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DISCLAIMER: Yeah, right, they're mine. Don't you see the 'We Belong to Leni'
tattoo on their forehead? *pouts* I knew I shouldn't have used the invisible ink.
SUMMARY: post-NFA. Buffy and Dawn decide to nurse both vampires back to
health. S/B/A
RATING: PG
WORDCOUNT: 1395
DEDICATION: To Romany, who is always so sweet and kind.
UNEXPECTED
by Leni
They got to Los Angeles hours too late. The place was a chaos, pre-final battle Sunnydale
to the tenth power. The exodus of everything that could move, human and demon alike could
be seen even from the air. But they had been prepared. Prepared for anything but to find a
finished fight.
It had been Willow who found the vampires, a simple spell guiding her to their unconcious
bodies under the rubble. Faith and Buffy had been the ones doing their best to rescue
them, the other slayers were sent to scout the area, even if there obviously was nothing
to scout for. Their plane left for Europe with two extra passengers and Dawn just nodded
wordlessly when half an hour into the flight Buffy decided to let the injured vampires use
their spare room. Giles referenced her to several books that she might find useful, Willow
gave her healing potions, Xander shook his head but wished her luck anyway. The three of
them helped her install them in her home.
Several days passed in which Buffy despaired she hadn't paid enough attention to Giles'
books and Willow's instructions. But then Spike decided to open an eye and make a grab for
her butt; Angel waited until she'd finished her tirade to smile and rather sleepily ask
for a book. Oh, they were going to be fine. Buffy left the room in a huff, sending a
shocked Dawn in with the required book and some blood that "They can eat on their own
now. Or they better because I'm not lifting a finger for them anymore."
By the time she'd calmed down, Buffy wanted to knock both down. She told them so as she
locked the door behind her, making sure that Dawn wouldn't come to defend any of them. She
hadn't been so mad for months. Had they really thought nobody would notice their little
game? That the energy they were playing with wouldn't interfere with her senses and
Willow's magick? "Well guys," she had said as she wrapped the bandages as tight
as they'd go, "you were wrong."
Their half-guilty, half-pained winces always appeased Buffy a bit. Just until she
remembered that none of them had thought to call her. "But why would you? I'm just
another Slayer, just the one saving the world a couple times every year." She made
sure to damp the cottonballs in alcohol before lifting it to Spike's new eyebrow scar and
Angel's chin. They didn't complain, having learned to wait until this second wind passed.
Then she'd sigh, tell them to rest and "don't bicker over which show to watch or I'll
take the TV, I swear".
The next day the story would repeat. It's about circles, that's something the three
understood well. After all, circles were what they'd been lead through for the last years,
decades for two of them.
So it went until the day the vampires were fine and began to bicker for real. Buffy
correctly guessed that bandages and alcohol wouldn't make it to the end of month, Dawn
told them that they'd have to pay for everything they broke. When both pouted and said
they didn't have any money, both women shrugged and showed them to the door. Spike
appeared a couple of weeks later with two addresses (in different corners of the city,
just to be safe) and a check signed by Angel. Dawn raised her eyebrow at the last and
Spike just laughed in response. "Guess the old boy had a trick under his
sleeve," he said before scribbling a phone number under his address.
Angel came the next day, claiming to need a hand to choose his new furniture. Buffy
laughed and said he'd always had better taste than her. Dawn seconded that, but said she
wouldn't miss a free shopping spree for anything in the world. Buffy shrugged and went
inside for her jacket.
It was Spike who knocked their door the day after that, with another excuse to take them
out. The sisters just laughed and said they were welcome anytime. As long as they didn't
try to see which one could break the window by throwing the other against it, of course.
Both men seemed to ponder that for a moment but finally relented. There were more windows
in Rome, both thought unrepentantly.
How things changed so quickly after that, none could say why. They could say when, though.
One day Dawn packed her things and told Buffy she was going to Giles, to finish school
with the other Slayers her age. Buffy sat down on the couch and regarded her little sister
carefully, realising for the upteenth time that Dawn wasn't so little anymore. She sighed
and wished her a good trip, telling her to send letters or she'd go herself and ask Wood
to find another job for her. Dawn joked that she'd make a great counselor at 'Slayers' HS'
and Buffy just lowered her gaze and opened her arms to hug her sister tight.
Ten hours later Buffy came back from the airport to face a lonely apartment. She dialled
two numbers quickly after the other, repeating the same phrase when they answered and
instantly forgetting which one she'd called first.
They came together, or maybe one after the other, but Buffy remembers the three of them
sitting on her sofa. Angel patting her shoulder lightly while Spike held her hand. The
blonde had never been good comforting others, but he made sure to reassure her that 'the
Nibblet' would be alright. Angel reminded her that Dawn was a strong girl, that she didn't
leave because she loved Buffy less, but because she wanted to know herself better.
"Wasn't that why you left the others after Sunnydale?" he asked gently and Buffy
had to nod at that.
Dawn sent three letters as soon as she arrived. It took her only some weeks to understand
that the three of them could go to the same address. She teased Buffy about it, told Angel
that he better took good care of her and reminded Spike that her threat was still valid.
It isn't easy. They still have too much to work through and not enough time to do it. But
they've decided to try, and so far it works. Furniture still gets broken in the process,
but not all of it is lost to actual fights. When the tension gets to them, they've
discovered that they can work apart too. After a nasty argument over the events of '02
Buffy and Angel left for weeks, having arguments of their own all over Paris and Lyon.
Then they came back to Rome and found Spike waiting for them. They had a respite that
lasted months, until the fight that ended with Angel slamming the door behind him as Buffy
and Spike packed their bags and took the first airplane to America. They reunited in
Boston three months later, deciding to talk in a neutral place. It didn't stay neutral by
the time the next day came, there are some interesting pictures they never let anyone else
see from their two-week stay in Boston. Their next breakdown came when Giles reported a
sighting of Drusilla in California. Angel and Spike went right away, asking Buffy to send
their baggage later and "please don't come with us, luv" because "Spike and
I have to deal with her ourselves". It only took them two days to find the vampiress,
two weeks to decide that they had to kill her and almost a month to do the deed. Buffy
waited for them for another two months before they came back, weary and with haunted eyes,
but ready to face the world again.
It's been years and they still drift between Rome and the rest of the world. Giles still
sends books, Willow does her magick and Xander shakes his head but lately adds a smile
anyway.
All the cards are on the table. Those from the past, angry, mad, sometimes so scary and
heartbreaking they still bear the scars. Those from the present, full with questions that
are answered day by day, little mistakes and bigger gestures that remind them constantly
why they chose this.
It's not a triangle. It's not a mistake. It's just another circle they draw. But this time
they do it because they really want to.
The End
12/08/04
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