Leave Me Lying Here (BtVS)
Title: Leave Me Lying Here
Rating: M15+
Characters and/or pairings: Dawn Summers, Buffy Summers, Owen/Buffy, Owen Thurman
Warnings: Violence, adult situations
Disclaimer
Spoilers: Set post-'Chosen' and Owen Thurman is featured in 1x05 - Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
Summary: Now that the Sunnydale Hellmouth has been closed, Buffy has created a new world and it's gonna take time to learn the new ropes. But in amidst the changes is still a very lonely heart that has trouble finding peace. Dawn tries her best to help her sister find happiness but it's not until she gets kidnapped and rescued by a rough Hunter that things start looking up. The only problem is that the new guy on the scene is someone Buffy once new and he's changed a lot since high school. Now, having been exposed to what the world is really like, he's determined to save as many people as he can - his own happiness aside. But Dawn's not accepting defeat just yet...
Authors note: Written for jossverse_bb. The absolutely incredible chosenfire28 did the art and I have to say that I was extremely slack with this one. Krystal had nothing really to work with and still got something done *HUGS* Go check out her master post! *squishes* for my beta homentheatre who puts up with my OCD and betas things for me at the last minute :P
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“Oh come on Dawn,” Buffy said as she switched the little boy in her arms to the other hip. “You know I can’t stand blind dates! The guys are always so weird…”
Dawn popped her head up from behind the row of clothes and rolled her eyes.
“They’re not weird.” At Buffy’s raised eyebrows she shrugged. “Okay, not all of them are weird.” Her head disappeared and she reappeared at the end of the row holding two shirts. “Which one?”
Buffy wrinkled her nose at the multi-coloured one and pointed to the blue.
“Please,” her sister pleaded, “Please don’t make me go on this blind date. He’s gonna be a jerk, I can tell.”
“He’s not a jerk,” she called from the change room, “I checked him out myself. And you can’t tell ‘cause you haven’t even met him. Besides, your dating history has been less than stellar so I wouldn’t let you pick anyway.”
Buffy sighed loudly and angrily. “I hate blind dates!”
Dawn opened the door and was about to retaliate when a man walked around the corner and grinned at her. He was tall with short hair and small brown eyes. He obviously worked out and had chosen clothing that showed off his muscles. If it wasn’t for the arrogant smirk on his face, he might have been good looking.
“I totally agree with you. Blind dates can suck.”
A taller, skinnier man followed quickly and subtly rolled his eyes. Dawn grinned at her sister’s surprise, thinking that this might actually be interesting. Obviously his friend had a habit of picking up women and if that was the case, he was going to be in for the shock of his life. Buffy looked peeved and Dawn doubted that any man would’ve had the courage to approach her given that she was a) angry and b) holding a kid. Buffy eyed him warily and he leaned forward and poked Callum softly in the tummy.
“Hey little man, what’s your name?”
Callum watched him before he burst into giggles and the guy looked up and grinned at Buffy. Dawn noticed that his friend looked surprised and Buffy raised an eyebrow at Dawn. She just shrugged.
“So, what’s your name?”
She watched as Buffy fought to stop her eyes rolling at the lame pick up line. “Not interested.”
“‘Not interested’? Hmmm, is that European?”
Buffy turned back to the man with nothing more than a withering look and watched as his mouth opened and shut quietly. Dawn heard a small snicker from his friend. The guy was crashing and burning and didn’t seem to want to give up. She wasn’t at all surprised - most men had tried hitting on her sister thinking that she looked like a cheerleader and an airhead but were surprised when they found out she had a pretty good faker meter. Usually they gave up but this guy seemed reluctant.
Nonplussed, the guy turned to Callum. “Wow, your Mum’s a hard nut to crack,” he said with just the smallest emphasis on ‘nut’.
Dawn bit her lip to keep from laughing as a tall brunette came walking up to them from the aisles. She couldn’t have planned it better herself if she’d tried.
“Callum!” Kelly said as she held out her hands. “Were you a good boy for Mummy?” She turned her attention to Buffy as Callum leapt into her arms. “Was he good?
Buffy turned to the other Slayer. “Better than some,” she said pointedly.
Kelly looked at the man standing next to Buffy and grinned. “Aww, come on Buffy, he can’t help it that you’re so hot. Comes with the calling.”
Buffy glared as Kelly cheekily grinned from ear to ear and walked off offering a small wave over her shoulder. Buffy turned back reluctantly to the guy and he smiled.
“So, Buffy -”
Buffy held up her hand and out of the corner of her eye, Dawn saw a shadow move across the window at the back of the store. They’d originally come in to track down a demon posing as the manager that was eating his staff and Dawn had gotten sidetracked when Kelly had shown up. The shadow definitely did not look human and she noticed that it disappeared from the window into the alley behind the store.
“Don’t even -” Buffy began.
“Ah, this has been great but we’ve got to go finish that thing,” Dawn said as her eyes darted quickly to the back of the store. Buffy’s frown fell and her eyes widened.
“Oh, that’s right, the thing.” Buffy turned back to the guy and shook his hand. “It’s been nice talking to you. We should do it again sometime,” she said distractedly. “Bye.”
Buffy and Dawn moved as quickly through the aisles as looked natural without running and Dawn threw a quick glance over her shoulder. The guy was still standing beside his friend with a stunned expression on his face and his friend was laughing softly at him. Buffy and Dawn rounded a corner and they were out of sight. Dawn pushed her way past a pile of tangled coat hangers as they exited through the rear door and into the alley behind the store.
The manager was holding up a teenage girl by the throat and slamming her into the wall. Obviously the girl had struggled with him because half of his face was ripped off showing his natural ugly green visage underneath.
“Hey,” Buffy yelled, causing the demon to stop and look at her. “Your clothing sucks and I want a refund!”
The demon glanced quickly at Dawn and then Buffy before it looked at the passed out girl in its hands. He threw the girl at her and lunged at Buffy. She pushed the girl off of her and checked her pulse. At least she was alive. The dusk had made things a little harder to see but Dawn knew that Buffy could see perfectly fine. She grabbed the girl underneath the arms and hauled her toward the back door. She needed to get her somewhere safe and get back to Buffy. The door opened and Dawn looked up in surprise as both the guy from the store and his friend exited, stunned expressions falling on both of their faces at the scene before them.
“Dawn!” Buffy said as she slammed her fist into the demon’s face and followed up with a backhand, “A stake would be nice!”
She dropped the girl at their feet. “Get her out of here,” she yelled as she ran back down the alley. Dawn pulled a duffle bag out from behind the dumpster and noticed that the guys were still standing in the alley, though the skinnier one had picked up the girl.
“Get out of here now!” she yelled again.
Dawn didn’t want civilians to get killed ‘cause they couldn’t move their butts out of there. If they did manage to keep themselves alive, they could get Buffy killed and either way, it was not a scenario she was happy with. She pulled Buffy’s scythe out of the bag and turned to her sister.
She cringed when she saw Buffy get punched in the face, the force of the blow knocking her back into the brick wall. Dawn pulled out a sword for herself and headed toward her sister. Buffy pushed the demon back with force and he stumbled before looking back at her growling. Dawn threw the scythe through the air and a small amount of light reflected off of its shiny red blade casting a light on the wall behind them. The demon snarled at her and she raised her sword in its direction. It was enough of a distraction that it didn’t even see the scythe aimed at its neck. The head hit the ground and rolled toward the dumpster as the body crumbled in a heap.
Buffy let out a deep breath and glanced behind Dawn. She rolled her eyes and groaned as Dawn turned and saw both men watching them curiously. She dropped her sword on the ground and helped Buffy pick up the demon’s body and hurl it into the dumpster. Buffy picked up the weapons and Dawn picked up the head. She casually threw the head in the dumpster and closed the lid before walking over to where Buffy was zipping up the large duffle bag
“I thought you told them to get out of here,” Buffy said with a low voice.
“I did. Maybe they’re just freaked. It happens, Buffy.” She looked up at the two men who were exchanging looks with one another. “Maybe you should get a stake out just in case.”
Buffy nodded and pulled out a stake. She hauled the bag over her shoulder and walked toward them.
“Trick of the light, all just a dream, imagination in overdrive - take your pick really,” Buffy said over her shoulder as she walked past them. Dawn smiled grimly and took the girl from the skinnier guy. She was still passed out and Dawn decided that it would be best to get her to a hospital to get the large red welt on her temple looked at. She wrapped the girl’s arm around her shoulders and hauled her up, momentarily overbalancing before catching herself. A moment later, Dawn saw her car back up at the end of the alley and Buffy opening the back doors. She handed the girl over to Buffy who picked her up as if she weighed nothing and looked back down the alley. The two guys looked freaked out and she sighed.
“Buffy, I’m gonna go see if I can spin them something better than ‘trick of the light’. How ‘bout you take her in and I’ll meet you back at the school in twenty?”
Buffy craned her neck around her. “You sure?”
“Yeah, they don’t seem particularly bright so it shouldn’t take too long.”
Buffy gave her a slight nod of the head and Dawn sighed. She minutely pulled back the side of her jacket so that Buffy could see the stake tucked safely in her belt. Buffy looked back at the girl lying unconscious in the back seat before sighing.
“I suppose. But if you’re more than half an hour I’m coming back to track you down. And we all know how embarrassing that can be.”
She rolled her eyes at Buffy. About a year ago, she’d been patrolling with Buffy and had stayed behind to run an effective cover story but had gotten sidetracked with a cute guy who turned up late to the scene. She hadn’t realised they’d been talking for nearly an hour until she saw Buffy running toward her completely irate. They’d only walked a short distance from the park but when she hadn’t come back when she said she would, Buffy had gone back only to find her gone. She’d completely freaked and when she did track Dawn down, the next several minutes were so incredibly embarrassing that she wasn’t at all surprised that the cute guy never called her.
“I’ll be back in twenty.”
Buffy nodded and turned around to hop into the car as Dawn headed back down the alley. The two guys were watching them carefully and she took a deep breath. It was always harder convincing people in Cleveland that things didn’t happen - they didn’t seem to want to cover things up as easily as Sunnydale did but they didn’t honestly want to know either. It was a fine line to tread.
“What was that?” the skinnier man asked as she approached them.
“Ah, she was a friend. Guess she’s had a little too much to drink, know what I mean?”
The other guy pointed behind her and she turned in time to see her little green car disappear from view. “Was that your sister?”
“Yeah...”
The guy grinned. “And her name’s Buffy right?”
Dawn almost laughed out loud. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice guy and everything but she really isn’t interested...”
When he turned back to her she had the oddest feeling, as though something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t be sure what it was. A small frown formed and she only had a moment to notice the skinny guy vamp out before he leapt at her.
