While Buffy's anxiety is ratcheting up, the bell on the front door ring, "I've got it." She calls as she void jumps backwards out of the house.
"Hello, Jonathan wasn't it?"
Jonathan jumps and spins around, "Buffy, how did you… I just heard you…"
Buffy smiles broadly at Jonathan, "Don't worry about it. Hey, do you want to save a poor little girl, and have sex with a beautiful succubus at the same time?"
Buffy catches Jonathan under the shoulder as his knees buckle, "What? Really?"
Buffy void jumps the both of them through the door, "Yes, really. Hey Vhesthine, I've solved our man problem."
Vhesthine sniffs, "He smells like a virgin. And, yes Buffy, that will help solve our man problem. It will mean I don't have to go hunting before we go to LA overnight, and probably tomorrow too."
Jonathan swallows hard, "You're a Succubus?"
Vhesthine nods, "I am, and if you're lucky I'm going to give you a very pleasant half an hour. If I'm lucky, it will be five minutes, as you're a virgin."
All three of the women watch as he faints in Buffy's grasp, and Tara says, "Uh, I knew they were sheltered, but really?"
Vhesthine nods, "He seems like someone who has never learnt the ways of humans despite living with them. I've met many like them, and some of them grow bitter and believe that they are owed much that they haven't earned. Buffy, I will not be able to save Eleane on my own. We just cannot keep feeding like that without our bodies shutting us down, like humans after eating a few large meals, even if they purge themselves afterwards. It would be easier if she returned to her birth form, but she is currently too weak to have that forced on her." Vhesthine strokes Eleane's hair, "It is remarkable that one so young is still holding onto this form while so ill."
Buffy swallows hard, "And you want me to approach men, for sex?"
Vhesthine nods, "If we had more time, I would use some contacts to arrange rooms in a brothel so that they could pick us. I know a few spells to make us more appealing. However, this little one won't wait that long. Yet she seemed so happy when I opened the door, despite her condition. I will join you to start with, as she will only need one of us feeding her at a time. But, if you want her to survive, it has to be you and me. Unless you wish for me to be intimate with Tara until she learns how to feed from, and to others."
Buffy drops Jonathan with a thud as her left hand comes up, pointing at Tara while she growls. Tara raises her hands, "I asked how I could help. I'm dating Willow remember." As Buffy lowers her hand, Tara continues, "Um, if you react like that to me, how are you going to handle Vhesthine and men?"
Buffy can't help it, she sags to the floor laugh crying while Vhesthine answers, "It's simple. I have absolutely no attraction to humans. Neither does Buffy. My relationship with her was entirely unexpected, and mirrors my own culture. I believe that you would also be safe initiating such a relationship, if you so desired. However, such a thing would be deadly for most mortals, even ignoring the threat of accidentally giving or taking too much. Which is something only an incubus can do to a Succubus, and only when they're our child."
"Why would it be dangerous for the human?"
"Magic. Feeding, from or to, is a magical act. Buffy and I can go for hours. What would that do to a mortal magic user?"
Tara's face drains of colour.
"Buffy, you need to go to the school and sign her out for the rest of the week."
Woodenly, Buffy nods, "Get Dawn, I can do that."
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Principle Stevens stands up as Buffy walks through his door, "Miss Summers, it's a pleasure to see you. Though, I didn't think you'd get here so fast."
Buffy freezes, unsure of what's going on, "Um, I know why I'm here, why do you think I'm here?"
"Dawn knocked out one of the boys in her year. We're still waiting for the ambulance to take him to hospital."
Nodding, Buffy takes a seat, "What happened?"
Stevens raises his hands, "We don't know. Only that it happened in a girls rest room. What were you here for?"
"I need to remove Dawn from school for the rest of the week, and maybe a little of next week."
Stevens eyes widen, "Why would you need to do that?"
Buffy shifts uncomfortably, "We have just been given custody of a girl Dawns age. However, she is critically ill, so we need to take her to LA."
Stevens frowns, "Can't just one of you go?"
"Believe me, if that was the case, I'd let Vhesthine go on her own in a heartbeat. But it's not the sort of problem we can take to the hospital." When Stevens still looks blank, Buffy adds, "Do you remember Dawn's dietary issues?"
"Oh, right. Yes, I understand. I'll sign her out as attending a family emergency then. It will also keep the boys parents happy, as they'll assume he wasn't the only one suspended."
Buffy looks confused, "Why should that matter?"
Stevens sighs, "It shouldn't. But it does because he's been suspended for where he was, not what he may have been doing."
"I don't understand."
Stevens looks down, "I don't suppose you do, do you. I doubt you have any idea how complicated my life has become since Emo started accompanying Dawn everywhere. Of the uncomfortable conversations I've had with the female teachers here, as they defend Emo's right to be here. I used to think I was a good man Buffy, but I've found out that instead, I've been a blind man. Enough about that, let me make a record of your withdrawal, and we can take you to Dawn."
