Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.

I can't believe all the wonderful reviews I received! And believe me, it worked like a charm: 10 000 words written in a week and a half. Isn't it amazing?! I couldn't stop writting, the story was always in the back of my head. I started writting at home, at work and even on my smartphone when I went to eat at my grandparent's house! I was literally obsessed! And that is so gooooood!Ok, things happened that I completely didn't have planned but it ends up being great (or I think so and my cobaye too).

I'm a little apprehensive because I felt like the story lost a little of its rythme in the next couple of chapters, but believe me, after that, it will became crazy! So enjoy.

I hope that you will spent some time to review it, because I really need to start on the rest.

Chapter Nineteen

Peace Offering

Buffy watched a young couple walking hand in hand while Andy talked about his plans with Sarah. Apparently, they were going to London for the weekend. He was supposed to meet her parents and he was panicking. It was an important step and he was putting himself under a lot of pressure. He was all "and what if they don't like me?", "what if I say something wrong?", "what if...?" His long monologue was boring. She couldn't quite focus on what she was saying because her own mind kept wandering to that night, four days ago.

"I slept with Owen," she blurted out, interrupting him.

She wasn't good with secrets. He froze, mouth half open. He frowned and seemed to collect himself.

"Owen? The monkey-like doctor? You slept with the monkey-like doctor?"

"He doesn't look like a monkey!"

Andy made a face that was clearly saying "Really?"

"He doesn't!" she insisted.

She started to pout and he stared at her.

"I can't believe it! Why him? I could have understood Jack with all his muscles and flirty comments and handsomeness and—"

"Stop! I get it!"

"No really! You and Owen are at each others throats nearly every time you're together."

"Because I needed something, he had what I wanted."

"And that was?"

"Sex without attachment?"

"Like Captain Handsome couldn't have given you that." Andy snorted.

She glared at him, regretting having told him. She should have kept it secret like she had planned. But she wasn't one to keep this kind of thing bottled up, not since she had befriended Andy.

"You know what? I shouldn't have told you."

She stood up from the bench and started to walk away, suddenly mad. The last few days had been hard on her and the worst wasn't even over yet. The case was far from being solved and she was living with the fear of finding herself in the same position as before. She wasn't sure if she could deal with another ritual happening on her watch. The witch was on her way too. The Slayer was sure that things would be going faster now. They would need reinforcements. Andy grabbed her by the arm and looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't see that one coming."

"Do you think I saw it coming? Come on, it's Rude-Guy!"

That was true. Half an hour before she found herself standing in front of his door, she hadn't known she was going to sleep with him. She did what felt right at that time—what she needed. She did as Faith: Want. Take. Have. It was pretty funny that her night with Owen was the thing occupying her mind when she had learnt that her boss was an immortal time-traveller guy. She wasn't feeling much like a social person right now. So, instead of going on with her day like she would have done before, she told Andy that she was going home.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked with worry.

"No. There's just so much going on lately that I'm feeling a little lost. And I'm working tonight so I just want to rest a little beforehand. We're seeing each other later this week, right?"

"Of course. Take care of yourself Buffy."

They hugged and parted ways. She walked home quickly. She hadn't lied. This last week had been Hell for her. There were a lot of things that she needed to digest. And she needed to deal with it alone. What made it worse was that she had studied Owen a lot more since they had sex. He had been kind with her and showed a face she hadn't suspected he had. Her little study sessions made her realize something: Tosh cared a lot for the doctor. More than in a professional or friend-type relationship. The way she looked at him, blushed at his jokes or talked to him made it evident! She wondered how she had missed that before. If ever Tosh learnt about Owen and her, she would be so mad! And right now, Buffy could just not lose a friend. What the Hell was she doing to always get fucked up relationships? It was beyond her.

Lost in her own thoughts, she only saw her visitor when she was half-way down the corridor. She froze, keys in hand, mouth half-open. She hoped for a while that she was dreaming—or hallucinating. But then, the woman smiled shyly at her.