Instinctively she flung herself backward and fell into a roll, getting back to her feet only to be lifted from the ground by her throat. Her hand had already reached for the stake and she pushed it into his shoulder. He dropped her but the other guy had already vamped out and locked his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side. She kicked out but he held tighter and the skinny guy pulled the stake from his shoulder. He winced before throwing the bloodied weapon to the side and walking over to them. He grinned once and she saw his fist moving toward her face before the whole world disappeared into an inky blackness.
She groaned as the world swam back into view with a myriad of painful spots making themselves known. Her butt had hit the ground hard and there was pain shooting up her spine and although she couldn’t see it, she knew that there was gonna be a bruise along her cheekbone if there wasn’t one there already.
She gingerly reached up and touched the egg on her temple and pulled away quickly when she felt the sticky blood there. She sighed. Buffy was so gonna kill her. It wasn’t even her fault but she knew that somehow she would be blamed. It wasn’t really a matter of if Buffy found her but when.
Dawn looked around at the dark room she was in. The windows were completely boarded up and the door locked from the outside. The room she was in had a small, dusty bed which she was laying on and a metal chair. Otherwise it was pretty empty and she wondered what exactly she had been captured for. Sometimes they thought they could get to Buffy through her and sometimes they wanted to see if she was still a powerful Key. Either way, they were nearly always dead by the end of the next day. The longest she could ever remember waiting for Buffy had been just shy of a week and she’d hated every minute of it. She didn’t always get kidnapped but it was often enough that she had the routine down pat.
There was a yell from somewhere behind the door but far enough away that she couldn’t make out anything else. She looked back at the window trying to discern the time - she wasn’t sure what the time was but she didn’t think she’d been out for that long. Not long enough for Buffy to have found her yet. There was a small rumble and she could hear the sounds of doors being opened along the corridor outside. When the door in front of her swung open, a tall man stepped into the room and cautiously looked around. He took in her dishevelled appearance, the blood on the side of her head and her wide eyes and crouched down in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded and watched him cautiously. It could have all been a trap and this was the first time in a long while that anyone but Buffy had saved her.
“Who are you?”
“Thurman,” he said as he helped her to her feet, “call me Thurman. Let’s just get you out of here alright? We can talk about what happened later.”
She allowed him to lead her to the door and as he led the way through the unfamiliar house, she looked around for her captors. There weren’t any. The rest of the house was as dusty and dark as her room had been and when they stepped out onto the front lawn, or what should have been the front lawn, she was greeted by the night.
“How did you end up in there?”
She turned toward him. There was a gruffness to his persona, as though he was hardened by the life, but she could see how kind his eyes were and underneath the rough tone was a softness that surprised her. She didn’t quite know what to make of him.
“Kidnapped.”
“It’s dangerous at night. You should try and get home before nightfall and lock your doors.”
“I know it’s dangerous!” she said, ire rising within her at the suggestion that she was helpless. “I can handle myself. I’d say it was a once off but it tends to happen a lot.”
The man took a step back from her and his posture turned stiff. His hand rested on something at the small of his back and Dawn gulped. It could’ve been a stake or a gun and whatever it was could probably hurt her. She held her hands in front of her.
“I’m not evil! Just have a sister who’s a Slayer and tend to be bait more often than not.”
“A Slayer, huh?”
The question was short and sweet but it was obvious he didn’t believe her. His hand relaxed at the small of his back though and Dawn let out a short breath of relief. She couldn’t help but think that he was a Hunter, like Sid had been. Sid had known all about Slayers but he’d believed in them. A voice sounded behind her and Dawn whipped around quickly.
“Yeah, a Slayer. Get your hands where I can see them.”
Buffy stood a short distance behind her with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She took a couple of steps forward and the light from the sky that had been obscured by the overhead trees fell on her.
“Buffy?”
Dawn was pretty sure she was just as surprised as her sister when the Hunter uttered her name and she looked at him in confusion. Buffy approached cautiously and turned her body so that she was between Dawn and the Hunter.
“And you are?”
Now that she looked at him, she could see that he was roughly the same age as her sister but the scar on his right temple and an overall weariness made him appear older. She looked down at the dark clothing, the dark brown leather jacket and black boots, and wondered when Buffy had stumbled across him. Her sister didn’t have a whole lot to do with Hunters and had only met a few; and she was pretty sure that she would have heard about this guy. He was good looking and not a middle aged man or dummy so the only thing she could think was that maybe he was looking for her. And that meant apocalypse. She was contemplating whether or not that had been the reason for her kidnapping when she picked up on the conversation in front of her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, well, I either picked up a weapon and joined in the fight or sat at home and read while people died. No contest really.”
“Wow. I was wondering what happened. I heard that you’d joined a gang or something.”
He smiled slightly and Dawn felt sad. It was as if he’d lost the ability to laugh and all he had left was a short smile. It happened, especially when you were surrounded by death every day, but it was always sad. He pointed to the house beside them.
“Nest is gone. Only one survivor.”
In front of her, Buffy nodded slowly and she watched as he gave a single nod and turned and walked in the opposite direction. Dawn huffed and nudged Buffy’s shoulder.
“Go after him!”
“Why?”
She tried desperately hard not to roll her eyes and decided that it was no wonder that Buffy was in a slump. She pushed her forward, ignoring the sharp pain that shot up her spine in protest.
“He’s a Hunter. Maybe he needs some help with research or slaying. Whatever. Look, you know each other, it might not be a bad idea to have another connection.”
“Connection?”
If Buffy knew what she was doing, she gave absolutely no hint of it. She seemed genuinely confused. Dawn just pushed her further along anxiously as he headed for the treeline at the back of the property.
“Go! You wouldn’t want any of us out there on our own!”
Buffy nodded and Dawn almost sighed with relief as she disappeared into the treeline after him. Dawn looked around for somewhere to sit and decided that Buffy hadn’t walked. She began walking in the direction Buffy had come from, hoping to see the car but regretting moving in the first place as her head continued to throb and her muscles ached.
She was used to it. There was rarely a fight that she walked away from injury free and although she tried to hide the pain from Buffy, some of the others would know what she was going through. For her last birthday Andrew had given her a five session pass to an all day spa; Buffy had later nudged her and tried to implicate that Andrew was crushing on her but she brushed it off. As someone else without superpowers, he knew the cost of the fight on people like them. The spa sounded like a better and better idea the longer she thought about it and she was contemplating whether or not to use one of the two remaining sessions when she spotted the her car on the corner of the lot.
She wanted to roll her eyes at the dent in the front bumper but truthfully Buffy had gotten much better at driving over the last few years. In Sunnydale she hadn’t really needed a car; everything had been within walking distance for a Slayer and it was easier to patrol on foot. But Cleveland was an entirely different story. Dawn’s little green bug was suddenly a necessity and Buffy had had to renew her license and get used to driving again.
She gave her bug a light pat before hopping into the passenger seat and letting the seat back. It wasn’t entirely comfortable but it was way better than standing. She closed her eyes and tried to think about her kidnapping. The nest was gone and there didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for it - no ransom demands that she knew about and they hadn’t wanted to bleed her. She opened her eyes and looked down at the scars on her forearms. They had been tough to explain when she’d gone to uni but luckily most people believed she tried to commit suicide and avoided asking.
She looked up as Buffy appeared in front of the car with a frown.
“I was looking everywhere for you! I thought you’d been kidnapped again!”
She rolled her eyes. “I just couldn’t stand any longer. Needed to take a seat. What did Thurman say?”
“Owen said that he ‘works alone’ and doesn’t ‘need any help’. Gave him the school’s card anyway. Happy now?”
She looked out of the window as Buffy put the car into reverse and backed slowly out.
“Do you think he’ll call?”
Buffy paused silently. “Do you have a crush on him or something?”
Dawn would have happily laughed out loud if she hadn’t been so very tired. Instead she settled for a droll tone. “Eww. Just thought it would be nice to branch out a little. We’re not the only ones fighting.”
“I know.”
And then they sat in silence for the rest of the trip back to the large prep school that housed the Slayers. It sat still against the dark backdrop of night with only a few lights shining from within. On the outside it looked like a private boarding school for girls. On the inside, excepting the more public rooms for parents at the front, it was a series of war rooms, each one helping the young Slayers to train or learn about the demons that lurked in the dark.
But despite the fake report cards and the ‘teaching staff’ of experienced Watchers, they were an army fighting a war. The only thing was that there were other soldiers out there fighting the same thing without any back up. She could only hope that one day Slayers and Hunters would work together to fight back the darkness and maybe, just maybe, they could win.
Of course, if she could find her sister a date between now and then, that would be a bonus.
She climbed out of the car slowly and shut her door. Buffy’s eyebrow rose but Dawn just tilted her head. “I’ve gotta get some stuff out of the boot. You head in and let Faith know about Thurman.”
Buffy nodded and turned around leaving Dawn to thank the heavens that she wasn’t going to watch her like a hawk. Dawn slowly made her way into the main building and slipped in quietly. She more or less slumped against the door to close it and smiled at Randy, one of the new young Watchers. He took in the dishevelled appearance and smiled in sympathy, offering her a shoulder to lean on.
“Thanks.”
“No worries. It sucks being a rag doll sometimes.”
She smiled at the change in his language. “Us Americans rubbing off on you, huh?”
He laughed as he practically lifted her up each step in the long staircase to the second floor. “Just you.”
Dawn looked at him in mock horror. “I don’t know whether or not to be offended by that!”
“I’m sure I could have found something much more offensive to say if that was my intention.”
They both laughed and Dawn reluctantly let go of him as he stopped at the door to her room. He turned the doorknob and she felt relief flood through at the sight of her room. She leant against the door frame and tried to decide what was more important - a long, hot bath or the comfort of her bed. It was the idea of getting dirt and blood on the sheets that eventually swayed her and when she turned to Randy to thank him, she saw nothing but an empty corridor.
It was ten in the morning by the time she woke the next morning and she shifted her protesting muscles to the edge of the bed. She gingerly dressed in track pants, a singlet and an over sized jumper before she walked out of her room and down the stairs. There were teenage girls moving quickly all around her and she said a brief ‘hello’ to a couple of them as she made her way to the kitchen.
There was a bustling of activity but because Cam, the designated cook, was there, it was mostly orderly. Cam looked up and smiled at her before dispensing the last of the morning tea and pulling a covered plate from the oven.
“Saved you some.”
Dawn’s stomach growled as she uncovered the scrambled eggs and toast. She gave the older woman a brief hug before heading into the dining room. The dining room looked more like a school cafeteria with several long tables in it and when she saw Randy wave her over, she smiled and made her way through the throng of Slayers and Watchers.
“How did you sleep?”
“Great! Better than being unconscious!”
He chuckled lightly and she dug into the food on her plate. When she chanced to look up after several mouthfuls she noticed Randy was watching her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Noticed you cleaned the wound.”
