Rejuvenated - BTVS/M7-ATF - FRT - Scoobies, Seven
Title: Rejuvenated
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy The Vampire Slayer / Magnificent Seven - ATF AU
Rating: FRT
Characters: Scoobies, Seven
Word count: 2747
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon, etc. The characters of the Magnificent Seven belong to John Watson, etc. The ATF AU was created by MOG. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: My muse is stuck on family at the moment so this month the fics will probably have various family moments and configurations in it. This particular story goes AU after season 7 of Buffy (never read the comics, therefore I can't be true to them) and... can you have an AU of an AU in M7? :-) I have a few more ideas for this particular AU, so it may be back.
Warning: If you don't like kid stories, don't read this.
Summary: The Scoobies travel to Denver to stop a cult from turning back time to when the old ones roamed. Denver's ATF team "The Magnificent Seven" is unknowingly nearby trying to take down some moonshiners. Naturally, chaos ensues... eventually... probably in future stories
Rejuvenated
By Beriaearwen
The leaders of the New Council looked at each other, shock fading and leaving behind only grim determination.
“Do we know where and when?” Buffy asked, looking at the others, plans already forming in her head.
“Best we can figure right now it’ll be somewhere near Denver. We’ll have to do some research. We do have time - not a lot - but some,” Willow offered.
Buffy nodded. “All right. We need Dawn, Willow and Giles on research. Xander, we need you to get there and be our first feet on the ground. See what you can find out. Faith and I will begin gathering who and what we’ll need. We’ll also have to shift some coverage when we have a better idea of what’s going on. Meet again tomorrow at 2pm GMT with updates. We’ve got another serious apocalypse to stop. Let’s make the hours count.”
<><><><><><><>
That conversation took place two very short weeks ago.
Currently Giles, Willow, Dawn, Faith, Buffy, Xander, Vi, Rona and several other of the more senior slayers were preparing for battle. Robin, Andrew and Kennedy were each in charge of one of the Council strongholds - Scotland, Cleveland and Rio. They and the other Senior slayers would cover things until the strike team returned - or in case they failed.
The more they had managed to uncover about the cult they would be facing, the less they liked it.
In one specific spot about an hour outside Denver on this night, the cultists could perform a ceremony whose end result would be to turn back time to when the Old Ones roamed the earth - before man started taking a stand - before the Slayer was made. It was basically a reset of the world which would kill all who were not involved in the ceremony.
They needed to stop the cultists before the ceremony began. If the ceremony did begin and they stopped it before completion, there was no telling the consequences.
Gearing up and reviewing the plan one last time, the Council team set out to, once more, save the world.
<><><><><><><>
(Approximately a mile away from the clearing)
ATF team seven watched the remote building.
They were still in the information gathering phase of their case and had yet to call in other teams to assist. A little more information and they would have enough to arrest this group. It would be good to put an end to the mildly-poisonous moonshine making the rounds of high school and college parties as well as some of the poorer sections of Denver.
Soft clicks sounded in Team Leader Chris Larabee's ear as his men silently checked in. He and Buck were on opposite sides of the shack covering the doors. Nathan and JD were about a quarter mile away monitoring the various wires - JD the wires the duo undercover were using, Nathan the one the rest were using. He knew they were both ready to move should there be any need. Vin was somewhere around, most likely up high. He wasn't sure where their sharpshooter and weapons expert was, but trusted the other man would be exactly where they needed him.
The only real worry he had was for Ezra and Josiah. The two men were currently in the ramshackle shack meeting with the suspects to set up the deal where the ATF team could take them down.
He could do little for the two undercover agents at the moment other than provide alert backup - back-up he hoped they didn't need.
Scanning the area again, he noted that the two sentries had continued to follow the same path near the house. His internal clock indicated to him that thirty-eight minutes had passed since his agents entered the building. He knew there were four other men in the shack with them. Those men had arrive a full hour prior to the meet. He knew that because he and the others had been in position for three hours and forty-none minutes at this point.
His eyes returning to the front entrance, he froze as Nathan's voice sounded in his ear.
“Car approaching. Black sedan. Lincoln. Late model. On in the front, looks like a chauffeur. Blacked-out window in the back, no id possible.”
Chris felt himself enter a state of higher alert. He had a bad feeling about this. He knew he couldn't respond verbally at the moment, not with the guard so close to his position, but he knew and trusted his team. He knew Buck and Vin would step in and handle things.