"Hi Buffy!"

And the only thing that she was able to say was, "What are you doing here Dawn?"

Her sister looked down at the floor and started fidgeting with her bag. Buffy stared up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking "Why are you hating me so much?" before going to her door and opening it. She entered, not closing the door but not inviting her sister in either. She threw her keys in the pot on the chest of drawers and hanged her jacket on the hook. The door closed while she was taking off her shoes. Then without another look, she went to the kitchen and started to make coffee. She was trying to improve her skills and watched Ianto do his thing every chance she got. Her coffee tasted a lot worse than his but it was getting better.

"It's a really nice apartment," Dawn said.

Buffy put her mug on the table roughly and turned to her sister. "What do you want? What didn't you understand when I said I needed time?"

Anger flashed through the Key's eyes. "I've waited enough!"

"You? I've waited two whole years for excuse or apologies and they never came! So I don't give a damn about how long you've been waiting!"

"It's always about you! That never changes: we always had to listen to you, to follow you. And you didn't care what we were thinking!"

"Like you cared about what I was feeling?! You always look to me to make all the decisions. You wanted me to be your rock! And after that, you dared to after me about my behaviour? How hypocritical is that?"

"You acted like a bitch!"

That was enough. Something clicked inside of Buffy. She felt the Slayer roar and took a step towards her sister, a dangerous glint in her eyes. Her voice was low and almost growling.

"I saved your freaking life! I died and you brought me back."

"Stop bringing your death up every time we have an argument!"

Buffy closed her eyes tight. "You shouldn't have come. Get the Hell out of here Dawn."

Then she turned her back on her sister. "I'm getting married."

The Slayer's head snapped around and Dawn went on.

"Or at least I will be when I say yes. And I can't say yes while we're still mad at each other. Because you're my big sister and you're the only family I have left. And I made mistakes but you made ones too. Yelling at each other won't get us anywhere. I shouldn't have told you to leave the house, that you were the problem. But your plan had just backfired on us and Xander had lost an eye and I needed someone to blame. It doesn't excuse what I did but I don't think anything will excuse what we've done or said back then. Because it was a nightmare and I was so afraid and my sister wasn't there. There was only the General, the Slayer, and she was only there for the Potentials. Not for me. And Tara was gone for less than half a year and we nearly lost Willow. And I couldn't bear the idea of losing someone else. And I lost you long ago. I lost you on that tower and never really get you back. And I want to get you back. I want you, Buffy, not the Slayer. I want my sister back. The one that told me that it doesn't matter where I came from or how I was created. That the only thing that mattered was that we share the same blood and that we're family, no matter what.

"I need you Buffy. Because this guy asked me to marry him and I love him but everything's going way too fast and it's scared me shitless. There's so much of my life I need to come to terms with before starting anything new. So I don't give a damn if you're not happy to see me. Because I need to see you. You forgave Giles. So please Buffy forgive me. Because I forgive you."

The Slayer closed her eyes and let herself fall into a chair. She didn't know if she wanted to laugh or cry. Didn't she have enough on her plate already? Her sister's little speech had the same effect as a slap in the face. Maybe she would have preferred one because it would likely not haunt her later. She knew she had made mistakes too. She had accepted that not too long ago. Back in Sunnydale, and after that, she had been really convinced that she had done everything she could have done and that she had been the victim. But when she had come to Cardiff and she had started to rebuild her life and herself, she had had time to think, to look at her past more objectively. The assessment had been edifying. She was a big part of the problem back then. She had made mistakes too. A whole lot of them. Because she didn't really pull herself away from her grief and her anger. It stayed inside of her, slowly growing. Her actions had been blinded by them. That was why she needed time. In Cardiff, she was hoping to be able to deal with all the bad feelings polluting her judgement of her past and what had happened.