She reached up and touched the sore spot on her head. It wasn’t bleeding anymore but it still stung a little. She nodded and was about to fill him in on her missing time when she saw Buffy walking in with Faith. They were chatting quietly together and Dawn wondered if it had anything to do with the new Hunter on the scene. Both of them were frowning and Dawn turned to Randy.
“Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”
Randy nearly choked on the food in his mouth and she fought the urge to laugh as he looked up at her with watery eyes. He shook his head and she leant forward, making sure that no one else would overhear her.
“Wanna come out with me to a few bars?” He said nothing and she took a deep breath before glancing at Buffy from the corner of her eye. “I’m trying to find this guy- ”
“What?”
“He’s a Hunter. He took out the vamps that kidnapped me.”
“And you wanna... thank him?”
She looked back at him like he was crazy for the implication and noticed that he was cautiously watching her. “What? No! But he used to date Buffy and I think there could still be something there but he’s all ‘Hunter-y’ and mopey and Buffy’s... Buffy. If I don’t do something, they’re just gonna pass by each other with nothing more than a ‘hi’.”
“So, you want me to go barhopping with you the night after you were kidnapped and injured so that you can set up your sister with some guy she hasn’t seen in years?”
“Yes!” Dawn smiled at him and he sucked in a deep breath before rolling his eyes.
“Fine. But we’re gonna get in so much trouble for this.”
Dawn couldn’t keep the smile off of her face and polished off the rest of her breakfast as she tried to think of the best places to hit first. Randy left for his lessons and Dawn skipped hers and headed to her room. She used her laptop to locate all of the bars in the area and tried to narrow them down to the area around where she was kidnapped and where she was found. There was every chance he could go to one of the many underground or demon bars but she had a niggling feeling he liked the normalcy of the regular ones and she searched for the quieter ones.
It was almost four when she heard a knock on her door and Randy stuck his head around the door.
“Planned our last moments of freedom?”
She laughed. “We’re not gonna get in trouble! This will totally work and Buffy will thank us later. Anyway, I figure there’s half a dozen or so that might be good but I made a list of ten just in case they’re busts.”
She walked to the other side of her room and shrugged on her jacket before opening the bottom drawer and pulling out an assortment of weapons. The stake she put in her waistband and slid the short knife into her boot. She ran a brush quickly through her hair before tying it back in a loose bun and picked up her mobile from the night stand.
They made their way down the stairs and tried not to draw any attention to themselves as they watched Buffy walk quickly past the bottom to the back offices. No one paid them any attention as they slipped out the front door and Dawn almost ran toward her little car. She fell into the driver’s seat and pulled down the visor. The keys fell into her open hand and she secured her seat belt as Randy climbed into the passenger seat. He glanced worriedly at her but she smiled and started the engine, grinning as the car rumbled beneath her. She patted the dashboard before turning the car around and heading out of the big iron gates.
Randy walked in through the door ahead of her and she braced herself for the smell of the bar. He gave a quick look around the room before moving out of the doorway and looking back at her. A few of the patrons had looked up when they entered but most were just chatting or looking into their drinks. Despite the game of pool in one corner of the room and a football game on the television above the bar, the room was fairly subdued.
She scanned the men trying to pick out a familiar face but she couldn’t see any. Instead she sighed and plonked herself down on a bar stool. She ordered two colas and tried not to grin when Randy sat beside her giving her a frustrated look. He’d been of the opinion that she look inside and if he wasn’t there, they’d move onto the next place. But there was no way she was gonna miss him if she could help it and she didn’t wanna risk him turning up after they left.
It was their third bar of the night after they’d originally driven around and knocked off any bars on the list that were too busy. Dawn tried to hand the money to the man behind the bar but Randy’s hand shot out first and he gently pushed hers aside, giving the barman a nod. He got a nod back and Dawn sipped on the straw in her glass.
“He’s not here but he could be here soon.”
Randy leant toward her and lowered his voice. “How do you know he’s not at a demon bar?”
Dawn shook her head. “No way. Not him at all. I think he’s a little too damaged to see ‘grey’.”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It said ‘Buffy’ and when Randy saw it, he nudged her with his shoulder.
“You need to answer it or she’s gonna come looking for you. A text won’t be sufficient.”
“I can’t answer it in here! She should try calling whilst I’m driving!”
Randy rolled his eyes. “I’d rather get chewed out by your sister than die in a car accident tonight. Just saying...”
She ignored him and ignored the call, sending a second text instead. She assumed ‘I’m fine! Stop calling me!’ wouldn’t suffice but telling her sister what she was really doing would equal BIG trouble and she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Not until she found him. Her phone vibrated again almost instantly and she ignored it. She quickly finished her drink, ignoring the bubbles that caused her eyes to water slightly and nudged Randy.
“Come on, let’s go. If I wanna hit any more bars before Buffy tracks us down we probably shouldn’t stay in one place too long.”
He looked anxious and she wound her arm through his. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t know you’re here with me. I’ll get you outta dodge before she sees you.”
He looked at her sternly. “I’m not leaving you alone in a bar.”
“I never said that,” she said as she moved around to her side of the car. “But thanks.”
They hit two more bars before she started getting frustrated. As Randy opened the door to next bar, Dawn pulled on his arm.
“Wait. Maybe we should just give up. It’s getting late and Buffy’s probably furious.”
He gave her a soft smile and tugged on her arm, pulling her into the bar with him. “Forget about how angry she’s gonna be. You started this, may as well finish it. If you’re gonna get in trouble, you should get in trouble for something.”
“Advocating doing the wrong thing? That’s not like you.”
He laughed. “I’ve resigned to my fate. May as well make it worthwhile!”
She grinned as she looked around. There was a section that was partially cordoned off and she made her way across the room toward it. When she saw the face of one of the guys that had kidnapped her playing pool in the corner, she reached back and grabbed Randy’s hand. She tucked her head down and pulled him straight out the back exit. The door closed behind them and Dawn looked up at his questioning gaze.
“Back there. One of the vamps that took me. I thought they were all gone.”
He looked back at the closed door and began pushing her toward the end of the alley. “You think Thurman spared him on purpose?”
She shook her head quickly. “No, vamp probably wasn’t with them. He seemed genuine.”
They both stopped in their tracks as the vampire stepped into the alley ahead of them. The door to the bar opened behind them and they watched as three vampire stepped out, crossing their arms as they barred the only other escape route.
“I’m really sorry I dragged you into this.”
Randy seemed to ignore her as he pulled a stake from his jacket and watched both ends of the alley. The three near the exit moved first and Randy sprang into action, leaping into the fray and dusting one with a lucky hit. Dawn had enough time to see him get slammed into the wall for his troubles as the remaining vampire grabbed her from behind.
She used the momentum to swing out of his grasp like Buffy had taught her and she pulled her stake out as she turned to face him. He growled at her.
“How did you get away?”
She ignored him as she pretended to lunge for his right and when he held her at arms length, she stamped her heel down hard on his foot, pushing herself away from him as he growled in pain. He lunged toward her and she held her stake up between them. It served as the warning it was intended to be and he snarled before backhanding her into the wall. Her vision swam around her and she tried to blink away the imposing darkness as her head throbbed painfully.
She heard Randy call out her name but it sounded distant - too distant for her to really worry about. The pain closed in around her and when she looked up she saw Randy fighting off the last of the three and the vampire in front of her leaning forward, his teeth bared. Before she could brace herself for the stabbing pain, the vampire turned to dust in front of her. She was left facing a very tired Randy looking at a very angry Thurman.
“Do you purposefully try and get yourself killed or is this a special talent you’ve been working on?”
She smiled painfully. “We’ve been looking for you... ”
She saw Randy turn to him in surprise before the whole world came crashing down in glorious darkness.
Dawn opened her eyes slowly and found herself on the backseat of her car. Randy was driving slowly and she presumed that they were on their way back to the school. The street lamps passed by and lit up the car in flashes. She groaned away the throbbing pain in the back of her head and she saw Randy hit the indicator. The car came to a standstill and he turned around.
“Oh, you had me worried! I thought we were going to have to call in some medical help. Not to mention what your sister would say... or do... ”
She gave a short laugh. “Yeah, she can be a little intense when it comes to me.”
Randy nodded and she looked into the passenger seat.
“Where’s Thurman?”
“We saw a vamp stalking a girl. He was here for a bit but he left to go sort that out... ”
He petered out and looked out of the back window nervously. She had a brief thought that something may have been wrong but dismissed it immediately. They were friends and if something had been wrong, he would have told her. She put it down to the general anxiety of the night and looked at the digital display on the dashboard.
“Wow, is that the time?”
Randy looked forward. “Yeah, guess it is. We should get you back before your sister has a heart attack.”
He put the car into gear and it moved forward. She tried not to let the rolling motion of the car put her to sleep but her eyes were really heavy as she heard the familiar sound of her tyres on the driveway to the school. Randy parked the car and opened the back door, wrapping his arms gently around her as he helped her to her feet.
“Uh, if you don’t mind, could you help me upstairs as quickly as possible?”
Randy looked back at the building before nodding with a wry grin. With an arm around her waist supporting most of her weight, Randy helped her up the front steps and they made a dash for the staircase. They were only a few steps from the top when a Watcher started down them but fortunately they were only given a cursory smile and a small look of concern. By the time they reached her room she was mostly leaning on him and he opened the door and helped her lay down on her bed.
While he went into her small ensuite to get her first aid kit, Dawn looked up at her ceiling. When she’d first moved into the room she’d started unpacking one of the few boxes she had from uni. At the bottom she’d found a packet of glow in the dark stars that her old roommate had given her as a graduation present. It even still had the post-it note attached that said ‘reach for the stars’. Her room seemed as good a place as any to put them up and especially given what she was doing in her life. The small amount of light made her feel at peace.
Randy walked back into the room and she sat up slightly on the bed. He sat down beside her and opened it up, taking out some gauze to wipe the blood from her face. She closed her eyes at the sting and he muttered an apology underneath his breath. He brushed some hair away from the cut on her forehead and a small jolt shot through her. She had no idea what it was but when she opened her eyes, Randy was concentrating on a small spot in her hairline.
“There.”
She smiled her thanks and was about to thank him once again when there was a knock on her door and Buffy poked her head around the corner. Buffy merely gave Randy a look but it was enough to have him mumbling for her to feel better before he quickly left the room, closing the door behind him. Buffy took a deep breath before sitting at her feet.
“I am furious... ”
Dawn dropped her head. “I know.”
“And scared.” She looked up and Buffy closed her eyes. “I, I know you’re not a kid anymore. I know that, I do! But you are my sister. You’re all I have left and I’m gonna keep worrying about you whether you’re eight or eighty. I can’t help it, I’m sorry.”
“I know, Buffy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s frustrating. Incredibly frustrating, especially after a fight when you’re, like, hyper crazy. I hate that I have to check in with you so often. But, I also know that if something happens to me, you’re gonna know about it. I know that you’ll come and find me.”
