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Please read and enjoy. I know it's frustrating to not have Spike and Buffy meet yet, but when they do? Oh boy!
THE BEST REVENGE


Summary: Buffy and Dawn make their escape….somewhat. Spike gets some shocking news from his cousin Wesley.




Chapter 5: ‘Far Away…..And Older’



Buffy gunned the Corvette’s engine and screeched the tires as she roared out of the mansion’s long driveway.

Dawn giggled merrily from the passenger seat beside her; causing Buffy to wave amicably at the armed guard at the mansion’s front gate.

With Angel securely trussed up in his study; his employees were none the wiser, temporarily at least. Buffy and Dawn were now free and clear to make their great escape to their first destination.

After about twenty minutes of driving, Buffy flipped off the CD player and pulled over to the side of the road. She turned to her seven-year-old companion and asked calmly:

“What do you know about England and how do you feel about seeing a bit of it, kid?”


Dawn’s beautiful blue eyes flew open even wider and she began to squirm about in her seat.

“England! That’s the big island with a king and queen, right?” Dawn exclaimed in excitement.

“Well, technically,” Buffy began patiently, “it’s got a queen and a prince. Well, a few princes that is,” she laughed somewhat giddy herself all of a sudden.

“I say let’s go!” Dawn squealed in delight as Buffy started the engine once again.

They had driven a few miles when Dawn cleared her throat and asked shyly: “Uhm, Buffy. Aren’t you afraid that Mr. O’Connor will catch up to us. In his car I mean and…..”

“We’re going to ditch the car Dawnie,” Buffy replied confidently. “There‘s a church parking lot, up about two miles from here,” she nodded towards the freeway ahead of them. Do you remember that nice man I told you about? Mr. Giles?”

“Yes,” Dawn nodded slowly, her eyes focused on the highway ahead of them.

“Well, Mr. Giles has a car for us, a little Volkswagon bug,” Buffy continued evenly. “Did you see Herbie Fully Loaded?”

“Uh huh,” Dawn replied shyly. “Mama took Danny and me to see it,” she finished with a sigh.

“Well, that’s the car, like Herbie in the movie, that Mr. Giles left for us. It’s in the parking lot of St. Mary’s Church of the Good Sisters. In a city called Glendale, just up here,” Buffy explained.

“Are we going to go back to Sunnydale?” Dawn blurted out nervously.

Buffy could tell that the little girl was terrified of her own hometown now. After what had happed to her parents, no wonder Dawn saw Sunnydale as an unholy place.

“No honey, we’re not going back to Sunnydale,” Buffy explained patiently. “Not for a long, long time,” she mumbled under her breath.

They drove along in silence for the next few minutes. That is until Buffy pulled Angel’s prized Corvette into the modest sized Catholic Church’s tiny parking lot.

Buffy spotted the non-intimidating little Volkswagon Beetle parked against the brick wall in the back of the lot.

She drove the red Vette inside and parked next to the little ‘poor-cousin’ vehicle and turned off the ignition.

“Mr. Giles said he left the keys taped under the car,” Buffy mumbled more to herself then to Dawn next to her.

“Buffy,” Dawn murmured softly as she gently placed her small hand on Buffy’s arm.

Buffy licked her bottom lip and turned to face the frightened little girl. She put on her calmest face and smiled brightly at Dawn, wishing briefly that the little girl could be just a few years older. Perhaps more able to understand…..

“If they catch us, they’ll hurt us bad, won’t they Buffy?” Dawn asked quietly; her blue eyes full of trepidation.

Buffy took a deep breath and replied honestly….. “yes, Dawnie. If Mr. O’Connor and his men catch us, they’ll…..”

“But they won’t catch us, will they Buffy?” Dawnie asked in a whisper, a slight smile on her sweet little mouth.

“No, they won’t catch us Dawn,” Buffy replied with much more confidence then she may truly have felt inside.

“We’re going to go far, far away from here Dawnie,” Buffy murmured hopefully.


Spike worked diligently, his muscular arms mixed then kneaded the dough for his famous tavern rolls. The rolls, all twelve-dozen of them, would be the special side for his famous stew; the one he mixed up for his cousin Wesley’s pub.

This was Spike’s ‘time-out’ as it were, from his obligations to the family farm. One Saturday night a month, Spike would head to Bath and Wes’ pub to make up gallons of his stew, along with the famous rolls. His own mum, Drusilla, had taught him the recipes when he was just a lad and he never forgot them.

Spike enjoyed his special Saturday sojourn into Bath, to make his beloved tavern supper. Wesley and Fred always appreciated it so much and Spike liked the accolades he received for his special offering of his special supper.

The pub was always packed on that particular Saturday night and it was the one time that Spike chose not to get too ‘pissed drunk’ and stumble home to the farm.

The blond man had noticed, as he worked diligently on his supper, that Wes’ wife, Fred seemed distracted from the pub’s busy activity.

“What’s wrong with your wife Wes?” Spike asked casually. Wesley was his only living relative and Spike loved him as such. However, the slightly younger man could be a bit uptight at time may have affected his bride, Fred.

“Oh, nothing really,” Wesley scowled briefly as he tended to a batch of clean mugs and glasses.

“It’s Winnefred,” Wes sighed heavily and tossed his bar towel down on the stove next to the big stew pot.

