Disclaimer: Joss owns all! Don't sure.
Author's Note: After season 5, Dawn's 16, almost 17.
Ever since the night when Buffy jumped, she'd expect her sister to show up somewhere. Making breakfast in the kitchen, training in the Magic Box with Giles or even sleeping. But all she got was a robot. Not even a shadow of her sister. Just something, not even someone, who looked like her. But didn't act like her. Because no one could be as good as Buffy. No one could replace Buffy for Dawn. Especially not a robot who did everything wrong.That's why she usually stayed in her room.
But like today, they all ate dinner together. Willow and Tara, Xander and Anya and Dawn. No one said a word while they ate.
The doorbell rang and everyone looked up from their plates.
"I'll get it" Willow said and stood up.
Dawn held her breath, looking at the doorway. As usual, she was hoping it was Buffy. That she came back from dead somehow. But the person who walked in with Willow wasn't Buffy. It was a Slayer, but not Buffy. Dawn couldn't belive her eyes, Faith was back. Her both hands, that were on her lap, rolled into fists. She wasn't sure if she was angry at Faith. Or just shocked.
"Hey, guys" Faith said with a smirk. It felt weird. Being back. She had expected Willow to kick her out, but instead she invited Faith in. Everyone were so quiet. Her eyes stopped on Dawn. Her Dawn. It had been so long. But she still loved her. Even after everything that had happened. But she didn't say anything.
"Not to sound rude, but what are you doing here?" Xander asked. He was surprised, like everyone else.
"SunnyHell needs a Slayer, and I'm the only one alive" Faith said. "When The Council found out B's dead, they got me out of jail and sent me here to play the hero" she added.
Dawn suddenly got up from the table and walked upstairs. Faith was here. Something she had wished would've happened two years ago. Just to have Faith with her. But right now, she only wished that Buffy was alive and Faith would be in jail again. That's where her place was. She sat down onto her bed and took out the only picture she had of Faith. It was made in Boston. When they were together and Dawn didn't hate Faith. She took a deep breath and ripped it to little pieces. She closed her eyes for a second and put the pieces back under her pillow. Soon she heard Willow's voice outside of her room.
"You can stay in Buffy's old room" Willow told Faith and opened the door. The Buffy-Bot was on the bed, charging it's batteries. "We'll take the Bot to the basement" she added.
Dawn quickly stood up. No one could have Buffy's room! No one. Especially not Faith. She walked to her door and opened it. "Faith can sleep in the basement, or not here. I'm sure some hotel would welcome her with open arms" she said.
"But, Dawnie..." Willow started. She didn't like Faith much, but sleeping in the basement was for vampires.
"No but's. No one's staying in Buffy's room. And that's final" Dawn said and stepped back into her room, slamming the door shut behind herself. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. She knew she didn't love Faith anymore, but why did it hurt so much, then? Seeing her, hearing her voice. It felt like Dawn's heart was being ripped out. Slowly and painfully.
"It's okay, Red. Don't worry, I can sleep in the basement. I've had worse" Faith said. She didn't want to hurt Dawn. She wanted to make Dawn trust her again. She didn't plan to become Buffy's enemy. It just happened.
"No, you can sleep on the couch.And I guess you can use Buffy's weapons, if you want to go on patrol" Willow said and started to walk downstairs.
Faith followed her. "Thanks, Red" she said. She couldn't wait to patrol. She missed the feeling it gave her. But she had to wait a few hours, the sun was still up.
"Want to eat something? We were just having dinner" Willow said and walked to the kitchen with Faith.
"Sure thing" Faith said. Jail food was crappy. No, crappy food was good. But that was shitty.
"Help yourself" Willow said and walked to the living room.
Faith walked straight to the kitchen. She didn't care that she was bleeding. She only cared about food. Slaying always made her hungry and horny. But more of hungry. She walked to the fridge and opened it. She started to eat some fries that were on the plate when she saw someone smoking outside on the porch. She didn't know that anyone smoked. She knew that both Willow and Tara were healthy. And Xander and Anya didn't live in the house. She put the plate back into the fridge and opened the door to the porch. "Dawn?" she said, not believing her eyes.
"What?" Dawn asked, not even turning to look at Faith. Great! She was sure that Faith was going to tell Willow and Tara first thing tomorrow morning. But screw them! She didn't care. They blamed her of Buffy's death anyway. Dawn didn't need them. And she didn't need Faith.
"So, since when do you smoke?" Faith asked as she sat down next to Dawn. At least they were talking. That was good. Kind of.
"Since a few weeks. Not that it's any of your business" Dawn said. It felt weird. Faith so close to her. She still remember their last night together like it was yesterday. But it wasn't yesterday, it was almost two years ago. Things had changed since then. She took a drag of the smoke and let it soon out.
"It's bad for you" Faith said. 'Oh, God. I sound like my health education teacher' she thought to herself. But she was worried about Dawn.
"I'm not even human, I'm sure I'll be fine" Dawn said and finished her smoke. She let it out to Faith's face. "Night" she said and stood up and walked back inside.