Buffy gripped her shoulders and pulled her forward, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tightly. Dawn laid her head on Buffy’s shoulders and let her sister hug her for a little while.
It was early the next morning when she opened the door to her room and saw Randy standing in front of her with his fist raised, poised to knock. She grinned before wrapping her arms around him.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing. I couldn’t have you bleeding all over the place - Buffy would kill me.”
Dawn laughed and bumped his shoulder with her own. “I meant for going with me last night. Any one else would have ditched me after the first couple but you didn’t. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“There was no way I was leaving you in a bar on your own.”
She laughed and pushed him into the corridor, leading him down the stairs to the kitchen. Despite the early hour, there was still a bustle of activity and Dawn stood back as the Slayers around her grabbed plates of food. From the dining room she heard Buffy’s voice and she rounded the corner to find her sitting at a table talking with Faith.
“Yo, he’s prob’ly lying, B.”
“I don’t think so... ”
Faith grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “He’s hot, ain’t he?”
“It’s not about whether or not he’s hot. I just don’t think he’s purposefully letting vamps off - there has to be something else going on here.”
Dawn moved to sit down and Faith nodded at her. “This Owen guy hot?”
She laughed. “He’s definitely her type.”
“I don’t have a type!”
Faith ignored her. “Do you trust him?”
She felt compelled to say ‘yes’ straight away. After all, she trusted him enough that she tried to track him down to see if she could set him up with her sister. But that had been before she’d been attacked by the very vampires he’d said he’d taken care of. It could have been an innocent mistake or the vampire could have left the house before he’d had gotten there. But there could be something more sinister going on and given their lives, it wasn’t something she could rule out.
“Yeah, I think so. To be honest he just seems like another Hunter.”
“Like we’ve known so many... ”
Randy approached the table with two plates and Faith hit Buffy with a grin before Buffy glared pointedly at her and dragged her off. Dawn wanted to know what was going on with them but she wasn’t sure how she felt about Thurman yet so there wasn’t much else she could contribute to the conversation.
She tried to get Randy’s thoughts on Thurman but he didn’t seem very forthcoming and she didn’t want to push. Instead, they ate breakfast and talked about things that had nothing to do with the monsters in the night or the people that were responsible for them. Just before she headed off to a class she saw Buffy poke her head in and call her away.
“We’ve got a lead on a nest of vamps that were trying to resurrect some crusty demon and needed a Slayer. Probably just to deal with any nasties that happened to come along. Either way, it was the nest our new Hunter friend took out - or said he did - and Faith and I are going back for another sweep to see if any others ‘got away’.”
Dawn pushed open the adjoining door between Buffy and Faith’s offices and walked into Faith’s, seeing the dark haired Slayer sitting behind her desk with her feet up playing solitaire on the laptop.
“Do you really think he’s a bad guy?”
Faith smirked and shook her head as Buffy sighed.
“I hope not Dawnie, I really hope not.”
Faith sat up, closed down the game’s window and turned off the monitor. She interlaced her fingers and Dawn almost laughed at how ridiculously out of placed she looked in that pose.
“Listen, little sis, we need you to stay in tonight. Stay with ya boy and just forget about the vamps for one night, ‘kay?”
“My boy?”
Buffy frowned at Faith. “Look, it’s just that there’s a reason you’re being targeted and we need to make sure you’re alright. If this Hunter has some reason to want you, dead or alive, we need to know you’re safe while we’re figuring things out. Just... no more hijinks. Just for tonight.”
Dawn nodded slowly. “But if they want you, what does it matter if I’m out? You’re the one that’s gonna be on his tail. If he wants you, he can just try to take you.”
“What if he can’t? Takes you and big sis has to bail you out. Bam! He’s got both of ya!”
“Yeah, I guess.”
As Faith and Buffy talked over more tactics, and places that she would not be, Dawn tried to figure out exactly what the motive would be for Thurman if he had a Slayer. Surely he would know that no Slayer would blindly follow any orders he gave; he couldn’t control one. She couldn’t help but think about how kind his eyes were despite the obvious hardened attitude and a really, really early memory of her sister fawning over him in high school had placed the image of a bookish nerd in her head. She could still see it but had he changed so much since then to switch to the other side?
“What if he’s not?” she blurted out.
“Not what?”
“Who?”
Dawn put her elbows on her knees. “What if Thurman’s not the bad guy? What if this was all some coincidence?”
“You know what Giles says about coincidences.”
“Yeah, I know. But he’s a Hunter, right? He takes out the bad things that we don’t get around to and helps keep people safe. He needs connections just as much as we do and if we go around accusing him, we might walk away.”
Buffy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know. But it’s not worth the risk. We need to find out one way or the other and, truthfully, I’ll sleep a lot better knowing I shooed off a potential ally than knowing I put you or any of the others here at risk because I didn’t check it out.”
Dawn was headed up the stairs when she heard tyres crunching on gravel and a car pull up quickly. Buffy rushed in with Thurman leaning on her and Faith closed the door behind them. She looked up at the stairs and saw her.
“So, he’s not evil. Check one for cute boy. Buffy’s taken him to get patched up. Can see what she sees in him though. Tame with an edge.”
She chuckled and Dawn made her way down the stairs, intent on following after her sister but Faith held her back.
“Nah, just leave ‘em. I’m sure they’ve got plenty to talk about.”
She winked and headed up the stairs mumbling something about her leather jacket. Despite her warning, Dawn waited until she was out of eye sight before heading off to the back building where the mini medical centre was. Slayers often came back injured and despite accelerated healing, they sometimes needed to be patched up. There’d even been a nasty incident a few months back involving a vomiting virus and initially the Slayers had been isolated to the medical wing. The green demon blood turned out not to be the cause but the wing had seen an upgrade since then.
When she entered the corridor leading to the main rooms, she walked carefully and tried to listen for conversation. If there was something going on between them she did NOT want to disrupt that. No amount of therapy would fix that. But hearing nothing, she ventured forward and poked her head around the corner.
In almost an instant, Owen’s eyes found hers and she smiled sheepishly as Buffy wound a bandage around his forearm. Lisa, the Watcher/nurse was getting out extra supplies and cleaning away the blood soaked ones. She discarded the last of the used gauze and noticed Dawn in the corner. A nod of her head caused Buffy to swivel around and when she noticed her, she rolled her eyes.
“Lis, can you show Owen to the guest rooms please?”
The woman nodded and Dawn walked past them into the room. Buffy pulled herself up onto the long table. Dawn sat next to her and waited patiently for her to talk. Buffy pushed some hair behind her ear and smiled at her.
“Looks like you were right. About the accusing thing too... didn’t really like that.”
“I wonder why... ”
“But he’s here now so that’s a step in the right direction. And there’s still some of the guy that I used to crush on way back when.”
“When everything was simpler?”
“Yes and no. Things with him are certainly simpler now that I don’t have to lie.”
“So you can date him?”
Buffy raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking of starting off as friends...”
Dawn rolled her eyes and wondered if she had to do everything for her sister. Buffy might have to save the world but saving the person who saves the world seemed like a much harder task. She nudged her with her shoulder.
“You’ve done friends before.”
“No, we’ve done ‘date’ before. One date. And he was nearly killed!”
“See? ‘Nearly’. But now he’s back in your life and doing what you do; how much more perfect do you want to be?”
“Dawn... ”
“Look, I know Hunters come with baggage. There’s almost always a death and they can be full of hate and bitterness- ”
“This is supposed to be helping?”
“But! They also come with skills to back up their job. You don’t have to worry about them like you would a civilian. And you don’t need to have that awkward conversation about explaining that not only are there demons in the night but your job is to take them out. I think this can be really good for you Buffy.”
Buffy wrapped her arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “Look, I know you’ve been trying to set me up with every man and his dog for the last few months but I’m doing okay. Really. I’m okay on my own.”
“You might be okay but you’re not happy. And you deserve to be.”
“Dawn, even if, and I’m not saying there is, but if I was interested, it takes two and it’s been a long time. Things have changed - we’ve changed. It wouldn’t be like it was before.”
“Who would want what you had before? That crashed and burned! But he’s like a different guy and this time, you know you’re his type. You still need to learn all about each other again but you know what you’re both like fundamentally so it’s not a loss. Come on Buffy, one shot?”
Buffy hopped down from the table and waited for her to do the same before linking their arms together and walking back toward the main house.
“Let’s see how things go, okay? And anyway, you should be worrying about your own love life instead of meddling with mine.”
“I don’t have a love life.”
“Well, you should probably mention that to Randy because if any of us have to watch that kid trying to get your attention much longer we’re probably gonna have to do something drastic - like tying the two of you together.”
Not only did her mind blank but her feet stopped moving and her mouth dropped open.
“Randy?”
Buffy grinned at her and pressed a small kiss to her temple before walking off leaving Dawn standing there with a million things racing through her mind at once. All of them revolved around Randy and the fact that she considered him her friend, probably her best friend there, but hadn’t ever thought of him as anything more. Or thought that he felt that way.
Not that she couldn’t feel that way about him, she’d never really put any thought into it, but she’d been so focused on Buffy and her happiness that she hadn’t even stopped to consider her own. She always had assumed she had years left and plenty of time to worry about it but Buffy might not and until then, she wanted her sister happy.
Thinking about Randy was a whole kettle of fish and brought back a stack of thoughts about the way he talked and acted around her. She began seeing things in a different light and wondered if everyone had noticed it and if she was just the last one.
When she got into the main hall, Randy was walking out of the dining room and heading for the library. She ran to catch up with him and when he greeted her, she saw something that she hadn’t seen before - a genuine interest. She wondered how long he had felt that way about her and subsequently felt sick to her stomach feeling sorry for him being on the end of those unreturned feelings.
Without leaving herself any more time to dwell on his feelings or how long he’d had them for, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, surprised when she felt the familiar jolt she’d been feeling recently. He stilled, completely off guard, and looked around the empty room as if he expected someone to jump out with a video camera or start laughing. When nothing happened, he looked back at her surprised. She smiled.
“I guess we’ve got a couple of things to talk about, huh?”
A smile slowly broke out over his face and he kissed her back softly, his fingers winding in her hair as he held her face close. She wrapped her arms around him and thought that if only Buffy could be as happy as she was in that very moment, she wouldn’t have to worry about her again.
When he grabbed her hand and led her out of the library and up the large staircase, she spotted Buffy talking to Owen outside of the guest rooms. It didn’t look like a particularly thrilling conversation but Buffy had a small smile on her face and that was enough. She smiled at her sister and Buffy grinned when she saw their hands intertwined as Randy led her upstairs. Buffy winked at her and her sister disappeared from view. Without any direction they both walked the corridor to Dawn’s room and Randy entered and Dawn followed. As she closed the door behind them, she smiled.
