slipping into what Buffy, and even Cordy referred to deep brood mode. "She died at age nine. I was 18. So did my parents. The guy who did it was never caught and brought to what the government calls justice, but I know for a fact that he got what was coming to him. I really don't want to talk about it."
"Sure, man. I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
~ * ~
"So, what do you think of David?" Buffy asked, as they got ready for bed that night.
"He's an ok guy. He talked very highly of Dawn. About how alive she is."
"Which comes from being a mystical energy that almost died at the expense of the world, and having suicidal tendencies. Once you're that close to death, life usually takes on a whole new meaning." She said, climbing in to the large bed and scooting towards the center.
"Yeah. I know about that. But what do you think of him?" He also climbed in to the bed, and scooted over to her.
She sighed. "I don't know. He seems stable enough, and he's got good taste, if he likes Dawn. But what type of job is Crime Scene investigation? Sounds like long nights alone to me. I guess I'm just afraid she's gonna get hurt. This is her first real boyfriend."
"You can't protect her anymore, Buffy. She's 20 years old, and a mature adult. She's off at college, too. And I wouldn't be surprised if she's doing some of her own vamp population control, down in Florida. She's a lot like her sister." Buffy looked as if she was about to freak at the idea of Dawn patrolling alone. Then she reconsidered.
"I hate it. She's my little sister." She told him.
"I know." He pulled her close, to comfort her, "I know."
~ * ~
"Dawn, I want to talk to you." Buffy said as they finished breakfast. Dawn knew it was coming.
"What about?" she asked, though she knew. Buffy began walking, and Dawn followed her.
"You were great on patrol last night, and I might just go as far as awesome. And Angel believes that you were experienced, because you were doing it down in Florida. I trust Angel, but I want to hear it from you, first."
"Yeah, I'm part of the slayer parade. I'm part of the gig. And it was hard, at first, but then the instincts kicked in and now I don't loose any. Dave doesn't know, but I really want to tell him. Soon I will. Hopefully."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because of the way you sheltered me! I was always the little sister! Dawn can't do this, and Dawn can't do that, because she's too young! She's the youngest! And with everything you went through, I didn't want you to freak."
"Do you really want my opinion?" Dawn didn't answer, her head hung.
"I would have appreciated you telling me; but Angel's right. You're an adult now. And I can't always be there protecting you. So here's what I'm thinking. I know that I haven't had the best of luck mixing guys and slaying, besides Angel, but you should really tell David, while you're both here. If he's here, with all the others around, he can't say that you're the crazy one, without calling us all crazy. And we can talk some sense in him; educate him in our ways. If he really makes you happy, then I'm here for you. I don't want to see you get hurt, even though I know I can't protect you from a broken heart."
"Thank you." She said sincerely.
~ * ~
That night, most of the school headed towards the hottest teen club in town. Giles opted to stay with those students who opted not to go out partying, preferring a quiet night with a good book. But the others went; Robin, Faith, Willow, Xander, Buffy, Angel, Dawn and David, besides any of the original Sunnydale Potential Crew.
They grabbed the majority of the tables, and had a good time. Buffy, Faith, Willow all danced, joined by some of the SdPC, sometimes Dawn would join them; Buffy and Xander danced; Buffy and Angel; Faith and Angel; and many other different combinations. But David would only dance with Dawn, no matter how much cleavage the Dark Slayer would show or taunt him with.
Buffy, Faith and Dawn took turns scanning for vampires. This was supposed to be the girls' night off, but there were always vamps to deal with. Dawn was the newest at sensing vampires, and even Faith needed some confirmation at times. They had never had Giles impart his wisdom on sensing vampires on them. Once a vampire was pin pointed, either one of the three went to deal with it personally, or they sent one of the girls. It was a very popular club, and any dark place with lots of grinding bodies and unsuspecting victims were popular for vampires; there were vampires almost out in force that night.
After the fifth vampire was found, Dawn took the 'gig' She got up from the table with her purse, and concealed stake, making the usual excuses. Buffy asked if she wanted her to go with, but Dawn declined. Buffy watched as she weaved through the crowd, after the vampire and his victim, headed towards both the outside doors, and the bathrooms.
Fifteen minutes later, she came back in, wiping her shirt and hands off.
Buffy noticed that David had also noticed her entrance.
"Hey! What'd I miss?" Dawn asked, sliding in between Buffy and David.
"Nothing much." Buffy supplied.
"Where'd you go? Why did you go outside?" David asked.
"Oh, I had something I had to take care of. Don't worry about it."
Buffy leaned in towards her sister, and they had a hushed conversation, "Any problems?"
"Only both of them." Dawn whispered back.
"Dawn! If I had known-I'd have never let you go alone!"
"No big. I've dealt with worse."
"That's what scares me." They separated, and rejoined the conversation, Xander backtracking in his narrative with the ease of someone long used to back tracking.
