Aug. 9th, '15: Neighborhood Watch: Part VI
Title: Neighborhood Watch - Part VI
Author: SweetChi
Rating: PG-13
Crossover: Castle
Word Count: 1357
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural, I am making no money from this and am doing it purely for enjoyment.
Summary: A little ‘splaining gets done.
Part VI
“What the hell hap- oh my god!”
Dawn slid to a stop, a hand flying to her mouth as she saw her sister on the bed. Pale and still with a bandage around her head and a bunch of machines hooked up to her. She didn’t even twitch even though Dawn knew she’d been less than quiet in her arrival.
Swallowing hard, she tore her eyes from Buffy and looked to Willow for some answers.
“She’ll be fine,” Willow said quickly. “Her slayer healing along with a little magical boost took care of almost everything.”
“What happened?” Dawn managed to get out her question now that she could take a step back from the freak out ledge.
“I’m sorry, Dawnie, I don’t know,” Willow said, looking regretful. “By the time I got there whatever did this was gone and she was…”
“We had wards in place! Wards you put in place! This shouldn’t - how?”
“The wards worked,” Willow nodded. “They were just supposed to alert of us of anything supernatural trying to get into her apartment. It was just that… well, no one noticed the alarm going off at first. I zapped there as soon as I did.”
Dawn’s jaw fell open. “No one noticed?! It sounds like a freaking fire alarm!”
“That would be because the actual fire alarm was going off,” Xander said as he walked in, cringing as he looked at Buffy. “There was a cooking incident. The girls have been watching too much Master Chef…”
Dawn’s nostrils flared as she pulled in a deep breath and put a hand to her forehead to stop the twitch that was developing there.
“Can anyone tell me anything useful?”
“Uh, she’s going to be fine,” Willow said, seeming to want to repeat that fact. “She’s mostly healed except for her head…”
“Except for her- Isn’t that the most important part?” Dawn said, voice getting higher and higher. “Can’t you like, magic it better or something? You said you magically boosted the healing right? So don’t stop with the job half done!”
“Giles wouldn’t let me,” Willow pouted. “Said there were too many things that could go wrong shoving magic into her brain. Got reamed for zapping the both of us back here as it was…”
As much as she wanted her sister awake and alert, she made a mental note to thank Giles later. She hadn’t really thought that demand through…
“So, we have any clue what did this?” Xander asked, sitting down in a chair next to Buffy’s bed.
Willow shook her head. “It was gone by the time I got there. Either it thought it had gotten the job done or Buffy caused enough damage that it had to leave - there was a lot of blood.” Seeing Dawn’s alarmed look, she shook her head quickly. “Mostly not Buffy blood. Something else blood.”
“Can we figure out what it was from the blood?”
“I’m going to try, I haven’t had time yet.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Dawn. “Wait, how much blood? What did it get on?!”
“You mean did it get on anything expensive?” Will asked, eyebrows raised. “Because the answer would be yes since everything in there is ridiculously expensive. Wasn’t the girl’s safe house in New York supposed to be inconspicuous? Not something a visiting prince from Saudi Arabia would expect?”
“I’m sure the fact you plan on taking some classes at NYU in the fall is only coincidence,” Xander said, trying to look innocently curious and failing miserably.
“I got good deals on everything,” Dawn defended. “I just think Slayers risking their lives to keep New York safe should get a little bit of luxury. And, I mean, sure, if I had a study group or something looking for a quiet place, then maybe we’d stop by…”
“Yeeeeeeah,” Willow said, obviously unconvinced despite Dawn’s inarguable logic. “Well, no worries, Dawnie. Your study pad is spic and span. I had to do a rush clean-up because that cop Buffy’s been seeing showed up.”
“Wait, Buffy’s been seeing someone? Buffy has a guy and I’m just now hearing about it!”
Wait until her sister woke up from that coma or whatever…
“Willlow… what did you do?” Xander’s loaded question had Dawn getting over her outrage and seeing Willow’s uncomfortable and shady look.
“I’m not good under pressure!” She burst out. “I mean, we couldn’t have cops crawling all over that place, right? There was some kind of monster blood on the floor and claw marks!”
“Will…”
“He saw it all,” she cringed. “I had just gotten there when he kicked the door open. When he ran out to check on Buffy I did a quick spell to reverse the damage and zapped Buffy back with me. Well, almost all the damage - I heard a neighbor out in the hall after he left, so I had to leave the broken door since they saw that, too…”
Dawn was looking at Willow with her mouth hanging open. “So you’re just going to let him think he’s crazy?! You fixed everything and whisked Buffy away like nothing happened? That’s so mean!”
“I told you! Willow plus pressure equals bad!”
“You did the right thing,” Giles said from the doorway.
“Giles, Buffy was seeing this guy. He’s-“
“A police officer. And he had the neighbor Willow heard in the hall call 911. New York is not Sunnydale where the unexplainable is normal and easily written off. And we’ve yet to build any contacts within the police force that could help us with any… situations like this. “
“Well, maybe we would’ve gotten one if Willow hadn’t made him think he was nutso!”
“We have enough of a headache on our hands with the police trying to figure out what’s killing these girls. Having them find any similarities in the cases could lead to questions that would make things exceedingly problematic. Since you used Council funds to furnish that flat…”
The last part was a little accusatory for Dawn’s liking, but she decided she’d give Giles the benefit of the doubt and move on.
She put out there hesitantly, “We could’ve asked-“
“I think they’ve made enough of a mess of things,” Xander growled, cutting her off.
“What’s done is done,” Giles said, sounding tired as he looked down at Buffy. “If Buffy cares for this young man then its best he’s not involved. Lord knows we have enough complications as it is…”
“We all know who’s fault that is,” Kennedy said, joining the room that was getting smaller by the minute.
“If you blame this on my sister, I’m going to kick your ass - slayer power or not,” Dawn snarled.
Kennedy put her hands up, but otherwise looked unruffled. “I was going to say Wolfram and Hart, but you threw her name out there.”
“It was the best option at the time,” Giles said, cleaning his glasses. “Definitely not something we’d opt for given any other choice.”
“There’s always another choice besides trusting Angel and his band of evil lawyers,” Xander countered. “One that we’re going to have to pick now, since they failed so spectacularly.”
“We’ll still have to rely on their contact within the police force for information on any new murders, Xander. We don’t have the resources-“
“I understand that, but we can send a team in-“ He paused. “In fact, I think I’m going to New York myself.”
“Very well,” Giles conceded. “But for the love of god take someone with some tact-“
“I’ll go,” Dawn offered.
“NO!” Everyone chorused.
“Hey! What’s that-“
“I’ll go,” Kennedy offered next.
There wasn’t a chorus of “no” this time, but no one agreed either - instead opting to look shifty and uncomfortable and not meet Kennedy’s eyes. If there was anyone with less tact than Dawn it had to be Kennedy…
“I’m from New York, alright? I may not know anyone in the police department, but I know people and I know the city.”
“Sounds good to me,” Xander said, standing and giving the still silent Buffy’s hand a squeeze. “Pack a bag. And we’re flying - no offence Will, but you’re not zapping me anywhere.”