Rating: M15+
Characters and/or pairings: Dawn Summers, Buffy Summers, Owen/Buffy, Owen Thurman
Warnings: Violence, adult situations
Disclaimer
Spoilers: Set post-'Chosen' and Owen Thurman is featured in 1x05 - Never Kill A Boy On The First Date
Summary: Now that the Sunnydale Hellmouth has been closed, Buffy has created a new world and it's gonna take time to learn the new ropes. But in amidst the changes is still a very lonely heart that has trouble finding peace. Dawn tries her best to help her sister find happiness but it's not until she gets kidnapped and rescued by a rough Hunter that things start looking up. The only problem is that the new guy on the scene is someone Buffy once new and he's changed a lot since high school. Now, having been exposed to what the world is really like, he's determined to save as many people as he can - his own happiness aside. But Dawn's not accepting defeat just yet...
Authors note: Written for jossverse_bb. The absolutely incredible chosenfire28 did the art and I have to say that I was extremely slack with this one. Krystal had nothing really to work with and still got something done *HUGS* Go check out her master post! *squishes* for my beta homentheatre who puts up with my OCD and betas things for me at the last minute :P
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“Oh come on Dawn,” Buffy said as she switched the little boy in her arms to the other hip. “You know I can’t stand blind dates! The guys are always so weird…”
Dawn popped her head up from behind the row of clothes and rolled her eyes.
“They’re not weird.” At Buffy’s raised eyebrows she shrugged. “Okay, not all of them are weird.” Her head disappeared and she reappeared at the end of the row holding two shirts. “Which one?”
Buffy wrinkled her nose at the multi-coloured one and pointed to the blue.
“Please,” her sister pleaded, “Please don’t make me go on this blind date. He’s gonna be a jerk, I can tell.”
“He’s not a jerk,” she called from the change room, “I checked him out myself. And you can’t tell ‘cause you haven’t even met him. Besides, your dating history has been less than stellar so I wouldn’t let you pick anyway.”
Buffy sighed loudly and angrily. “I hate blind dates!”
Dawn opened the door and was about to retaliate when a man walked around the corner and grinned at her. He was tall with short hair and small brown eyes. He obviously worked out and had chosen clothing that showed off his muscles. If it wasn’t for the arrogant smirk on his face, he might have been good looking.
“I totally agree with you. Blind dates can suck.”
A taller, skinnier man followed quickly and subtly rolled his eyes. Dawn grinned at her sister’s surprise, thinking that this might actually be interesting. Obviously his friend had a habit of picking up women and if that was the case, he was going to be in for the shock of his life. Buffy looked peeved and Dawn doubted that any man would’ve had the courage to approach her given that she was a) angry and b) holding a kid. Buffy eyed him warily and he leaned forward and poked Callum softly in the tummy.
“Hey little man, what’s your name?”
Callum watched him before he burst into giggles and the guy looked up and grinned at Buffy. Dawn noticed that his friend looked surprised and Buffy raised an eyebrow at Dawn. She just shrugged.
“So, what’s your name?”
She watched as Buffy fought to stop her eyes rolling at the lame pick up line. “Not interested.”
“‘Not interested’? Hmmm, is that European?”
Buffy turned back to the man with nothing more than a withering look and watched as his mouth opened and shut quietly. Dawn heard a small snicker from his friend. The guy was crashing and burning and didn’t seem to want to give up. She wasn’t at all surprised - most men had tried hitting on her sister thinking that she looked like a cheerleader and an airhead but were surprised when they found out she had a pretty good faker meter. Usually they gave up but this guy seemed reluctant.
Nonplussed, the guy turned to Callum. “Wow, your Mum’s a hard nut to crack,” he said with just the smallest emphasis on ‘nut’.
Dawn bit her lip to keep from laughing as a tall brunette came walking up to them from the aisles. She couldn’t have planned it better herself if she’d tried.
“Callum!” Kelly said as she held out her hands. “Were you a good boy for Mummy?” She turned her attention to Buffy as Callum leapt into her arms. “Was he good?
Buffy turned to the other Slayer. “Better than some,” she said pointedly.
Kelly looked at the man standing next to Buffy and grinned. “Aww, come on Buffy, he can’t help it that you’re so hot. Comes with the calling.”
Buffy glared as Kelly cheekily grinned from ear to ear and walked off offering a small wave over her shoulder. Buffy turned back reluctantly to the guy and he smiled.
“So, Buffy -”
Buffy held up her hand and out of the corner of her eye, Dawn saw a shadow move across the window at the back of the store. They’d originally come in to track down a demon posing as the manager that was eating his staff and Dawn had gotten sidetracked when Kelly had shown up. The shadow definitely did not look human and she noticed that it disappeared from the window into the alley behind the store.
“Don’t even -” Buffy began.
“Ah, this has been great but we’ve got to go finish that thing,” Dawn said as her eyes darted quickly to the back of the store. Buffy’s frown fell and her eyes widened.
“Oh, that’s right, the thing.” Buffy turned back to the guy and shook his hand. “It’s been nice talking to you. We should do it again sometime,” she said distractedly. “Bye.”
Buffy and Dawn moved as quickly through the aisles as looked natural without running and Dawn threw a quick glance over her shoulder. The guy was still standing beside his friend with a stunned expression on his face and his friend was laughing softly at him. Buffy and Dawn rounded a corner and they were out of sight. Dawn pushed her way past a pile of tangled coat hangers as they exited through the rear door and into the alley behind the store.
The manager was holding up a teenage girl by the throat and slamming her into the wall. Obviously the girl had struggled with him because half of his face was ripped off showing his natural ugly green visage underneath.
“Hey,” Buffy yelled, causing the demon to stop and look at her. “Your clothing sucks and I want a refund!”
The demon glanced quickly at Dawn and then Buffy before it looked at the passed out girl in its hands. He threw the girl at her and lunged at Buffy. She pushed the girl off of her and checked her pulse. At least she was alive. The dusk had made things a little harder to see but Dawn knew that Buffy could see perfectly fine. She grabbed the girl underneath the arms and hauled her toward the back door. She needed to get her somewhere safe and get back to Buffy. The door opened and Dawn looked up in surprise as both the guy from the store and his friend exited, stunned expressions falling on both of their faces at the scene before them.
“Dawn!” Buffy said as she slammed her fist into the demon’s face and followed up with a backhand, “A stake would be nice!”
She dropped the girl at their feet. “Get her out of here,” she yelled as she ran back down the alley. Dawn pulled a duffle bag out from behind the dumpster and noticed that the guys were still standing in the alley, though the skinnier one had picked up the girl.
“Get out of here now!” she yelled again.
Dawn didn’t want civilians to get killed ‘cause they couldn’t move their butts out of there. If they did manage to keep themselves alive, they could get Buffy killed and either way, it was not a scenario she was happy with. She pulled Buffy’s scythe out of the bag and turned to her sister.
She cringed when she saw Buffy get punched in the face, the force of the blow knocking her back into the brick wall. Dawn pulled out a sword for herself and headed toward her sister. Buffy pushed the demon back with force and he stumbled before looking back at her growling. Dawn threw the scythe through the air and a small amount of light reflected off of its shiny red blade casting a light on the wall behind them. The demon snarled at her and she raised her sword in its direction. It was enough of a distraction that it didn’t even see the scythe aimed at its neck. The head hit the ground and rolled toward the dumpster as the body crumbled in a heap.
Buffy let out a deep breath and glanced behind Dawn. She rolled her eyes and groaned as Dawn turned and saw both men watching them curiously. She dropped her sword on the ground and helped Buffy pick up the demon’s body and hurl it into the dumpster. Buffy picked up the weapons and Dawn picked up the head. She casually threw the head in the dumpster and closed the lid before walking over to where Buffy was zipping up the large duffle bag
“I thought you told them to get out of here,” Buffy said with a low voice.
“I did. Maybe they’re just freaked. It happens, Buffy.” She looked up at the two men who were exchanging looks with one another. “Maybe you should get a stake out just in case.”
Buffy nodded and pulled out a stake. She hauled the bag over her shoulder and walked toward them.
“Trick of the light, all just a dream, imagination in overdrive - take your pick really,” Buffy said over her shoulder as she walked past them. Dawn smiled grimly and took the girl from the skinnier guy. She was still passed out and Dawn decided that it would be best to get her to a hospital to get the large red welt on her temple looked at. She wrapped the girl’s arm around her shoulders and hauled her up, momentarily overbalancing before catching herself. A moment later, Dawn saw her car back up at the end of the alley and Buffy opening the back doors. She handed the girl over to Buffy who picked her up as if she weighed nothing and looked back down the alley. The two guys looked freaked out and she sighed.
“Buffy, I’m gonna go see if I can spin them something better than ‘trick of the light’. How ‘bout you take her in and I’ll meet you back at the school in twenty?”
Buffy craned her neck around her. “You sure?”
“Yeah, they don’t seem particularly bright so it shouldn’t take too long.”
Buffy gave her a slight nod of the head and Dawn sighed. She minutely pulled back the side of her jacket so that Buffy could see the stake tucked safely in her belt. Buffy looked back at the girl lying unconscious in the back seat before sighing.
“I suppose. But if you’re more than half an hour I’m coming back to track you down. And we all know how embarrassing that can be.”
She rolled her eyes at Buffy. About a year ago, she’d been patrolling with Buffy and had stayed behind to run an effective cover story but had gotten sidetracked with a cute guy who turned up late to the scene. She hadn’t realised they’d been talking for nearly an hour until she saw Buffy running toward her completely irate. They’d only walked a short distance from the park but when she hadn’t come back when she said she would, Buffy had gone back only to find her gone. She’d completely freaked and when she did track Dawn down, the next several minutes were so incredibly embarrassing that she wasn’t at all surprised that the cute guy never called her.
“I’ll be back in twenty.”
Buffy nodded and turned around to hop into the car as Dawn headed back down the alley. The two guys were watching them carefully and she took a deep breath. It was always harder convincing people in Cleveland that things didn’t happen - they didn’t seem to want to cover things up as easily as Sunnydale did but they didn’t honestly want to know either. It was a fine line to tread.
“What was that?” the skinnier man asked as she approached them.
“Ah, she was a friend. Guess she’s had a little too much to drink, know what I mean?”
The other guy pointed behind her and she turned in time to see her little green car disappear from view. “Was that your sister?”
“Yeah...”
The guy grinned. “And her name’s Buffy right?”
Dawn almost laughed out loud. “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice guy and everything but she really isn’t interested...”
When he turned back to her she had the oddest feeling, as though something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t be sure what it was. A small frown formed and she only had a moment to notice the skinny guy vamp out before he leapt at her.
Instinctively she flung herself backward and fell into a roll, getting back to her feet only to be lifted from the ground by her throat. Her hand had already reached for the stake and she pushed it into his shoulder. He dropped her but the other guy had already vamped out and locked his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side. She kicked out but he held tighter and the skinny guy pulled the stake from his shoulder. He winced before throwing the bloodied weapon to the side and walking over to them. He grinned once and she saw his fist moving toward her face before the whole world disappeared into an inky blackness.