“My wife got a ring from her older cousin, Rupert Giles. You know the one, in the States?”

“Right,” Spike shrugged non-chalantly. “Is the old boy going to come visit his only cousin, finally,” Spike chuckled lowly as he stirred the stew.

“Uhm, well, no, not really,” Wes stammered nervously. “He…..”

“What is it mate?” Spike asked his cousin, suddenly serious and curious at the same time.

“Rupert asked Winnie (Wesley never called Winnefred by her nickname of Fred) if she could put up a ‘friend’ of his. A young American woman, with a small female sibling. I have no objections, of course,” Wesley assured Spike quickly.

“It’s just,” the dark haired Brit began hesitantly, “I think the young woman might be in some kind of trouble. After all, Rupert is married to Jennifer; we think the world of her of course. Now he pops up and asks Winnie to take on this woman and her sister? You know, Rupert Giles is quite high up; in the legal system of California and all. I’m a bit worried that the girl might bring trouble here and all. Winnie and I were thinking of starting our own family and…..”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine Wes,” Spike grunted in reply as he returned to his stew. “How much trouble can a young American woman be; and a small kid?”

“Rupert has made it clear that the young lady is quite a looker,” Wes muttered under his breath. “I’m worried that she might cause an unwanted stir in the pub. You know how the blokes around here enjoy a new bird and, well if we offer her a place here, of course,” he finished with a snort.

“A looker eh?” Spike chuckled with a new interest. “What’s the girl look like then?”

“A blond, or so Winnie claims. With emerald green eyes and a petite little thing; probably not 5’1” and…..” Wes’ sentence trailed off when he saw the stunned disbelief in his cousin’s blue eyes.

“A petite blond? With emerald green eyes you say?” Spike asked incredulously. He stood before his cousin, his blue eyes wide in shock; the wooden spoon he’d been stirring his stew with clattered to the floor of the pub’s kitchen.


Buffy drove the lime green Bug along; at the posted speed limit of course. There was no need to bring anymore attention to her and Dawn then necessary.

The ‘10’ Freeway was oddly light on traffic today, but Buffy was determined to stick to the strictest speed laws as she could. Her fear of Angel was well-earned and she had no intention of bringing any unwanted attention to the ugly colored little Volkswagon.

“Where to now?” Dawn asked quietly, her blue eyes focused on the dreary city sights off to the right of the freeway.

“A place called Duarte,” Buffy replied simply, all of her concentration on the road ahead of them.

“Duarte,” Dawn rolled the odd sounding title around in her mouth. “Duarte,” the child stammered nervously.

“See those mountains, well, more like hills over there,” Buffy pointed her right finger out towards the horizon.

“Uh huh,” Dawn replied shyly.

“Well, Duarte is over there,” Buffy explained evenly. “It’s a little city, not near as big as LA. More like Sunnydale,” she added furtively.

“Oh,” Dawn mumbled, once again her anxiousness was quite visible.

“It’ll be okay Dawnie,” Buffy promised earnestly. “Mr. Giles says he has a private little plane there, at a private airstrip just outside of Duarte. We’re going to go on a nice plane ride to a couple of places. First we’re going to a nice place called Lincoln. It’s in Nebraska and then we’re off to New York and a city there. Buffalo, I think,” Buffy offered meekly.

“Okay,” Dawn sighed in her quiet little voice that Buffy had come to love.

In just a short time, Buffy Summers had come to adore this little girl; there was something about the child. Something familiar and well…..

“Will we go to England from New York?” Dawn asked suddenly.

“Yes, we will,” Buffy replied quickly. “Mr. Giles says he has a nice relative there; a Winnefred lady. She’s married to a real nice man named Wesley Brenton. They own a place called a pub and they told Mr. Giles that we can stay there, with them for as long as we want. Or need to,” Buffy finished in a whisper.

“Okay Buffy,” Dawn responded mechanically. Dawn’s little face was turned away from Buffy so the woman could not read the child’s open blue eyes.

“I’m sorry Dawn,” Buffy stated with a heavy sigh. She truly was too, Buffy was…..sorry for a lot of things.

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong Buffy,” Dawn squeaked in her little girl’s voice.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes Dawn,” Buffy explained as she drove closer and closer to their destination. “I made my choices in life and well, I have to pay the piper so to speak for them. But you,” Buffy’s voice trailed off when she caught sight of the ‘Welcome to Duarte/City of Hope’ sign.


A/N: A couple of notes here.

I love to throw California ‘spots’ in my fics; places I know or have family in, etc. Glendale is my nephew’s hometown.

Duarte is a little more complicated then Glendale! Duarte sits at the bottom of some very historical hills/mountains that surround the LA basin.

My ex-husband grew up in Duarte and told me all kinds of bizarre tales about the city and hills that surround it. I swear, if I didn’t know better, I would think that Joss based Sunnydale on Duarte.

In other words: Duarte is the ‘Hellmouth’ of So. California. My ex swears that…..well, let’s just say that everything that happened on BTVS, he claimed happened in or around Duarte! Of course, my ex is pretty, well…..bizarre himself! LOL!

It is the called the City of Hope because, the City of Hope Hospital (literally) is there.


I hope this chapter was worth your time reading. I promise, in the next chapter our Spike and Buffy ‘will’ meet!

Thank you and please review, spufette.





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