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As both Buffy and Dawn walk away from the school, Buffy glances at Dawn, "Those aren't the clothes you were wearing when you left this morning."
Dawn looks down at the sidewalk, "Are you going to tell me off for wearing them?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, I'm going to tell you off from hiding the fact from us. Monday and Tuesday as well?" Dawn just nods, "Where was Emo?"
"I left him with Janice, as she's been having trouble with some of the boys recently."
"So, why were you wearing the outfit Vhesthine gave you?"
Dawn plays with the strap on her backpack while Emo playfully swipes down at it from her shoulder, "I felt happier wearing it."
Buffy nods, "Understandable. And I'm still sorry that Spike died."
Dawn starts to cry, "I know, and I still hate you. Except I don't, and I don't understand."
Buffy sighs, "I… I've been waking up crying every night this week. I don't understand why, why now and not any of the other times I've dealt with rampant demons. Vhesthine tells me it's grief and survivors guilt. But, in bed, I keep thinking about the situation wondering if I could have done anything differently. Something else that doesn't make sense to me. I'm used to being able to review the memory once, objectively, and then put it to one side."
Dawn takes Buffy's hand, "I didn't think adults didn't understand themselves."
Buffy chuckles darkly, "I think I understand what you mean. And I don't think even the seemingly most together actually understand themselves. I've told you about Cephalons, yes?"
Dawn nods, "You have."
"Well, many of them literally didn't have emotions after they were adjusted. Even so, they couldn't always tell you why they reached a conclusion. But they could justify it."
They both walk together for a few minutes before Buffy says, "Dawn, something happened earlier. That's why I've pulled you out of school for a few days."
Dawn looks up, "Wait, I thought I was suspended."
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't know why you hit the boy, but until you give me reason to believe otherwise, I'm going to assume self-defence. No, Vhesthine and I have become adoptive parents to a Succubus your age."
Dawn suddenly stops for a second, before screaming, "No! No! You've already taken Spike from me! You're not taking our sister time as well!"
As Dawn starts to run, Buffy catches her around the waist, and ignores Emo's attempts to attack her as she starts to carry Dawn home, "Dawn… Dawn…" she starts, before giving up as it's clear Dawn can't hear her.
By the time she gets home, her pants are ruined, and she's been reduced to just hugging Dawn and repeating, "Dawn, it's ok, our time together isn't going away."
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As Buffy walks in the front door, a cried out Dawn tries to squirm out of her grasp, and run upstairs. Buffy catches her hand, and drags her into the lounge, where Jonathan is lying on the couch with a blissful expression on his face.
"Dawn, this… Dawn! Dawn!" Buffy grabs Dawn's face and feeds her a little essence, snapping Dawn out of her mood, "Dawn, this is your new sister."
With the temporary high given by Buffy's essence, Dawn looks down at the emaciated black girl and spots how prominent her ribs are, how thin the wrists, and finally, how sunken the face is. As she walks over and kneels down beside her to take a bony hand in her own the only question she can ask is, "How?"
Vhesthine looks up, her eyes still puffy, but now covered with a bit of makeup. Her dead voice is clear, for all it's quiet, "Did she get like this? She has a chip in her head, like Spikes, and she was found nearly two months ago in Alaska. The documents say she survived in an Institute facility for an unknown amount of time before escaping. Is she still alive? We don't know. Are we going to save her? Buffy and I are going to need to hunt in shifts so that she always has a feed available whenever she wakes up. By all rights, I should just put her out of her misery and save us all the trouble. But I can't. Every time I think about it, I remember how happy you were as a Succubus."
Dawn looks down at her, "Why would you kill her?"
Vhesthine looks up at Dawn, "Dawn, when I say I'm going hunting, what comes to mind?"
Dawn smiles, "You head out to the Bronze or one of the bars, chat up a couple of guys, and have a quicky out back."
Vhesthine nods sadly, "On my home plane, it more like a tribe in Africa hunting. Only, we're hunting the scattered tribes of humans we took with us when Demon-kind first left Earth thousands of years ago."
Dawn make an O shape for a moment, then asks, "Why not just get your boss to make her human?"
Tara speaks up from the chair she's sitting in, "She's too frail. We can't even use magic to force her back into her Succubus form, as that might kill her."
Slightly panicky, Dawn cries, "Buffy, you've got to do something. You need to fix this."
Buffy swallows hard, "Dawn. We are." She licks her lips, "We're driving to LA, where they have a larger population. Then, we're going to get a hotel room, where you are going to guard her." She swallows again, her mouth suddenly dry, "And Vhesthine is going to teach me to hunt."
Dawn's mouth drops open, "But, Buffy, you don't like men like that."