Right now, he needed to get ready to do whatever was necessary to ensure his men's safety.
<><><><><><><>
Things were going better than expected, but not as well as they'd hoped.
Buffy didn't need to voice that observation, the grim looks on the faces of the rest of the Council members told her all she needed to of their understanding.
The clearing they were in caused the group to spread out.
Killing another demon and gaining another few feet of ground, Buffy allowed her awareness of those around her to flow even as she focused the majority of her attention on those around her.
She was fifteen feet away when the ceremony started. Faith was next closest at about eighteen feet.
Willow, Giles and Dawn along with another witch they'd brought were focusing on the containment spell that should prevent any magic raised by the ritual to be contained and drained. It was a much larger version of the be-spelled medallions the team wore to keep them safe from the effects of the spell.
With a surge of adrenaline and a loud cry, Buffy attacked the line of demons before her, breaking through a moment later.
As she broke that last line of defense, the stench of dark ritualized magic assaulted her slayer senses and knew the others were feeling it as well.
Allowing her rational thought to fall away, she stepped forward at the same time Faith did.
There were four magic users performing the ritual spell. Buffy and Faith, despite their speed, strength, experience and abilities could only kill one at a time.
Though the time-laps between the first death of the four and the last seemed no more than the blink of an eye, it was enough to unbalance the spell.
Though not a positive thing, she wouldn't have worried too much about the wave of magic she could feel flowing outward, except, at that moment three men burst into the clearing, followed quickly by eight more. “Protect them!” she cried even as she moved faster than she could ever remember doing.
She felt the wave of magic wash over her and witnessed its effect as it hit the inner circle of demons.
Pushing her tired legs faster, she blew past the demons, past her sister and friends. She caught sight of the two who were furthest from any of them and longed for wings to get their quicker.
She saw the wave hit the two men in her sights mere seconds before she was able to grab first one and then the other, dragging them both to the ground with her, careful not to land on either of them, but to protect them as much as possible.
A few minutes later, she felt the magic hit the shield and dissipate.
With a sigh of relief, Buffy closed her eyes. She needed a minute - just a short minute.
The sound of a sniffle had her opening her eyes. Turning toward the sound of the sniffle, she met a pair of large blue eyes framed by curly sandy-blond hair, close to the same shade as hers as a child.
Turning to the other side, she found a pair of scared hazel eyes not unlike her own staring at her from under a mop of light-blond hair.
Looking around the clearing, she noted, unsurprisingly that all the demons were gone, as were the trees, grass and anything else living that had not been wearing or in touch with one of the amulets her team wore. She felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she realized only seven of the humans had survived and they were all in the same state as hers.
Knowing they would have to meet, she gentled her grasp on the two she'd caught and offered a smile. “Are you guys OK? Not hurt or anything?”
Two head shook almost in unison.
“That's good. Do you know your names?” She once more received a negative response and then felt a moment's panic as two sets of eyes filled with tears. “Oh, hey. It's all right. We're all going to be fine,” she assured, drawing them into a hug. Something in her shifted and settled as they returned the gesture. Hope sparked in her mind and heart. Maybe this could be a chance for her. As her gaze swept the clearing, taking in the others, she wondered if it might not be a chance for all of them.
<><><><><><><>
“So we're sure there's no way to reverse the effects,” Buffy stated more than questioned.
“No. We haven't found anything. The researchers will continue to search as time permits, but the Coven believes any attempt to reverse the effect would do more harm than good,” Giles supplied.
Buffy nodded and turned toward Xander. “How did the meeting with the ATF go?”
A wry smile crooked Xander's lips. “About as well as expected when telling them that they just lost the entirety of their best team. Of course, the fact we couldn't tell them more than that went over about as well as a Chaos Demon at a birthday party.”
“Always does,” Buffy quipped before turning toward Dawn and Willow. “What about their possessions and family?”
“Their possessions have been put in storage. Any property is being held in trust by the council. We'll maintain it until such a time as it can be returned to the appropriate people. Chris Larabee's ranch has horses on it. We have a few volunteers to work on the ranch enacting the plans we found,” Willow informed.
“Apparently most of them didn't have family. Nathan had a steady girlfriend. We gave her the standard line. She was not happy, but when their former boss backed us up, she backed off. He also has a few siblings, but there's been no contact there for over a decade. Of the others, Josiah has a sister who is in an institution.” Dawn looked directly at Buffy as she continued, “She needs to be there. They're doing good with her.”