She opened her eyes. Dawn was looking at her in desperation. She was silently begging her to not throw her out, to hear her. Buffy realized that she couldn't tell her to leave. Because she was not just anyone. She was her sister, her blood. She was the reason why Buffy had fought and died. She was the only family she had left. And she didn't even know that she was seeing someone. Three years had passed since Sunnydale. Maybe it was time to stop hiding and try going forwards? After all, she did it with Giles. So the next logical step would be her sister, right?

She let out a long sight. "I know I made mistakes Dawn. It was why I asked for time. I need to pull myself together for good, to forgive myself first. I don't know who I am any more. I need to figure it out before starting to work on any of my relationships."

Relief and hope lit up the Key's eyes. It was not hopeless. Her sister wouldn't hate her for the rest of their lives. She didn't want them out of their life. She just wanted to rebuild her life. She was taking baby steps forward. She smiled shyly.

"I thought you would never forgive us. Or even see it as a possibility."

"I thought so too. But when I came here and began to look back, I realized I was to blame for a lot of what happened too."

"We were all pretty fucked up back then."

"Completely."

Silence fell between both Summers. Dawn bounced on the balls of her feet. Buffy took out another mug, filled it and gave it to her sister.

"Is that a peace offering?" the Key asked.

"Possibly."

They smiled at each other and sipped a little of the hot beverage. They went to sit on her coach. After a few minutes, Buffy asked, "So, engaged, hum?"

"Soon-to-be. I think."

"You're not sure?"

"I'm barely twenty! Of course I'm not sure about getting married. I'm too young to commit myself!"

"Why aren't you telling him that?"

"Because he's not too young to commit himself. So, it's perfectly understandable that he wanted to start his family."

Buffy frowned. "What do you mean by 'not too young'?"

"I met him in my linguistic class. He's the TA. He's ten years older than me. And should I remind you that two of your boyfriends were at least one century older than you?"

"You don't need to. What about us and older guys?"

"I think it's genetic."

"Did you tell him about what goes bump into the night?"

"Yeah. He was recruited by the Council. That's why I approached him at first. Then, things went on. And here I am. Totally freaked out!"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes!"

"So marry him. If you're sure you love him, and you want to have kids with him. Nowadays, marrying someone is not committing for life. You just express your feelings and your desire to go as far as possible with that other person."

"Yeah, that's a way to see things."

Dawn lost herself in thought for a couple of minutes before shaking her head.

"Anyway, that's not the only reason why I'm here."

She got up and went to her, extracting a file.

"Karen has been hurt. She'll be out the field for a while. I'm her replacement."

"You're not even a witch."

"I can do witchy-things! Willow taught me a few things. We tried to learn what I could do with my Keyness. And I'm the best in languages, research and rituals. I'm young, in shape and know how to protect myself in the field."

"Are you trying to sell yourself?"

"No need. I'm not going anywhere, either you want it or not. So tell me about this new job of yours. What's new in your life?"

Buffy explained to her what the goal of Torchwood was, gave her the important points of its history and who the actual members were. She stayed professional, giving no personal impression or details on her new friends. She was talking about work, not about her life. Dawn realized it but didn't comment. She would meet them soon enough and make up her own mind about them. The Slayer told her what her personal tasks were. Then they talked about the case. When Dawn asked to see everything she had, Buffy replied. "I've got nothing here. It's at the Hub."

"You have nothing here?"

"No. I don't bring anything professional home. Or I try not to."

"You seem to be succeeding better than in Sunnydale."

"It's easier here."

Buffy showed the guest room to Dawn and let the young woman make herself at home. After that, they decided to go to the Hub. The Slayer didn't really know what to think of her sister's presence by her side. It was a little weird after so many years of cold war. She wasn't completely at ease.

It was the same for Dawn. However, she was relieved that her sister hadn't thrown her out. When she had learnt that Kate was injured, she had volunteered right away to be the one put in charge of the case in Cardiff. Because that way, if Buffy had been less inclined to talk to her, she would have had a reason to stay. Now, she was really curious to be a part of her sister's new life and meet the ones that had taken the Scoobies' place.

¤ ¤ tbc ¤ ¤