Dawn was wearing heavy clothes and lying on a thick fleece blanket, and still she shivered slightly. December in Los Angeles was warm by most people’s standards, but Dawn had spent her whole life in southern California. To her, this was cold.
Connor was wearing jeans, a red long-sleeve t-shirt from J. Crew, and a tan jacket. Angel had actually asked Dawn’s advice on what clothes an 18 or 19 year old boy would like. Glancing over at him, she patted herself on the back for picking so well.
Connor wasn’t looking at her, but up at the sky above. He looked at it with wonder. Then again, he looked at the ocean, the dessert, and most plant life with the same level of wonder. Dawn thought maybe he only seemed interested in her because he was interested in everything. After all, here they were staring at the stars on a romantic night, and all he was doing was looking up.
“You’re cold.”
Connor’s voice jolted Dawn from her reverie. “Um, only a little,” she said.
Connor handed her his jacket. “I’m kind of warm. You should wear this.”
Dawn took the jacket. “Thanks.”
Connor stared at her for a moment after handing her the jacket. He looked like he was trying to discern something in her eyes. She pulled on the jacket and looked back at him.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Connor leaned forward, closing his eyes and pressing his lips against Dawn’s. The kiss lasted only a second, but when Connor moved his head away, he was hyperventilating. The hairs on his arm were standing up and his body was tingling.
Dawn also drew a long breath. She realized Connor looked nervous.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” he said.
“I’ve been waiting months for you to do that.”
Connor smiled slightly and looked down. “I didn’t really know men were allowed to kiss women first. The times I’ve been kissed, it was always because the girl kissed me.”
Dawn felt a slight twinge of jealousy. “Really.”
“Of course, I guess it didn’t turn out so well.”
“Always ended in break ups, right?”
Connor frowned. “It always ended in death.”
Dawn suppressed a giggle. It sounded so hokey. She was sure he must be kidding. “Death?”
“When I first got here, this place, a girl named Sunny kissed me. Then she went to the bathroom and died.”
Dawn furrowed her brow. She knew there had to be more to this story. “Why . . . why did she die?”
“Heroin,” Connor said sadly. “And then Cordy . . . well, Angel probably told you about that.”
“Cordy?” Dawn said. “As in Cordelia? As in Cordelia Chase?”
Connor looked at Dawn with the defensive hostility that he bared every time he felt insulted or threatened. “Yeah?” he said somewhat harshly. “Why?”
“Nothing I . . .” Dawn shook her head. “I just can’t believe you dated that skank!”
“Don’t call her that!”
“Oh, come on. You probably don’t even know what a skank is.”
“Yeah, but I can tell it’s mean,” Connor answered as he sprung to his feet. “You . . . you didn’t know her.”
“Um, yeah I did,” Dawn said condescendingly.
“Well you didn’t know her like I did!” Connor shouted. He ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off.
“Connor, no!” Dawn shouted as she ran to the edge of the roof after him. Looking down, she saw him running along the street. “Oh, that’s right. I forgot he could do that.”
**
“You played us,” Faith shouted. “You played me! And all so you could take out du Plessis.”
Faith listened a moment, but only became more agitated. “Yeah, it’s what we wanted, but that’s not the point . . .”
Faith sighed. “Why? Why should I believe you? Or trust you?” She shook her head. “I never should have . . . never mind. All I’m saying is that any promises I made you, they’re void now.”
Faith slammed her phone closed and stormed out of her room.
“Whoa,” Spike said as she nearly ran him over in the hallway.
Faith stopped and looked at Spike nervously. He was still healing a bit. “Hey,” she said. “Did Xander and Gretchen take care of that Mother Beezwax or whatever?”
“Beezoar. And yeah. They just called to say they finished torching her.”
“Cool. So, you still leaving me? Us! I meant to say us.”
Spike smiled. “Last time I tried, didn’t work out so well. Think I’ll stick around. Help you fight crime and whatnot.”
“And that’s all you want?”
Things between Faith and Spike had never been quite right since they’d hooked up. “Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “That’s all.”
Dawn came out from the stairwell, her face slightly red with cold. She stormed toward Faith and Spike.
“Where’s Connor?” Faith asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it. All I want to do is get something hot in me to warm me up.”
“So many places I could take that line,” Faith said.
“This is like a horror movie,” Spike said. “Night of the Angry Brunettes. Come on, Bit. We’ll get you some soup.” Dawn followed Faith and Spike down the stairs toward the lobby.
“Hey, Faith, take your shirt off and wave it at me!” a voice called from below.
Spike cocked an eyebrow. “This should be interesting,” he laughed as he looked at the tall, muscular, dirty blonde-haired man who’d shouted.
“Billy?!” Faith exclaimed as she ran down the stairs. “I thought you were dead!”
“Hey,” Billy said, hugging Faith as she practically jumped into his arms.
Billy laughed. “I missed you, babe,” he said nostalgically.