Buffy slowly nodded. She still had issues from her time in the sanitarium, but knew that some people needed to be there. She nodded to Dawn to continue.
“The only other family member we found is Ezra's mother, Maude. After meeting with her several times, we ended up having to tell her the complete truth. Though she took it hard, she agreed to allow Ezra to remain where he was provided she could visit occasionally.”
“We need to keep an eye on her when she does visit,” Xander added. “The lady doesn't seem to have an honest bone in her body. She'd not bad, necessarily, just...”
“A con artist,” Dawn finished.
Buffy glanced at Willow and smiled slightly at the eye-roll the red-head gave. Obviously Maude and Willow had already met. “All right. Then we keep as we have been and have the paperwork taken care of.”
When the agreement of the others had been officially recorded, she dismissed the meeting.
Sinking back in her chair, she barely had a moment to think before the door burst open. A moment later, she had a sandy-haired attachment which she cuddled closer. A moment later another form, this time one with light blond hair attached to her other side.
The ritual they had interrupted had been intended to turn back time to the dawn of man. Though it had started, it did not have enough energy to revert things that far back. It did, as far as they could tell, strip away a few centuries. As the magic moved out in a wave, it de-aged everything in its path.
Of the eleven men who ran into the clearing, only seven had been saved from annihilation. With standard Scoobie luck it had been the seven ATF agents rather than their four tagets.
Unfortunately, they hadn't been quick enough to leave the men completely unaffected. They were all de-aged and had no memory of their previous life. Somehow the protection they gave must have impressed itself on each of the seven men because each attached to the one who protected them.
She smiled as she allowed herself to think of it. There were now seven sons among the Scoobies between the ages of about two-and-a-half and almost five.
Giles had managed to reach Josiah Sanchez, the one with the most years to give to start with, was their almost-five year old.
Willow had protected Ezra Standish, who was now a precocious three.
Faith immediately took to just-turned-four year old Nathan. Robin came to love him too.
Dawn had headed toward the dark-haired, blue-eyed Buck Wilmington and now had a four-year-old of her own.
Xander reached JD before any of the others were protected, but the young man hadn't many years to give. Xander now found himself father to a two-and-a-half year old who spoke as much or more than Willow and had all of her intelligence. Buffy couldn't think of a better father for the boy.
As for her... She couldn't be happier to be mother to her two adorable scamps. Chris Larabee had de-aged to a young four and Vin Tanner sat at a solid three. She still felt a swell of motherly pride when people in the stores would comment on how handsome her sons were and how much they resembled her.
Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss on the top of each head. In a moment she would need to find out what mischief they'd caused now, but she could spare a few seconds to revel in the fact she was a mother.
She felt tears prick her eyes as she thought back to the first night in the clearing.
Both boys were terrified and didn't know what was going on. She pulled them into a hug then and told them everything would be all right.
After a moment, a tiny face turned up to her and wide, trusting hazel eyes met hers. “I believe you,” the little voice said.
A second later, while still reeling from the profound emotions those simple words inspired, another small body's shifting drew her attention. Meeting the blue eyes of the slightly younger boy, she felt rocked to the core again by what he said.
“I do to. You'll make it all right, mama.”
From that moment she'd been lost. She wasn't foolish enough to believe she'd be able to make everything all right, but being the recipient of that sort of child-like trust filled and healed her in ways she didn't understand.
A smile curved her lips as she watched Buck attach himself to Dawn. That was something else unexpected.
After a few days tending Buck, Dawn had drawn Buffy aside and apologized for being so difficult as a teen.
Buffy had hugged her and let her know she'd been forgiven. Of course, she couldn't help adding one last taunt which she just knew would eventually come to bite them in the backside.
“It's OK. I forgave you a long time ago, Dawnie.”
“Thanks. I just hope Buck doesn't prove as difficult.”
Buffy smirked. “Well, can't help you there. After all, there are those two Chinese curses that work 100 percent of the time.
Dawn's brow furrowed. “I know one is 'May you live in interesting times', but what's the other?”
Buffy smirked at Dawn's wince as Buck accidentally knocked over a pile of papers Dawn had been working on. “May your children be just like you.”
Looking around the room and thinking of her friends who were in distant places, she couldn't help but think that that last curse might not be such a bad thing after all.
Of course, that was before an irate Andrew stormed into the room covered in what looked like flour, slime, eggs and shaving cream.