Vhesthine nods gravely, "I wouldn't be asking this of Buffy if it was at all possible. But hunting and then feeding essence to another Succubus is exhausting. I could probably do it three times before I had to sleep. And that's if I ignore my own needs. We need to keep it up until she sleeps for a full day after a feed. That's when we'll know she's stopped burning through it just to survive."
Dawn looks up defiantly, "I want to help."
Vhesthine nods, "You will be helping, you'll be guarding her while we're out. You'll also be guarding us while we sleep. You're too young to help with the feeding," Vhesthine raises her hand, "because you haven't developed to the point where you can learn how to feed. This little one has been forced to learn, and it will cause problems later."
Dawn sulks, her earlier tantrum forgotten, "But I want to help."
From behind her, Buffy says, "Get your bow, and your live arrows. I hope to whoever is listening that you don't have to kill someone. But vampires live in LA as well."
As Dawn hurry's out to the yard, Buffy looks at Vhesthine, "How are we going to afford this?"
Vhesthine looks up, "I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough saved up that we could live here for a few years without worrying about the bills. We will need to be in the seedier part of the city. Even so, I think we're going to miss three or four feedings during the day, because humans work. Unless we get lucky and find one of the bars that people go to because they've got nothing else to do."
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A couple of hours later, after Elaena has woken and had another full feed, the four of them arrive in a slightly better than cheapest motel ever. This one at least has underground parking. Once parked, it doesn't take long to pay for the first two nights, and book the room for a week.
As soon as that is done, Buffy and Vhesthine both leave. Reluctantly Buffy has dressed in the clothes Vhesthine laid out for her.
Vhesthine looks a little sick as she leads them to some notorious streets, "As the clubs won't be open yet, I'm going to teach you the most reliable, yet unpleasant method of hunting first. Streetwalking. The girls that do this call it turning tricks."
This relies on being more attractive to the men driving passed than the other girls on the street. On the down side, you also need to watch for police, as they like to arrest anyone that's making money in a way the main religion disapproves of."
Over the next half an hour it gets dark, and Buffy gets a very humiliating lesson in putting herself on display. A lesson that's cut short when a tall, all American, girl, walks up to Vhesthine, anger clear on her face.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? This is my hunting ground."
Vhesthine sneers, "You would hoard such a bountiful supply? How generous of you."
"You must be new up here if you think that. Ain't no bounty here if ya don't want to end up dead."
Buffy frowns, "Why would we end up dead?"
The girl looks at Buffy dismissively, "What? You letting the cattle talk for you now?"
Vhesthine's smile turns predatory, as she deliberately catches Buffy's lips with her own before initiating a good exchange that leaves Buffy moaning, "No, I let my mate, The Slayer, do her own talking."
The girl steps back, "Woah, I didn't know humans could do that. But, there's no way she's the Slayer, as she's holed up in Sunnydale keeping a lid on the hell hole."
Buffy smiles, "Would you like me to bench press you, and prove I'm the Slayer? Even better, have a pamphlet."
The girl takes the pamphlet and stares at it, "Really?"
Buffy nods, "Really. I wouldn't be here if we hadn't been given custody of a juvenile who's starving."
The girl waves her hand, "Kill it, it will be kinder in the long run."
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't kill civilians. Hence, you're still alive after all."
"Do you have any idea how much essence it will take to save the juvenile? You'd need most of a commune out hunting just to have a chance of getting enough essence."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Not here we don't. There's enough here that with two of us, we should be able to feed enough to keep her fed. And as her Matriarch it's my duty to do my best for her."
The girl shakes her head, "You ain't no Matriarch, there's no way you'd be here if you were."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "I would have been a Matriarch, if the Matriarch I challenged hadn't dishonoured me. I was banished because I shamed her in front of the council."
The girl steps back again, "That was you!? Look, I don't want no trouble. I'm just trying to get along here as best I can."
Buffy sighs, "Why are you working the streets then?"
The girl looks at her as if she's an idiot, "Are you stupid or something? What else am I supposed to do? I'm a girl with no education, no ID, and living a city where the big 3 have an office."
Buffy puts her head in her hands, "Why me?" Looking up again, she looks at the girl, "I don't know who the big 3 are. But you're here now, and so am I, so don't make me regret this offer. If you make your way to Sunnydale, I can tutor you to pass your GED."
"What? For reals? Look, I appreciate the offer, but I ain't getting any closer to a hell hole than I have to. I'll give you a piece of free advice too. Watch out for Rocky, he's the vamp that's the pimp round here. Word says he works for the big three."
As the girl walks off with the pamphlet, a car pulls up with five men in it, "Hey, you girls up for a party tonight? $200."
Vhesthine smiles broadly, "Each."
As they both get into the car, to sit uncomfortably on the guys in the back, they pretend not to notice the driver vamp out momentarily.