Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys. I appreciate the feedback. And a big thank you to Caitlin, I appreciate the help ;)
Chapter 4:
The following month passed quickly for the two sisters. To Buffy's tremendous relief, Dawn didn't seem to be too hung up on the entire Sam thing. Instead she seemed to be focusing on making new friends at school. She'd already befriended a girl named Cassie, a nice girl that already had been over to the sister's house on numerous occasions over the past few weeks. Cassie's mom, her adoptive mom to be precise, Janet Frasier seemed to be okay as well. The couple of times she'd been over to pick Cassie up, she'd ended up staying for dinner. Somehow, despite their age difference, she and Buffy got along great.
Janet, a doctor, was easy going and didn't seem to pity the sisters because of their mom's death or their non-existent dad. Instead she seemed to be very impressed with them, something she'd told Buffy one night when they'd been alone in the kitchen while Dawn and Cassie had disappeared to Dawn's room. Whether or not it had something to do with the fact that Janet wasn't exactly a normal mom either Buffy didn't know. Nor did she care.
For once both sisters appreciated how it felt to be normal, to be thought of as normal. Neither Janet nor Cassie knew anything about their "secret" life and it wasn't something that was very likely to change. For the time being, Buffy and Dawn simply told them that Buffy worked for an international organization that specialized in archeology and history and on purpose stayed vague. Going into details would only get them in trouble, especially if Janet or Cassie started putting two and two together and realized that the sisters were lying.
As it was, Buffy went on patrols every night but other than that she was simply familiarizing herself with the area and getting to know some of the people around. No matter how bored it was making her, Giles and Willow was still working on collecting details about the secret military project, and until they knew for sure what exactly was going on, Giles had given Buffy strict orders to lay low and wait till he got back to her with further instructions.
He'd told her that she'd done the right thing in walking away from Sam. He agreed that it was best to stay away until they knew better what was going on and what they needed to do or not do. They were both realistic enough to understand that a wrong move could get people killed, and as it was, the situation didn't appear to require immediate actions. Giles had even admitted that maybe they were taking too much caution, but with their experience of the Initiative, neither of them was willing to make the mistake of taking the situation too lightly.
It was a late Wednesday evening when the doorbell suddenly rang. Buffy, who was in the kitchen putting the rest of the dishes from dinner away, slowly started walking to the hallway. From upstairs she could hear the sound of laughing girls and she smiled to herself. Whatever Dawn had thought of the move in the beginning, it was obvious she liked it here now. And a lot of it was because of Cassie. Still lost in her thoughts Buffy walked to the front door, drying her hands on the kitchen towel before opening it. Expecting it to be Janet, she smiled widely but the smile froze and then started to fade the moment she recognized the woman standing at the door. Sam. And for some reason, Sam appeared to be equally shocked.
"Sam?" Buffy said, surprised.
"Hey Buffy." Sam said slowly, her voice stuttering slightly.
"Wha…what are you doing here?"
But before Sam could answer they were interrupted by voices. A second later Dawn and Cassie appeared at the end of the stairs, having heard the doorbell.
"Sam!" Cassie laughed. "I didn't know you were picking me up."
"Janet asked me, she's been delayed at work." Sam said smiling warmly at the girl. "She said that if you wanted to you could spend the night at my place, and I thought we could watch a movie or something."
"With popcorn?" Cassie asked, a playful look in her eyes.
"Of course." Sam grinned. "But don't tell Janet that."
"I won't."
Cassie, too occupied with seeing Sam for the first time in weeks, hadn't noticed Dawn's surprised look, or the uncomfortable one in Buffy's eyes but Sam had.
"Hey Cassie, why don't you get your things and I'll talk to Buffy a little."
"You two know each other?" Cassie asked, her voice surprised as she noticed Sam calling Buffy by her first name.
"Yeah, you could say that." Buffy said, offering a small smile that looked more to be a grimace.
Cassie looked at both of them questioningly, but when no further explanation seemed to be on its way, she shrugged her shoulders before turning around and starting to put on her shoes and jacket. She gave Dawn a look, obviously expecting to get an answer from her, but Dawn pretended not to understand.
A couple of minutes later Cassie was dressed and ready to go. Dawn, who had stood next to her during the entire time, had her eyes glued to Sam and Buffy who stood talking by the doorway with quiet voices. She didn't know what they were saying but she could tell by her sister's face that it wasn't something cheerful. Noticing that her friend was finished, she cleared her throat a little to get their attention.
Buffy immediately turned her eyes to the two teens, a brief look of relief flashing through her eyes. Taking a step back, she clearly indicated that it was time for their guests to go. Saying a brief goodbye, Sam took a step back as well, motioning to Cassie to follow.
Finally noticing the thick tension in the room Cassie cast one last look at her friend before leaving with Sam, the look telling Dawn that she better have a good explanation in school the next day.
Buffy, who still stood at the doorway, followed the two with her eyes as they walked toward Sam's car. She barely noticed when Dawn appeared next to her. Nor did she react when she felt Dawn take a hold of one of her hands. Neither of the sisters spoke as they watched the two women drive off. Neither of them felt the need to.
TBC…