“Oh boy.”
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy The Vampire Slayer / Magnificent Seven - ATF AU
Rating: FRT
Characters: Scoobies, Seven
Word count: 2747
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Joss Whedon, etc. The characters of the Magnificent Seven belong to John Watson, etc. The ATF AU was created by MOG. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's note: My muse is stuck on family at the moment so this month the fics will probably have various family moments and configurations in it. This particular story goes AU after season 7 of Buffy (never read the comics, therefore I can't be true to them) and... can you have an AU of an AU in M7? :-) I have a few more ideas for this particular AU, so it may be back.
Warning: If you don't like kid stories, don't read this.
Summary: The Scoobies travel to Denver to stop a cult from turning back time to when the old ones roamed. Denver's ATF team "The Magnificent Seven" is unknowingly nearby trying to take down some moonshiners. Naturally, chaos ensues... eventually... probably in future stories
Rejuvenated
By Beriaearwen
The leaders of the New Council looked at each other, shock fading and leaving behind only grim determination.
“Do we know where and when?” Buffy asked, looking at the others, plans already forming in her head.
“Best we can figure right now it’ll be somewhere near Denver. We’ll have to do some research. We do have time - not a lot - but some,” Willow offered.
Buffy nodded. “All right. We need Dawn, Willow and Giles on research. Xander, we need you to get there and be our first feet on the ground. See what you can find out. Faith and I will begin gathering who and what we’ll need. We’ll also have to shift some coverage when we have a better idea of what’s going on. Meet again tomorrow at 2pm GMT with updates. We’ve got another serious apocalypse to stop. Let’s make the hours count.”
<><><><><><><>
That conversation took place two very short weeks ago.
Currently Giles, Willow, Dawn, Faith, Buffy, Xander, Vi, Rona and several other of the more senior slayers were preparing for battle. Robin, Andrew and Kennedy were each in charge of one of the Council strongholds - Scotland, Cleveland and Rio. They and the other Senior slayers would cover things until the strike team returned - or in case they failed.
The more they had managed to uncover about the cult they would be facing, the less they liked it.
In one specific spot about an hour outside Denver on this night, the cultists could perform a ceremony whose end result would be to turn back time to when the Old Ones roamed the earth - before man started taking a stand - before the Slayer was made. It was basically a reset of the world which would kill all who were not involved in the ceremony.
They needed to stop the cultists before the ceremony began. If the ceremony did begin and they stopped it before completion, there was no telling the consequences.
Gearing up and reviewing the plan one last time, the Council team set out to, once more, save the world.
<><><><><><><>
(Approximately a mile away from the clearing)
ATF team seven watched the remote building.
They were still in the information gathering phase of their case and had yet to call in other teams to assist. A little more information and they would have enough to arrest this group. It would be good to put an end to the mildly-poisonous moonshine making the rounds of high school and college parties as well as some of the poorer sections of Denver.
Soft clicks sounded in Team Leader Chris Larabee's ear as his men silently checked in. He and Buck were on opposite sides of the shack covering the doors. Nathan and JD were about a quarter mile away monitoring the various wires - JD the wires the duo undercover were using, Nathan the one the rest were using. He knew they were both ready to move should there be any need. Vin was somewhere around, most likely up high. He wasn't sure where their sharpshooter and weapons expert was, but trusted the other man would be exactly where they needed him.
The only real worry he had was for Ezra and Josiah. The two men were currently in the ramshackle shack meeting with the suspects to set up the deal where the ATF team could take them down.
He could do little for the two undercover agents at the moment other than provide alert backup - back-up he hoped they didn't need.
Scanning the area again, he noted that the two sentries had continued to follow the same path near the house. His internal clock indicated to him that thirty-eight minutes had passed since his agents entered the building. He knew there were four other men in the shack with them. Those men had arrive a full hour prior to the meet. He knew that because he and the others had been in position for three hours and forty-none minutes at this point.
His eyes returning to the front entrance, he froze as Nathan's voice sounded in his ear.
“Car approaching. Black sedan. Lincoln. Late model. On in the front, looks like a chauffeur. Blacked-out window in the back, no id possible.”
Chris felt himself enter a state of higher alert. He had a bad feeling about this. He knew he couldn't respond verbally at the moment, not with the guard so close to his position, but he knew and trusted his team. He knew Buck and Vin would step in and handle things.
Right now, he needed to get ready to do whatever was necessary to ensure his men's safety.