She groaned as the world swam back into view with a myriad of painful spots making themselves known. Her butt had hit the ground hard and there was pain shooting up her spine and although she couldn’t see it, she knew that there was gonna be a bruise along her cheekbone if there wasn’t one there already.
She gingerly reached up and touched the egg on her temple and pulled away quickly when she felt the sticky blood there. She sighed. Buffy was so gonna kill her. It wasn’t even her fault but she knew that somehow she would be blamed. It wasn’t really a matter of if Buffy found her but when.
Dawn looked around at the dark room she was in. The windows were completely boarded up and the door locked from the outside. The room she was in had a small, dusty bed which she was laying on and a metal chair. Otherwise it was pretty empty and she wondered what exactly she had been captured for. Sometimes they thought they could get to Buffy through her and sometimes they wanted to see if she was still a powerful Key. Either way, they were nearly always dead by the end of the next day. The longest she could ever remember waiting for Buffy had been just shy of a week and she’d hated every minute of it. She didn’t always get kidnapped but it was often enough that she had the routine down pat.
There was a yell from somewhere behind the door but far enough away that she couldn’t make out anything else. She looked back at the window trying to discern the time - she wasn’t sure what the time was but she didn’t think she’d been out for that long. Not long enough for Buffy to have found her yet. There was a small rumble and she could hear the sounds of doors being opened along the corridor outside. When the door in front of her swung open, a tall man stepped into the room and cautiously looked around. He took in her dishevelled appearance, the blood on the side of her head and her wide eyes and crouched down in front of her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded and watched him cautiously. It could have all been a trap and this was the first time in a long while that anyone but Buffy had saved her.
“Who are you?”
“Thurman,” he said as he helped her to her feet, “call me Thurman. Let’s just get you out of here alright? We can talk about what happened later.”
She allowed him to lead her to the door and as he led the way through the unfamiliar house, she looked around for her captors. There weren’t any. The rest of the house was as dusty and dark as her room had been and when they stepped out onto the front lawn, or what should have been the front lawn, she was greeted by the night.
“How did you end up in there?”
She turned toward him. There was a gruffness to his persona, as though he was hardened by the life, but she could see how kind his eyes were and underneath the rough tone was a softness that surprised her. She didn’t quite know what to make of him.
“Kidnapped.”
“It’s dangerous at night. You should try and get home before nightfall and lock your doors.”
“I know it’s dangerous!” she said, ire rising within her at the suggestion that she was helpless. “I can handle myself. I’d say it was a once off but it tends to happen a lot.”
The man took a step back from her and his posture turned stiff. His hand rested on something at the small of his back and Dawn gulped. It could’ve been a stake or a gun and whatever it was could probably hurt her. She held her hands in front of her.
“I’m not evil! Just have a sister who’s a Slayer and tend to be bait more often than not.”
“A Slayer, huh?”
The question was short and sweet but it was obvious he didn’t believe her. His hand relaxed at the small of his back though and Dawn let out a short breath of relief. She couldn’t help but think that he was a Hunter, like Sid had been. Sid had known all about Slayers but he’d believed in them. A voice sounded behind her and Dawn whipped around quickly.
“Yeah, a Slayer. Get your hands where I can see them.”
Buffy stood a short distance behind her with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She took a couple of steps forward and the light from the sky that had been obscured by the overhead trees fell on her.
“Buffy?”
Dawn was pretty sure she was just as surprised as her sister when the Hunter uttered her name and she looked at him in confusion. Buffy approached cautiously and turned her body so that she was between Dawn and the Hunter.
“And you are?”
Now that she looked at him, she could see that he was roughly the same age as her sister but the scar on his right temple and an overall weariness made him appear older. She looked down at the dark clothing, the dark brown leather jacket and black boots, and wondered when Buffy had stumbled across him. Her sister didn’t have a whole lot to do with Hunters and had only met a few; and she was pretty sure that she would have heard about this guy. He was good looking and not a middle aged man or dummy so the only thing she could think was that maybe he was looking for her. And that meant apocalypse. She was contemplating whether or not that had been the reason for her kidnapping when she picked up on the conversation in front of her.
“Really?”
“Yeah, well, I either picked up a weapon and joined in the fight or sat at home and read while people died. No contest really.”
“Wow. I was wondering what happened. I heard that you’d joined a gang or something.”
He smiled slightly and Dawn felt sad. It was as if he’d lost the ability to laugh and all he had left was a short smile. It happened, especially when you were surrounded by death every day, but it was always sad. He pointed to the house beside them.
“Nest is gone. Only one survivor.”
In front of her, Buffy nodded slowly and she watched as he gave a single nod and turned and walked in the opposite direction. Dawn huffed and nudged Buffy’s shoulder.
“Go after him!”
“Why?”
She tried desperately hard not to roll her eyes and decided that it was no wonder that Buffy was in a slump. She pushed her forward, ignoring the sharp pain that shot up her spine in protest.
“He’s a Hunter. Maybe he needs some help with research or slaying. Whatever. Look, you know each other, it might not be a bad idea to have another connection.”
“Connection?”
If Buffy knew what she was doing, she gave absolutely no hint of it. She seemed genuinely confused. Dawn just pushed her further along anxiously as he headed for the treeline at the back of the property.
“Go! You wouldn’t want any of us out there on our own!”
Buffy nodded and Dawn almost sighed with relief as she disappeared into the treeline after him. Dawn looked around for somewhere to sit and decided that Buffy hadn’t walked. She began walking in the direction Buffy had come from, hoping to see the car but regretting moving in the first place as her head continued to throb and her muscles ached.
She was used to it. There was rarely a fight that she walked away from injury free and although she tried to hide the pain from Buffy, some of the others would know what she was going through. For her last birthday Andrew had given her a five session pass to an all day spa; Buffy had later nudged her and tried to implicate that Andrew was crushing on her but she brushed it off. As someone else without superpowers, he knew the cost of the fight on people like them. The spa sounded like a better and better idea the longer she thought about it and she was contemplating whether or not to use one of the two remaining sessions when she spotted the her car on the corner of the lot.
She wanted to roll her eyes at the dent in the front bumper but truthfully Buffy had gotten much better at driving over the last few years. In Sunnydale she hadn’t really needed a car; everything had been within walking distance for a Slayer and it was easier to patrol on foot. But Cleveland was an entirely different story. Dawn’s little green bug was suddenly a necessity and Buffy had had to renew her license and get used to driving again.
She gave her bug a light pat before hopping into the passenger seat and letting the seat back. It wasn’t entirely comfortable but it was way better than standing. She closed her eyes and tried to think about her kidnapping. The nest was gone and there didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for it - no ransom demands that she knew about and they hadn’t wanted to bleed her. She opened her eyes and looked down at the scars on her forearms. They had been tough to explain when she’d gone to uni but luckily most people believed she tried to commit suicide and avoided asking.
She looked up as Buffy appeared in front of the car with a frown.
“I was looking everywhere for you! I thought you’d been kidnapped again!”
She rolled her eyes. “I just couldn’t stand any longer. Needed to take a seat. What did Thurman say?”
“Owen said that he ‘works alone’ and doesn’t ‘need any help’. Gave him the school’s card anyway. Happy now?”
She looked out of the window as Buffy put the car into reverse and backed slowly out.
“Do you think he’ll call?”
Buffy paused silently. “Do you have a crush on him or something?”
Dawn would have happily laughed out loud if she hadn’t been so very tired. Instead she settled for a droll tone. “Eww. Just thought it would be nice to branch out a little. We’re not the only ones fighting.”
“I know.”
And then they sat in silence for the rest of the trip back to the large prep school that housed the Slayers. It sat still against the dark backdrop of night with only a few lights shining from within. On the outside it looked like a private boarding school for girls. On the inside, excepting the more public rooms for parents at the front, it was a series of war rooms, each one helping the young Slayers to train or learn about the demons that lurked in the dark.
But despite the fake report cards and the ‘teaching staff’ of experienced Watchers, they were an army fighting a war. The only thing was that there were other soldiers out there fighting the same thing without any back up. She could only hope that one day Slayers and Hunters would work together to fight back the darkness and maybe, just maybe, they could win.
Of course, if she could find her sister a date between now and then, that would be a bonus.
She climbed out of the car slowly and shut her door. Buffy’s eyebrow rose but Dawn just tilted her head. “I’ve gotta get some stuff out of the boot. You head in and let Faith know about Thurman.”
Buffy nodded and turned around leaving Dawn to thank the heavens that she wasn’t going to watch her like a hawk. Dawn slowly made her way into the main building and slipped in quietly. She more or less slumped against the door to close it and smiled at Randy, one of the new young Watchers. He took in the dishevelled appearance and smiled in sympathy, offering her a shoulder to lean on.
“Thanks.”
“No worries. It sucks being a rag doll sometimes.”
She smiled at the change in his language. “Us Americans rubbing off on you, huh?”
He laughed as he practically lifted her up each step in the long staircase to the second floor. “Just you.”
Dawn looked at him in mock horror. “I don’t know whether or not to be offended by that!”
“I’m sure I could have found something much more offensive to say if that was my intention.”
They both laughed and Dawn reluctantly let go of him as he stopped at the door to her room. He turned the doorknob and she felt relief flood through at the sight of her room. She leant against the door frame and tried to decide what was more important - a long, hot bath or the comfort of her bed. It was the idea of getting dirt and blood on the sheets that eventually swayed her and when she turned to Randy to thank him, she saw nothing but an empty corridor.
It was ten in the morning by the time she woke the next morning and she shifted her protesting muscles to the edge of the bed. She gingerly dressed in track pants, a singlet and an over sized jumper before she walked out of her room and down the stairs. There were teenage girls moving quickly all around her and she said a brief ‘hello’ to a couple of them as she made her way to the kitchen.
There was a bustling of activity but because Cam, the designated cook, was there, it was mostly orderly. Cam looked up and smiled at her before dispensing the last of the morning tea and pulling a covered plate from the oven.
“Saved you some.”
Dawn’s stomach growled as she uncovered the scrambled eggs and toast. She gave the older woman a brief hug before heading into the dining room. The dining room looked more like a school cafeteria with several long tables in it and when she saw Randy wave her over, she smiled and made her way through the throng of Slayers and Watchers.
“How did you sleep?”
“Great! Better than being unconscious!”
He chuckled lightly and she dug into the food on her plate. When she chanced to look up after several mouthfuls she noticed Randy was watching her.
“What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. Noticed you cleaned the wound.”
She reached up and touched the sore spot on her head. It wasn’t bleeding anymore but it still stung a little. She nodded and was about to fill him in on her missing time when she saw Buffy walking in with Faith. They were chatting quietly together and Dawn wondered if it had anything to do with the new Hunter on the scene. Both of them were frowning and Dawn turned to Randy.