Faith jerked away. “What a crock of shit. You completely disappeared from my life!”
“I was a P.O.W.” Billy said incredulously. “I disappeared from everyone’s life.”
Faith glared at him. “You disappeared from my life long before that.”
“Who’s this, then?” Spike asked as he stepped forward.
“Billy Jackson,” the guy said, holding out his hand. Spike shook it. “Firm grip,” Billy said. “Cold though.”
Faith didn’t much like talking about Billy. He reminded her of a time in her life when she was weak.
Billy was the ninth grade love of Faith’s life. He was a senior and her first boyfriend. Of course, to Billy, being a boyfriend meant dating a junior while paying just enough attention to Faith to make the freshman girl sleep with him. He strung her along for half the school year, calling her when he was bored or horny or both. Still, there was an animal attraction that, even now, Faith found difficult to resist.
“Can we talk somewhere?” Billy asked.
“How’s here?” Faith answered.
“Somewhere private,” Billy added.
“How’s here?” Faith answered again.
Spike grinned slightly. “I’ll just take the Little Bit out for a walk.”
“I don’t need a walk,” Dawn said. “I need soup.”
“So we’ll walk somewhere and get soup.” Spike gripped Dawn’s arm.
“So,” Faith said as Spike and Dawn left. “What brings Billy Jackson back into my life?”
“There’s . . . there’s a weird thing going on.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “If this weird thing is going on in your pants, then this conversation is going to end badly.”
“It’s not like that. This buddy of mine from the army, I got home and came to see him here in L.A. His mom told me he died in a mugging not long after he came home. But ever since then, I’ve . . . I’ve been seeing him.”
“Maybe you should talk to a shrink about that.”
“I did. I thought I was losing it.” Billy slowly lifted his shirt to reveal a scar by his ribs. It looked like a bad animal bite. “Then Jeff did this.”
Faith nodded slightly. “When do you see this guy?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is he always around, or just from time to time?”
“I don’t know. I guess . . . night. I usually see him at night. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I’ve only seen him at night.”
Faith nodded and walked to the counter. Grabbing a bag, she asked, “Where’s this guy usually hang out?”
“I’ve only seen him following me.”
“Then I guess we’ll just patrol where you hang out.” Faith called to the back. “Hey Lorne!”
Lorne came from the office, holding a book.
“I’m going out on a job. Tell Dawn I’ll be back soon.”
“You got it, kitten,” Lorne said.
Billy gave a chuckle and started turning toward Lorne. “Did he just call you kit . . . oh my god, what is that thing?!”
Faith squinted her eyes and looked at Billy. “He’s someone who helps me.”
***
“Guy trouble?” Spike said with a wry grin as he and Dawn walked aimlessly.
“As if,” Dawn said. “No, I’m just trying to work with Connor. Make him better and all that. But he’s such a brat sometimes.”
“Oh, and you’re never bratty,” Spike smiled.
“He takes bratty to new and disgusting extremes. And did you know he slept with Cordelia?!”
Spike cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Little bastard gets around, doesn’t he?”
“Well, so did Cordy,” Dawn said with disdain.
“Jealous, are we?”
“You should talk. I saw how you reacted when Faith’s boy toy showed up.”
“Like I’m jealous of him. First off, I’m way better looking. Second, I’m not interested in Faith. And lastly, he’s . . . got stupid hair!”
“Yeah. Not jealous at all.” Dawn glanced at her watch. “Look, why don’t you patrol? I’m just going to get some Chinese food, maybe catch a movie.”
“I can come,” Spike said.
“I kind of want to be alone.”
Spike smiled. “Okay then, Bit.”
Dawn headed for Chinatown. It could be a dangerous place, particularly at night. But Dawn’s confidence in her magic abilities and her desire for authentic Won Ton Soup pushed her on.
After the soup and some tea, Dawn headed back toward the hotel. It wasn’t long, before she heard footsteps behind her. She tried to inconspicuously pick up her pace. But Dawn knew trying to outrun vampires was foolish. Dawn ducked into an alley, and turned to face her attackers. She let out an audible grunt as she launched a fireball from her hand.
The fireball hit and incinerated the first vamp, but two more were coming. The fireball took a lot of energy out of her. Despite an almost overwhelming desire to collapse to her knees and catch her breath, Dawn pulled out her stake and prepared to fight. The vamps charged simultaneously. She knew they’d be expecting her to go right for the heart with the stake. She threw a quick kick at one of the vamps. She caught him off guard and knocked him back.
Dawn spun again and ran two steps, as if she were going to run away. She could hear one vamp behind her giving chase while his other friend climbed to his feet. Dawn immediately stopped and ducked. She threw her arm backward, jabbing her stake around where she thought the vamp’s heart would be. The stake sunk a couple inches too low, but the vamp howled in pain.