David only partly listened to the conversation, and the jokes Xander was using to make everyone laugh. Instead, he watched them. Buffy, Dawn, Faith. Each would take turns; they seemed to search the crowd. Then they'd either slip off, and out the door themselves, coming back ten or so minutes later, or they went to one of the students. When they went themselves, they would make some excuse, and the others would nod, give them secretive smiles. As they walked, Dawn was breathing deep, trying to calm her nerves, he could tell by the motion in her shoulders, Faith's step had a bounce in it, and Buffy went with grim determination. And when they finally came back, Dawn was bubbly, Faith was, well.... she seemed hot and bothered, and Robin didn't have a problem with being an outlet. And Buffy, when she came back, she was sorta somber.
If they'd send one of the students, whoever was chosen would gulp, if she were younger, and more excited if she was older. They were all sort of nervous. Buffy would give them some advice, it seemed, for they'd nod, and really listened, and then Buffy would hand her something. The girl would take it, and slip into the crowd. Then, when she came back, all the girls sitting with her would pat her on the back, give her high fives. She'd be boisterous. Even the 'teachers', Willow, Buffy, Faith, they would smile the girl's way, and she would beam. Something was definitely up, and he was going to find out.
Dawn noticed David's funk, but didn't mention it to anyone. Even the provocative dancing Faith was doing after her fifth staking wasn't drawing his eyes. While other guys were drooling and tripping over themselves to be near when both the Fair and Dark slayers danced together, and even Angel and Robin, trying to act nonchalant at the attention from the other gender their significant others were drawing, they couldn't help but stare. But David barely sent a look their way. He was sullen and silent, brooding. Maybe he really had noticed. God, she hoped so. She couldn't go on like this much longer.
They got a total of 15 vamps that night, and Buffy was pleased. She had only had to bail out Jen, a third year that almost learned just how sharp those teeth were. A quick bandage and a few words for her wounded pride, and the bubbly 13 year old was back to almost normal. As they left in a huge group, the itching in her neck became more irritating, and she rubbed it absently. Angel noticed and slowly pulled her hand from his bite mark, to stop the damage her nails were doing to the spot. He brushed the mark with his fingers. He knew it was his fault she had the scar. She nodded, as if she knew what he was thinking, and maybe she did. They had a deep connection.
David and Dawn trailed behind the group, being the last to leave the building, since Dawn had forgotten her purse. Dawn rubbed the skin between her thumb and forefinger, trying to release some of her tension. The girls were still as boisterous as ever.
"Dawn." He stopped her. "What's going on?"
"Huh?" she was sort of out of it, wondering when he was going to ask about it, she knew he had figured something out. She was so busy worrying, she almost missed the question.
"What's going on? And don't tell me nothing."
"What's going on? What do you mean?" she wanted to be sure, so she played the innocent card for now, trying to catch the attention of her older sister and brother in law.
"You know exactly what I mean, damn it. Don't play blond. That's your sister."
She sighed. This was it. "You really wanna know? Can you take the truth, David?" She noticed Buffy and Angel were now trailing behind the pack of girls.
"Yes."
She sighed again. "You're not going to believe me, if I tell you." She said.
"Try me."
"I could, ah, show you." Buffy and Angel joined them. "He's figured something out." Buffy nodded, glad that her sister was finally going to get the chance to test her relationship, and saddened, in case the test failed. She headed towards the closest cemetery, Angel and Dawn hot on her heels. David had no choice but to follow. Buffy led them through the cemetery to a fresh grave.
"Here. Fits the bill." Angel and Dawn nodded. The three sat on a nearby statue base.
"What are we doing here?" David asked.
"Waiting, for now." Buffy said, crossly. "And David, don't get me wrong, and all, you're a nice guy, and you make Dawn happy, but you need to find this out before it goes any farther. I will not have Dawn's heart broken, once it's too late to be able to fix it, like mine was, once upon a time." She nudged Angel.
"I thought you had forgiven me! You know it was just as hard on me as it was you, harder, because I didn't know if I'd ever seen you alive again."
"Forgiven, but never forgotten. Like a steel trap, remember?" she pointed to her head. Then they settled down to wait. Fifteen minutes later, Buffy and Dawn's enhanced hearing picked up the sound on fists and nails against a wooden door. Buffy involuntarily shuddered.
It was almost two minutes before they all saw the hand.
"What the hell-"
"Just wait. It gets freakier." Buffy advised. Then she looked at her sister, going back to their conversation.
"It's dangerous! Are you sure you can't just tell him?!"
"No, if I know Dave like I think I do, he's not the 'tell' type. Show, and later tell, but not tell, then show. This is the only way. Besides, with you and me there, what's one little vamp? We've both faced worse odds. And you know it."
Buffy sighed, a hand straying to her stomach unconsciously. She hadn't been able to get out of this stupid plan then, and unable to know. Angel's arms tightened around her waist. She hated having him there, more than anything, and they both were aware of that. She looked at him, pleading, but he just held her tighter.
The vampire slowly crawled out of his grave, and Buffy could see the terror in David's eyes as the thing emerged. And it wasn't just because she was looking for it.
"W-what is that thing? What the hell's with his face?!"