“Hey, are you doing anything tonight?”
Randy nearly choked on the food in his mouth and she fought the urge to laugh as he looked up at her with watery eyes. He shook his head and she leant forward, making sure that no one else would overhear her.
“Wanna come out with me to a few bars?” He said nothing and she took a deep breath before glancing at Buffy from the corner of her eye. “I’m trying to find this guy- ”
“What?”
“He’s a Hunter. He took out the vamps that kidnapped me.”
“And you wanna... thank him?”
She looked back at him like he was crazy for the implication and noticed that he was cautiously watching her. “What? No! But he used to date Buffy and I think there could still be something there but he’s all ‘Hunter-y’ and mopey and Buffy’s... Buffy. If I don’t do something, they’re just gonna pass by each other with nothing more than a ‘hi’.”
“So, you want me to go barhopping with you the night after you were kidnapped and injured so that you can set up your sister with some guy she hasn’t seen in years?”
“Yes!” Dawn smiled at him and he sucked in a deep breath before rolling his eyes.
“Fine. But we’re gonna get in so much trouble for this.”
Dawn couldn’t keep the smile off of her face and polished off the rest of her breakfast as she tried to think of the best places to hit first. Randy left for his lessons and Dawn skipped hers and headed to her room. She used her laptop to locate all of the bars in the area and tried to narrow them down to the area around where she was kidnapped and where she was found. There was every chance he could go to one of the many underground or demon bars but she had a niggling feeling he liked the normalcy of the regular ones and she searched for the quieter ones.
It was almost four when she heard a knock on her door and Randy stuck his head around the door.
“Planned our last moments of freedom?”
She laughed. “We’re not gonna get in trouble! This will totally work and Buffy will thank us later. Anyway, I figure there’s half a dozen or so that might be good but I made a list of ten just in case they’re busts.”
She walked to the other side of her room and shrugged on her jacket before opening the bottom drawer and pulling out an assortment of weapons. The stake she put in her waistband and slid the short knife into her boot. She ran a brush quickly through her hair before tying it back in a loose bun and picked up her mobile from the night stand.
They made their way down the stairs and tried not to draw any attention to themselves as they watched Buffy walk quickly past the bottom to the back offices. No one paid them any attention as they slipped out the front door and Dawn almost ran toward her little car. She fell into the driver’s seat and pulled down the visor. The keys fell into her open hand and she secured her seat belt as Randy climbed into the passenger seat. He glanced worriedly at her but she smiled and started the engine, grinning as the car rumbled beneath her. She patted the dashboard before turning the car around and heading out of the big iron gates.
Randy walked in through the door ahead of her and she braced herself for the smell of the bar. He gave a quick look around the room before moving out of the doorway and looking back at her. A few of the patrons had looked up when they entered but most were just chatting or looking into their drinks. Despite the game of pool in one corner of the room and a football game on the television above the bar, the room was fairly subdued.
She scanned the men trying to pick out a familiar face but she couldn’t see any. Instead she sighed and plonked herself down on a bar stool. She ordered two colas and tried not to grin when Randy sat beside her giving her a frustrated look. He’d been of the opinion that she look inside and if he wasn’t there, they’d move onto the next place. But there was no way she was gonna miss him if she could help it and she didn’t wanna risk him turning up after they left.
It was their third bar of the night after they’d originally driven around and knocked off any bars on the list that were too busy. Dawn tried to hand the money to the man behind the bar but Randy’s hand shot out first and he gently pushed hers aside, giving the barman a nod. He got a nod back and Dawn sipped on the straw in her glass.
“He’s not here but he could be here soon.”
Randy leant toward her and lowered his voice. “How do you know he’s not at a demon bar?”
Dawn shook her head. “No way. Not him at all. I think he’s a little too damaged to see ‘grey’.”
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. It said ‘Buffy’ and when Randy saw it, he nudged her with his shoulder.
“You need to answer it or she’s gonna come looking for you. A text won’t be sufficient.”
“I can’t answer it in here! She should try calling whilst I’m driving!”
Randy rolled his eyes. “I’d rather get chewed out by your sister than die in a car accident tonight. Just saying...”
She ignored him and ignored the call, sending a second text instead. She assumed ‘I’m fine! Stop calling me!’ wouldn’t suffice but telling her sister what she was really doing would equal BIG trouble and she wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Not until she found him. Her phone vibrated again almost instantly and she ignored it. She quickly finished her drink, ignoring the bubbles that caused her eyes to water slightly and nudged Randy.
“Come on, let’s go. If I wanna hit any more bars before Buffy tracks us down we probably shouldn’t stay in one place too long.”
He looked anxious and she wound her arm through his. “Don’t worry, she doesn’t know you’re here with me. I’ll get you outta dodge before she sees you.”
He looked at her sternly. “I’m not leaving you alone in a bar.”
“I never said that,” she said as she moved around to her side of the car. “But thanks.”
They hit two more bars before she started getting frustrated. As Randy opened the door to next bar, Dawn pulled on his arm.
“Wait. Maybe we should just give up. It’s getting late and Buffy’s probably furious.”
He gave her a soft smile and tugged on her arm, pulling her into the bar with him. “Forget about how angry she’s gonna be. You started this, may as well finish it. If you’re gonna get in trouble, you should get in trouble for something.”
“Advocating doing the wrong thing? That’s not like you.”
He laughed. “I’ve resigned to my fate. May as well make it worthwhile!”
She grinned as she looked around. There was a section that was partially cordoned off and she made her way across the room toward it. When she saw the face of one of the guys that had kidnapped her playing pool in the corner, she reached back and grabbed Randy’s hand. She tucked her head down and pulled him straight out the back exit. The door closed behind them and Dawn looked up at his questioning gaze.
“Back there. One of the vamps that took me. I thought they were all gone.”
He looked back at the closed door and began pushing her toward the end of the alley. “You think Thurman spared him on purpose?”
She shook her head quickly. “No, vamp probably wasn’t with them. He seemed genuine.”
They both stopped in their tracks as the vampire stepped into the alley ahead of them. The door to the bar opened behind them and they watched as three vampire stepped out, crossing their arms as they barred the only other escape route.
“I’m really sorry I dragged you into this.”
Randy seemed to ignore her as he pulled a stake from his jacket and watched both ends of the alley. The three near the exit moved first and Randy sprang into action, leaping into the fray and dusting one with a lucky hit. Dawn had enough time to see him get slammed into the wall for his troubles as the remaining vampire grabbed her from behind.
She used the momentum to swing out of his grasp like Buffy had taught her and she pulled her stake out as she turned to face him. He growled at her.
“How did you get away?”
She ignored him as she pretended to lunge for his right and when he held her at arms length, she stamped her heel down hard on his foot, pushing herself away from him as he growled in pain. He lunged toward her and she held her stake up between them. It served as the warning it was intended to be and he snarled before backhanding her into the wall. Her vision swam around her and she tried to blink away the imposing darkness as her head throbbed painfully.
She heard Randy call out her name but it sounded distant - too distant for her to really worry about. The pain closed in around her and when she looked up she saw Randy fighting off the last of the three and the vampire in front of her leaning forward, his teeth bared. Before she could brace herself for the stabbing pain, the vampire turned to dust in front of her. She was left facing a very tired Randy looking at a very angry Thurman.
“Do you purposefully try and get yourself killed or is this a special talent you’ve been working on?”
She smiled painfully. “We’ve been looking for you... ”
She saw Randy turn to him in surprise before the whole world came crashing down in glorious darkness.
Dawn opened her eyes slowly and found herself on the backseat of her car. Randy was driving slowly and she presumed that they were on their way back to the school. The street lamps passed by and lit up the car in flashes. She groaned away the throbbing pain in the back of her head and she saw Randy hit the indicator. The car came to a standstill and he turned around.
“Oh, you had me worried! I thought we were going to have to call in some medical help. Not to mention what your sister would say... or do... ”
She gave a short laugh. “Yeah, she can be a little intense when it comes to me.”
Randy nodded and she looked into the passenger seat.
“Where’s Thurman?”
“We saw a vamp stalking a girl. He was here for a bit but he left to go sort that out... ”
He petered out and looked out of the back window nervously. She had a brief thought that something may have been wrong but dismissed it immediately. They were friends and if something had been wrong, he would have told her. She put it down to the general anxiety of the night and looked at the digital display on the dashboard.
“Wow, is that the time?”
Randy looked forward. “Yeah, guess it is. We should get you back before your sister has a heart attack.”
He put the car into gear and it moved forward. She tried not to let the rolling motion of the car put her to sleep but her eyes were really heavy as she heard the familiar sound of her tyres on the driveway to the school. Randy parked the car and opened the back door, wrapping his arms gently around her as he helped her to her feet.
“Uh, if you don’t mind, could you help me upstairs as quickly as possible?”
Randy looked back at the building before nodding with a wry grin. With an arm around her waist supporting most of her weight, Randy helped her up the front steps and they made a dash for the staircase. They were only a few steps from the top when a Watcher started down them but fortunately they were only given a cursory smile and a small look of concern. By the time they reached her room she was mostly leaning on him and he opened the door and helped her lay down on her bed.
While he went into her small ensuite to get her first aid kit, Dawn looked up at her ceiling. When she’d first moved into the room she’d started unpacking one of the few boxes she had from uni. At the bottom she’d found a packet of glow in the dark stars that her old roommate had given her as a graduation present. It even still had the post-it note attached that said ‘reach for the stars’. Her room seemed as good a place as any to put them up and especially given what she was doing in her life. The small amount of light made her feel at peace.
Randy walked back into the room and she sat up slightly on the bed. He sat down beside her and opened it up, taking out some gauze to wipe the blood from her face. She closed her eyes at the sting and he muttered an apology underneath his breath. He brushed some hair away from the cut on her forehead and a small jolt shot through her. She had no idea what it was but when she opened her eyes, Randy was concentrating on a small spot in her hairline.
“There.”
She smiled her thanks and was about to thank him once again when there was a knock on her door and Buffy poked her head around the corner. Buffy merely gave Randy a look but it was enough to have him mumbling for her to feel better before he quickly left the room, closing the door behind him. Buffy took a deep breath before sitting at her feet.
“I am furious... ”
Dawn dropped her head. “I know.”
“And scared.” She looked up and Buffy closed her eyes. “I, I know you’re not a kid anymore. I know that, I do! But you are my sister. You’re all I have left and I’m gonna keep worrying about you whether you’re eight or eighty. I can’t help it, I’m sorry.”
“I know, Buffy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s frustrating. Incredibly frustrating, especially after a fight when you’re, like, hyper crazy. I hate that I have to check in with you so often. But, I also know that if something happens to me, you’re gonna know about it. I know that you’ll come and find me.”
