Ficlet - Stains - Dawn centric
Title: Stains
Author: life_fire
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): None
Word Length: 427
Timeline: Spoilers up to Season 5, takes place Season 1 to Season 3-ish
Summary: Some how Dawn always knew.
Years ago Dawn could remember hearing Buffy sneak in her bedroom window almost every night. Some nights she’d stay awake just to hear the comforting sound of the window shutting and her sister moving around in her room. It meant she was home. It meant she was safe. Though it wouldn’t be until a couple of years ago that Dawn would learn about the supernatural forces her sister fought those late nights, she knew even then that something was wrong. Buffy would sneak in silently, and some nights after changing she would tiptoe across the hall to the bathroom and Dawn would hear running water and the sound of cloth being scrubbed. One night Dawn snuck into the bathroom after Buffy had gone to bed, and on the counter she found one of Buffy’s shirts. There was a stain on the sleeve. Ever curious, Dawn had looked closer, until she could tell the stain was blood.
She vaguely remembered her 10 year old self being terrified for her sister. Buffy had always been invincible in her mind, but here was tangible proof her sister could be hurt. Almost as if the act of getting rid of the stain could erase that knowledge, Dawn scrubbed the shirt as hard as she could, until her hands had blisters on them. She hung the shirt on the edge of the tub and went to sleep with a new heaviness.
The next night when the window in the next room opened and Buffy left for wherever she went so late, Dawn sat up in her bed and waited anxiously. The second time the window opened and closed, Dawn sat still until she heard Buffy walk to the bathroom again and scrub a newly stained article of clothing before returning to bed. Then Dawn snuck down the hall and washed out the stain as best she could, erasing any idea that her sister could be hurt.
A couple of years later, when Buffy told her mother and sister about the things that go bump in the night, Buffy would turn to her and ask her if she knew. She brought up the shirts that always got washed out, even when their mother knew nothing about them. And Dawn just scowled and told her sister she had no clue who would touch her nasty clothes. But every night that Buffy returned with stained clothing Dawn would continue to wash it out, because no matter how much older she got, and how much annoying Buffy got, she still needed that little piece of mind.
Author: life_fire
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): None
Word Length: 427
Timeline: Spoilers up to Season 5, takes place Season 1 to Season 3-ish
Summary: Some how Dawn always knew.
Years ago Dawn could remember hearing Buffy sneak in her bedroom window almost every night. Some nights she’d stay awake just to hear the comforting sound of the window shutting and her sister moving around in her room. It meant she was home. It meant she was safe. Though it wouldn’t be until a couple of years ago that Dawn would learn about the supernatural forces her sister fought those late nights, she knew even then that something was wrong. Buffy would sneak in silently, and some nights after changing she would tiptoe across the hall to the bathroom and Dawn would hear running water and the sound of cloth being scrubbed. One night Dawn snuck into the bathroom after Buffy had gone to bed, and on the counter she found one of Buffy’s shirts. There was a stain on the sleeve. Ever curious, Dawn had looked closer, until she could tell the stain was blood.
She vaguely remembered her 10 year old self being terrified for her sister. Buffy had always been invincible in her mind, but here was tangible proof her sister could be hurt. Almost as if the act of getting rid of the stain could erase that knowledge, Dawn scrubbed the shirt as hard as she could, until her hands had blisters on them. She hung the shirt on the edge of the tub and went to sleep with a new heaviness.
The next night when the window in the next room opened and Buffy left for wherever she went so late, Dawn sat up in her bed and waited anxiously. The second time the window opened and closed, Dawn sat still until she heard Buffy walk to the bathroom again and scrub a newly stained article of clothing before returning to bed. Then Dawn snuck down the hall and washed out the stain as best she could, erasing any idea that her sister could be hurt.
A couple of years later, when Buffy told her mother and sister about the things that go bump in the night, Buffy would turn to her and ask her if she knew. She brought up the shirts that always got washed out, even when their mother knew nothing about them. And Dawn just scowled and told her sister she had no clue who would touch her nasty clothes. But every night that Buffy returned with stained clothing Dawn would continue to wash it out, because no matter how much older she got, and how much annoying Buffy got, she still needed that little piece of mind.