Dawn pulled the stake out and spun just as the vamp she kicked leapt for her. Dumb move she thought. Thanks to years of training under Buffy, Dawn knew that when you leapt, you lost traction, leverage, and mobility. The vamp’s chest descended upon Dawn like a wide-open target. And he wouldn’t be able to dodge out of the way. Waiting until the last second, she shot her arm forward and plunged the stake through the vamp’s heart. Instead of the weight of a full-grown man collapsing on her, Dawn was merely showered with dust that, less that a second ago, had been her attacker.
The last vamp stumbled to his feet, still holding his chest below his heart, where Dawn had staked him. “You know,” Dawn said as she stepped toward the injured vamp. “I was going to point out that I dusted your two pals and wounded you. Then I was going to suggest you run off. But now that I’m thinking about it . . . I’m pretty sure I can take you, too.”
The vamp turned and tried to run. Dawn quickly sprinted after him. He was almost out of the alley. Suddenly a shadowy figure dropped from the roof above, cutting off the vamp’s path. It turned and barreled toward Dawn. The shadowy figure chased after the vamp with inhuman speed. But before the figure reached the vamp, Dawn slammed the stake into its heart. She pulled her arm back, preparing to stake this new player in the alley.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Connor said, throwing his hands up defensively as he skidded to a halt.
“Connor?” Dawn said with surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Spike tracked me down and told me to go look for you. I heard a fight and was coming to help you out, but . . . well . . .” Connor shrugged and looked around the alley.
“How did you find me?”
“I went back to where Spike said you two split up. Then I just followed your scent.”
“Eww, okay,” Dawn said. “The next time that’s the answer, just say it was luck. Sorry, but this following my scent thing really skeeves me out.”
Connor looked crestfallen. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “Okay.”
“Sorry. I’m still in angry Dawn mode. I mean, you jumped off a building and ran away.”
“Sorry.”
Dawn looked at Connor with annoyance. “Spike tracked you down?”
“Yeah,” Connor said.
“And told you to do what?”
“Find you and apologize for everything you’re mad about.”
“Whether you thought you were wrong about it or not, right?”
Connor raised his eyebrows. “Yeah. Those were his exact words.”
Dawn shook her head incredulously. “So you’re really not sorry about anything, are you? You’re such a . . . never mind. Just walk me home, okay?”
“Yeah,” Connor said sadly. “Sure.”
****
“You hang out with demons often?” Billy asked as he and Faith walked the streets of L.A.
“Yeah,” Faith said. “That a problem?”
“If they can help you get Jeff off my back, I’m completely down with that. It’s just this whole demons thing . . . I don’t know. It’s kind of wild.”
Faith paused and looked at Billy. “Why’d you come to me? If you didn’t know what I did, why ask me for help? You’re the military tough guy. Not to mention our unpleasant personal history. I wouldn’t even be out here if it weren’t for a sacred birthright or some shit.”
“I’m not like that anymore, Faith. Trust me. Getting shot at, almost dying, and being a POW changes a guy’s perspective.”
“That doesn’t answer the question, Billy. Why come find me.”
Billy sighed. “The first person I called for help was actually Dave McLaughlin. Dave said I should talk to his little brother, Kenny.”
Faith rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming next.
“Kenny said you two hooked up for a while,” Billy said. “He told me I should talk to you. You’d be able to help.”
Faith turned and began walking again. When they dated, Kenny was usually drunk or high or playing the drums. Faith was surprised he’d ever noticed her increased abilities and her nocturnal activities that didn’t occur in his bed. But Kenny had been around during some pretty wicked times. He’d have to be an idiot not to notice anything. Well, Kenny was still an idiot. Just not as big an idiot as she thought.
“About that other thing,” Billy said. “I want you to know . . . I always regretted that.”
“Sure.”
“I’m not kidding,” Billy said in his most earnest voice. “When I was in that prison in Kosovo and I thought they were going to kill me, I thought about a lot of stuff. I regretted a lot of stuff. I was upset I’d never get to see you again. Tell you how sorry I was. I really wish I hadn’t been such an ass.”
“Yeah, I wish that too. But wishing doesn’t really do anything, does it? Well, it does if you make the wish to a vengeance demon, but then it really winds up being more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Vengeance demon?” Billy asked.
“Yeah. So watch it.”
As Faith spoke, Jeff dove from the shadows. Faith spun, pulling her sword from its sheath and cursing herself for not paying attention and being unprepared. Her sword came out, but an instant too late. Jeff grabbed her wrist before she could swing her arm.
Billy moved forward and punched Jeff, nailing him in the face. Jeff winced and loosened his grip on Faith’s wrist only slightly. It was enough so that the slayer could pull her arm loose.
Faith backed away a couple steps. “I’m guessing you’re Jeff.”
“I’m guessing you’re dinner,” Jeff grinned.
“Two to one,” Faith said. “And I got the big pointy sword.”
“You tryin’ to scare me?” Jeff said as he circled around Faith.
“No,” Faith said, moving her body to stay face to face with Jeff. “I’m trying to kill you.”
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