Buffy gripped her shoulders and pulled her forward, wrapping her arms around her and hugging her tightly. Dawn laid her head on Buffy’s shoulders and let her sister hug her for a little while.
It was early the next morning when she opened the door to her room and saw Randy standing in front of her with his fist raised, poised to knock. She grinned before wrapping her arms around him.
“Thank you.”
“It was nothing. I couldn’t have you bleeding all over the place - Buffy would kill me.”
Dawn laughed and bumped his shoulder with her own. “I meant for going with me last night. Any one else would have ditched me after the first couple but you didn’t. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“There was no way I was leaving you in a bar on your own.”
She laughed and pushed him into the corridor, leading him down the stairs to the kitchen. Despite the early hour, there was still a bustle of activity and Dawn stood back as the Slayers around her grabbed plates of food. From the dining room she heard Buffy’s voice and she rounded the corner to find her sitting at a table talking with Faith.
“Yo, he’s prob’ly lying, B.”
“I don’t think so... ”
Faith grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “He’s hot, ain’t he?”
“It’s not about whether or not he’s hot. I just don’t think he’s purposefully letting vamps off - there has to be something else going on here.”
Dawn moved to sit down and Faith nodded at her. “This Owen guy hot?”
She laughed. “He’s definitely her type.”
“I don’t have a type!”
Faith ignored her. “Do you trust him?”
She felt compelled to say ‘yes’ straight away. After all, she trusted him enough that she tried to track him down to see if she could set him up with her sister. But that had been before she’d been attacked by the very vampires he’d said he’d taken care of. It could have been an innocent mistake or the vampire could have left the house before he’d had gotten there. But there could be something more sinister going on and given their lives, it wasn’t something she could rule out.
“Yeah, I think so. To be honest he just seems like another Hunter.”
“Like we’ve known so many... ”
Randy approached the table with two plates and Faith hit Buffy with a grin before Buffy glared pointedly at her and dragged her off. Dawn wanted to know what was going on with them but she wasn’t sure how she felt about Thurman yet so there wasn’t much else she could contribute to the conversation.
She tried to get Randy’s thoughts on Thurman but he didn’t seem very forthcoming and she didn’t want to push. Instead, they ate breakfast and talked about things that had nothing to do with the monsters in the night or the people that were responsible for them. Just before she headed off to a class she saw Buffy poke her head in and call her away.
“We’ve got a lead on a nest of vamps that were trying to resurrect some crusty demon and needed a Slayer. Probably just to deal with any nasties that happened to come along. Either way, it was the nest our new Hunter friend took out - or said he did - and Faith and I are going back for another sweep to see if any others ‘got away’.”
Dawn pushed open the adjoining door between Buffy and Faith’s offices and walked into Faith’s, seeing the dark haired Slayer sitting behind her desk with her feet up playing solitaire on the laptop.
“Do you really think he’s a bad guy?”
Faith smirked and shook her head as Buffy sighed.
“I hope not Dawnie, I really hope not.”
Faith sat up, closed down the game’s window and turned off the monitor. She interlaced her fingers and Dawn almost laughed at how ridiculously out of placed she looked in that pose.
“Listen, little sis, we need you to stay in tonight. Stay with ya boy and just forget about the vamps for one night, ‘kay?”
“My boy?”
Buffy frowned at Faith. “Look, it’s just that there’s a reason you’re being targeted and we need to make sure you’re alright. If this Hunter has some reason to want you, dead or alive, we need to know you’re safe while we’re figuring things out. Just... no more hijinks. Just for tonight.”
Dawn nodded slowly. “But if they want you, what does it matter if I’m out? You’re the one that’s gonna be on his tail. If he wants you, he can just try to take you.”
“What if he can’t? Takes you and big sis has to bail you out. Bam! He’s got both of ya!”
“Yeah, I guess.”
As Faith and Buffy talked over more tactics, and places that she would not be, Dawn tried to figure out exactly what the motive would be for Thurman if he had a Slayer. Surely he would know that no Slayer would blindly follow any orders he gave; he couldn’t control one. She couldn’t help but think about how kind his eyes were despite the obvious hardened attitude and a really, really early memory of her sister fawning over him in high school had placed the image of a bookish nerd in her head. She could still see it but had he changed so much since then to switch to the other side?
“What if he’s not?” she blurted out.
“Not what?”
“Who?”
Dawn put her elbows on her knees. “What if Thurman’s not the bad guy? What if this was all some coincidence?”
“You know what Giles says about coincidences.”
“Yeah, I know. But he’s a Hunter, right? He takes out the bad things that we don’t get around to and helps keep people safe. He needs connections just as much as we do and if we go around accusing him, we might walk away.”
Buffy placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I know. But it’s not worth the risk. We need to find out one way or the other and, truthfully, I’ll sleep a lot better knowing I shooed off a potential ally than knowing I put you or any of the others here at risk because I didn’t check it out.”
Dawn was headed up the stairs when she heard tyres crunching on gravel and a car pull up quickly. Buffy rushed in with Thurman leaning on her and Faith closed the door behind them. She looked up at the stairs and saw her.
“So, he’s not evil. Check one for cute boy. Buffy’s taken him to get patched up. Can see what she sees in him though. Tame with an edge.”
She chuckled and Dawn made her way down the stairs, intent on following after her sister but Faith held her back.
“Nah, just leave ‘em. I’m sure they’ve got plenty to talk about.”
She winked and headed up the stairs mumbling something about her leather jacket. Despite her warning, Dawn waited until she was out of eye sight before heading off to the back building where the mini medical centre was. Slayers often came back injured and despite accelerated healing, they sometimes needed to be patched up. There’d even been a nasty incident a few months back involving a vomiting virus and initially the Slayers had been isolated to the medical wing. The green demon blood turned out not to be the cause but the wing had seen an upgrade since then.
When she entered the corridor leading to the main rooms, she walked carefully and tried to listen for conversation. If there was something going on between them she did NOT want to disrupt that. No amount of therapy would fix that. But hearing nothing, she ventured forward and poked her head around the corner.
In almost an instant, Owen’s eyes found hers and she smiled sheepishly as Buffy wound a bandage around his forearm. Lisa, the Watcher/nurse was getting out extra supplies and cleaning away the blood soaked ones. She discarded the last of the used gauze and noticed Dawn in the corner. A nod of her head caused Buffy to swivel around and when she noticed her, she rolled her eyes.
“Lis, can you show Owen to the guest rooms please?”
The woman nodded and Dawn walked past them into the room. Buffy pulled herself up onto the long table. Dawn sat next to her and waited patiently for her to talk. Buffy pushed some hair behind her ear and smiled at her.
“Looks like you were right. About the accusing thing too... didn’t really like that.”
“I wonder why... ”
“But he’s here now so that’s a step in the right direction. And there’s still some of the guy that I used to crush on way back when.”
“When everything was simpler?”
“Yes and no. Things with him are certainly simpler now that I don’t have to lie.”
“So you can date him?”
Buffy raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking of starting off as friends...”
Dawn rolled her eyes and wondered if she had to do everything for her sister. Buffy might have to save the world but saving the person who saves the world seemed like a much harder task. She nudged her with her shoulder.
“You’ve done friends before.”
“No, we’ve done ‘date’ before. One date. And he was nearly killed!”
“See? ‘Nearly’. But now he’s back in your life and doing what you do; how much more perfect do you want to be?”
“Dawn... ”
“Look, I know Hunters come with baggage. There’s almost always a death and they can be full of hate and bitterness- ”
“This is supposed to be helping?”
“But! They also come with skills to back up their job. You don’t have to worry about them like you would a civilian. And you don’t need to have that awkward conversation about explaining that not only are there demons in the night but your job is to take them out. I think this can be really good for you Buffy.”
Buffy wrapped her arm around Dawn’s shoulders. “Look, I know you’ve been trying to set me up with every man and his dog for the last few months but I’m doing okay. Really. I’m okay on my own.”
“You might be okay but you’re not happy. And you deserve to be.”
“Dawn, even if, and I’m not saying there is, but if I was interested, it takes two and it’s been a long time. Things have changed - we’ve changed. It wouldn’t be like it was before.”
“Who would want what you had before? That crashed and burned! But he’s like a different guy and this time, you know you’re his type. You still need to learn all about each other again but you know what you’re both like fundamentally so it’s not a loss. Come on Buffy, one shot?”
Buffy hopped down from the table and waited for her to do the same before linking their arms together and walking back toward the main house.
“Let’s see how things go, okay? And anyway, you should be worrying about your own love life instead of meddling with mine.”
“I don’t have a love life.”
“Well, you should probably mention that to Randy because if any of us have to watch that kid trying to get your attention much longer we’re probably gonna have to do something drastic - like tying the two of you together.”
Not only did her mind blank but her feet stopped moving and her mouth dropped open.
“Randy?”
Buffy grinned at her and pressed a small kiss to her temple before walking off leaving Dawn standing there with a million things racing through her mind at once. All of them revolved around Randy and the fact that she considered him her friend, probably her best friend there, but hadn’t ever thought of him as anything more. Or thought that he felt that way.
Not that she couldn’t feel that way about him, she’d never really put any thought into it, but she’d been so focused on Buffy and her happiness that she hadn’t even stopped to consider her own. She always had assumed she had years left and plenty of time to worry about it but Buffy might not and until then, she wanted her sister happy.
Thinking about Randy was a whole kettle of fish and brought back a stack of thoughts about the way he talked and acted around her. She began seeing things in a different light and wondered if everyone had noticed it and if she was just the last one.
When she got into the main hall, Randy was walking out of the dining room and heading for the library. She ran to catch up with him and when he greeted her, she saw something that she hadn’t seen before - a genuine interest. She wondered how long he had felt that way about her and subsequently felt sick to her stomach feeling sorry for him being on the end of those unreturned feelings.
Without leaving herself any more time to dwell on his feelings or how long he’d had them for, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, surprised when she felt the familiar jolt she’d been feeling recently. He stilled, completely off guard, and looked around the empty room as if he expected someone to jump out with a video camera or start laughing. When nothing happened, he looked back at her surprised. She smiled.
“I guess we’ve got a couple of things to talk about, huh?”
A smile slowly broke out over his face and he kissed her back softly, his fingers winding in her hair as he held her face close. She wrapped her arms around him and thought that if only Buffy could be as happy as she was in that very moment, she wouldn’t have to worry about her again.
When he grabbed her hand and led her out of the library and up the large staircase, she spotted Buffy talking to Owen outside of the guest rooms. It didn’t look like a particularly thrilling conversation but Buffy had a small smile on her face and that was enough. She smiled at her sister and Buffy grinned when she saw their hands intertwined as Randy led her upstairs. Buffy winked at her and her sister disappeared from view. Without any direction they both walked the corridor to Dawn’s room and Randy entered and Dawn followed. As she closed the door behind them, she smiled.