"That is a vampire. Highly dangerous." Buffy said, standing up, shedding Angel's arms. "Unless, of course, you are the vampire slayer." She stepped up to David, and pushed him back by Angel, and Dawn stood beside her. The vampire finally righted itself, and looked at the two girls.
"Her. She's older." Dawn pointed at Buffy.
And that just ticked her off. "What?! This was your idea! And you are so bigger."
"Hey! You were the one to choose this grave!"
"I have more experience, and there for, you being the newbie, you need the experience."
"I'm the youngest, and therefor, it's your job to protect me!"
"Then you shouldn't have gotten chosen!"
"It chose me! Just like it chose you!"
"Girls, he's getting away." Angel pointed out. Buffy ran after him and staked him in one fluid motion, and he was dust. Which was just too much for David.
"That was so your fault he almost got away." Buffy said, turning on her sister.
"It was so not!" she cried.
"Uh, girls? Girls?!" Angel called.
"What?!" they both cried, turning on him.
"We have another problem." He pointed to the fainted David, lying on the ground.
Buffy just sighed. "He's your boyfriend, you carry him." She said, uncharacteristically mean, and she set off, leaving a bewildered Dawn and Angel behind. He shrugged at her, as she picked up David, and they hurried after Buffy.
~ * ~
"What's going on with you?!" Angel asked as they got ready for bed that night.
She sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "I don't know." She sat on the edge of the bed heavily. "I just don't know." She repeated, but this time it was laced with fear. "Some-something's wron- no, not wrong, but not right either. Here." She touched her head, "here," her heart, "and here." She placed her hand on her stomach. He sat next to her, pulling her close. "My head and heart know that something's off, but my stomach.....it just feels funny."
"Well, let me make an appointment for you-"
"No! No. No hospital. No doctors. Please." She said, pleading with him.
"Buffy." He tried to placate her, "If something's wrong, then they can make it right."
"Not tonight. Please." she rested her head on his chest, and he kissed her forehead.
"Ok," he murmured, then, "Come on. Bed time. You're sleep deprived as it is." She nodded, and let him pull back the covers for her. Then he slid beneath the covers on his own side, and scooted to the center, where she was, wrapping his arms around her once more. "I love you, Buffy. And I only want what's best for you."
"I know. I love you too." But the nagging thoughts that something wasn't right plagued her that night.
~ * ~
Dawn pulled the covers over David, then sat on the other side of the bed, before taking off her shoes, and slipping under the covers as well.
Sometimes during the night, he rolled over, now sleeping, and embraced her.
He woke up, with Dawn in his arms, and smiled. Then he remembered, and he pulled away from her. She was awake instantly.
"Dave. You're awake."
"Stay away from he." He shied away from her reach.
"David..."
"No, you and your sister, and her husband...you're all freaks!"
"Don't bring Angel into this! He didn't have a choice in this. None of us did."
"Us? There are more of you?!"
"Look around you, David! Every single girl in this school, besides Willow, and about 100 more, trained, 200 more that are coming back in August, and so many more unsuspecting girls out there, only 10 and 11 years old, who don't even know the cruel joke Destiny has decided to play on them. They think they're normal. They have no idea. Not about the pain, and the suffering, the heartache of loosing your only sister-"
"But I-"
"Twice. CPR." She half lied. "And blood transfusions."
"Why didn't-"
"I tell you before? Because, at first, I wanted to just forget it. I wanted to be normal! And then...the idea that I was the only trained one in Florida....I could do some good, without Buffy stopping me, sheltering me. And I've wanted to tell you, for so long, so badly. You have no idea how many nights I wanted to stay...but my duty, my destiny, always got in the way! Besides, that I knew you'd never give me a chance if you knew. Look at your reaction now!" She accused, but then she backed down. "I never thought I'd feel this way," she murmured, and he had to lean in to hear her. "Look at mom and dad. And Buffy, and all her collision course romances. I swore I'd never fall in love, it was just too painful. Too many tears. But here I am. I-I think- I think I'm in-love with you. And I need to know, now, if this isn't going to work, between us." And then she cursed herself, for the silent tears coursing down her pale cheeks. She had known this was gonna be tough, but she had promised herself she wouldn't cry.
He came over to her, where she was kneeling on the bed. He wiped away a tear, "I love you too, Dawn. But...this is all so much, too much to take in right now!" she just looked at him, tears welling and spilling over, now unheeded.
"Fine...I understand. "she said, jerkily. She pulled away from him. He pulled her back, and crushed her against him, allowing her to cry on his shoulder.
"But give me time. I love you, and I'm not letting go that easy. Let me work this over in my mind, ok Dawn? I'm sure I'll get used to the idea of you being a super hero eventually." She nodded, giving him a watery smiled. He hesitated, not wanting to take advantage of her, but then leaned down and kissed her gently. She tasted of salt and oranges.
She took this to say that things were going to be ok between them. They would get through this.
She smiled as she let just a touch of the passion she felt for him out into her kisses, watching as he responded, before closing her eyes to the fire.