<><><><><><><>
Things were going better than expected, but not as well as they'd hoped.
Buffy didn't need to voice that observation, the grim looks on the faces of the rest of the Council members told her all she needed to of their understanding.
The clearing they were in caused the group to spread out.
Killing another demon and gaining another few feet of ground, Buffy allowed her awareness of those around her to flow even as she focused the majority of her attention on those around her.
She was fifteen feet away when the ceremony started. Faith was next closest at about eighteen feet.
Willow, Giles and Dawn along with another witch they'd brought were focusing on the containment spell that should prevent any magic raised by the ritual to be contained and drained. It was a much larger version of the be-spelled medallions the team wore to keep them safe from the effects of the spell.
With a surge of adrenaline and a loud cry, Buffy attacked the line of demons before her, breaking through a moment later.
As she broke that last line of defense, the stench of dark ritualized magic assaulted her slayer senses and knew the others were feeling it as well.
Allowing her rational thought to fall away, she stepped forward at the same time Faith did.
There were four magic users performing the ritual spell. Buffy and Faith, despite their speed, strength, experience and abilities could only kill one at a time.
Though the time-laps between the first death of the four and the last seemed no more than the blink of an eye, it was enough to unbalance the spell.
Though not a positive thing, she wouldn't have worried too much about the wave of magic she could feel flowing outward, except, at that moment three men burst into the clearing, followed quickly by eight more. “Protect them!” she cried even as she moved faster than she could ever remember doing.
She felt the wave of magic wash over her and witnessed its effect as it hit the inner circle of demons.
Pushing her tired legs faster, she blew past the demons, past her sister and friends. She caught sight of the two who were furthest from any of them and longed for wings to get their quicker.
She saw the wave hit the two men in her sights mere seconds before she was able to grab first one and then the other, dragging them both to the ground with her, careful not to land on either of them, but to protect them as much as possible.
A few minutes later, she felt the magic hit the shield and dissipate.
With a sigh of relief, Buffy closed her eyes. She needed a minute - just a short minute.
The sound of a sniffle had her opening her eyes. Turning toward the sound of the sniffle, she met a pair of large blue eyes framed by curly sandy-blond hair, close to the same shade as hers as a child.
Turning to the other side, she found a pair of scared hazel eyes not unlike her own staring at her from under a mop of light-blond hair.
Looking around the clearing, she noted, unsurprisingly that all the demons were gone, as were the trees, grass and anything else living that had not been wearing or in touch with one of the amulets her team wore. She felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she realized only seven of the humans had survived and they were all in the same state as hers.
Knowing they would have to meet, she gentled her grasp on the two she'd caught and offered a smile. “Are you guys OK? Not hurt or anything?”
Two head shook almost in unison.
“That's good. Do you know your names?” She once more received a negative response and then felt a moment's panic as two sets of eyes filled with tears. “Oh, hey. It's all right. We're all going to be fine,” she assured, drawing them into a hug. Something in her shifted and settled as they returned the gesture. Hope sparked in her mind and heart. Maybe this could be a chance for her. As her gaze swept the clearing, taking in the others, she wondered if it might not be a chance for all of them.
<><><><><><><>
“So we're sure there's no way to reverse the effects,” Buffy stated more than questioned.
“No. We haven't found anything. The researchers will continue to search as time permits, but the Coven believes any attempt to reverse the effect would do more harm than good,” Giles supplied.
Buffy nodded and turned toward Xander. “How did the meeting with the ATF go?”
A wry smile crooked Xander's lips. “About as well as expected when telling them that they just lost the entirety of their best team. Of course, the fact we couldn't tell them more than that went over about as well as a Chaos Demon at a birthday party.”
“Always does,” Buffy quipped before turning toward Dawn and Willow. “What about their possessions and family?”
“Their possessions have been put in storage. Any property is being held in trust by the council. We'll maintain it until such a time as it can be returned to the appropriate people. Chris Larabee's ranch has horses on it. We have a few volunteers to work on the ranch enacting the plans we found,” Willow informed.
“Apparently most of them didn't have family. Nathan had a steady girlfriend. We gave her the standard line. She was not happy, but when their former boss backed us up, she backed off. He also has a few siblings, but there's been no contact there for over a decade. Of the others, Josiah has a sister who is in an institution.” Dawn looked directly at Buffy as she continued, “She needs to be there. They're doing good with her.”
Buffy slowly nodded. She still had issues from her time in the sanitarium, but knew that some people needed to be there. She nodded to Dawn to continue.
“The only other family member we found is Ezra's mother, Maude. After meeting with her several times, we ended up having to tell her the complete truth. Though she took it hard, she agreed to allow Ezra to remain where he was provided she could visit occasionally.”
“We need to keep an eye on her when she does visit,” Xander added. “The lady doesn't seem to have an honest bone in her body. She'd not bad, necessarily, just...”
“A con artist,” Dawn finished.
Buffy glanced at Willow and smiled slightly at the eye-roll the red-head gave. Obviously Maude and Willow had already met. “All right. Then we keep as we have been and have the paperwork taken care of.”
When the agreement of the others had been officially recorded, she dismissed the meeting.
Sinking back in her chair, she barely had a moment to think before the door burst open. A moment later, she had a sandy-haired attachment which she cuddled closer. A moment later another form, this time one with light blond hair attached to her other side.
The ritual they had interrupted had been intended to turn back time to the dawn of man. Though it had started, it did not have enough energy to revert things that far back. It did, as far as they could tell, strip away a few centuries. As the magic moved out in a wave, it de-aged everything in its path.
Of the eleven men who ran into the clearing, only seven had been saved from annihilation. With standard Scoobie luck it had been the seven ATF agents rather than their four tagets.
Unfortunately, they hadn't been quick enough to leave the men completely unaffected. They were all de-aged and had no memory of their previous life. Somehow the protection they gave must have impressed itself on each of the seven men because each attached to the one who protected them.
She smiled as she allowed herself to think of it. There were now seven sons among the Scoobies between the ages of about two-and-a-half and almost five.
Giles had managed to reach Josiah Sanchez, the one with the most years to give to start with, was their almost-five year old.
Willow had protected Ezra Standish, who was now a precocious three.
Faith immediately took to just-turned-four year old Nathan. Robin came to love him too.
Dawn had headed toward the dark-haired, blue-eyed Buck Wilmington and now had a four-year-old of her own.
Xander reached JD before any of the others were protected, but the young man hadn't many years to give. Xander now found himself father to a two-and-a-half year old who spoke as much or more than Willow and had all of her intelligence. Buffy couldn't think of a better father for the boy.
As for her... She couldn't be happier to be mother to her two adorable scamps. Chris Larabee had de-aged to a young four and Vin Tanner sat at a solid three. She still felt a swell of motherly pride when people in the stores would comment on how handsome her sons were and how much they resembled her.
Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss on the top of each head. In a moment she would need to find out what mischief they'd caused now, but she could spare a few seconds to revel in the fact she was a mother.
She felt tears prick her eyes as she thought back to the first night in the clearing.
Both boys were terrified and didn't know what was going on. She pulled them into a hug then and told them everything would be all right.
After a moment, a tiny face turned up to her and wide, trusting hazel eyes met hers. “I believe you,” the little voice said.
A second later, while still reeling from the profound emotions those simple words inspired, another small body's shifting drew her attention. Meeting the blue eyes of the slightly younger boy, she felt rocked to the core again by what he said.
“I do to. You'll make it all right, mama.”
From that moment she'd been lost. She wasn't foolish enough to believe she'd be able to make everything all right, but being the recipient of that sort of child-like trust filled and healed her in ways she didn't understand.
A smile curved her lips as she watched Buck attach himself to Dawn. That was something else unexpected.
After a few days tending Buck, Dawn had drawn Buffy aside and apologized for being so difficult as a teen.
Buffy had hugged her and let her know she'd been forgiven. Of course, she couldn't help adding one last taunt which she just knew would eventually come to bite them in the backside.
“It's OK. I forgave you a long time ago, Dawnie.”
“Thanks. I just hope Buck doesn't prove as difficult.”
Buffy smirked. “Well, can't help you there. After all, there are those two Chinese curses that work 100 percent of the time.
Dawn's brow furrowed. “I know one is 'May you live in interesting times', but what's the other?”
Buffy smirked at Dawn's wince as Buck accidentally knocked over a pile of papers Dawn had been working on. “May your children be just like you.”
Looking around the room and thinking of her friends who were in distant places, she couldn't help but think that that last curse might not be such a bad thing after all.
Of course, that was before an irate Andrew stormed into the room covered in what looked like flour, slime, eggs and shaving cream.
“Oh boy.”
End