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Author's Chapter Notes:
We have finally found a solution that should solve the time issues. The updates will now be happening every other weekend.

In penance for the missed deadlines and confusion, we offer you gifts. At first we were going to offer PDF-s of Book One, with autographed covers and your name, to our most loyal readers. Now, though, we have extended the offer to everyone who wants one. Just supply us with your e-mail through the review section, or at hm_ascendent3@yahoo.ca and you'll get yours when the book is finished (not long to go now). .. There's a 13-chapter PDF file, too, if you want one sooner.

And last but not least, Deacon has announced that there's an open slot for one of the readers to become a character in the next book, called "Midnight". All the person has to do is review either in here or on one of the archives. This is not meant as begging for more comments, though he does admit to being addicted to them, he is just showing his gratitude to all of you for following the story by giving one of you their fifteen minutes of fame.

Thank you, all, for sticking with us. We hope you have enjoyed the story so far.
The five weary demon slayers entered the Magic Box and proceeded to drop into the nearest chairs available. Xander threw Alec a towel, which the latter caught gratefully and began to dab at some of the demonic rat-blood stuck to his shirt.

“Where’d everybody go?” Willow asked, looking around the empty store.

Giles followed her gaze around the room. “I’m really not certain,” he replied frowning.

“ ‘Went to a quiet place to open a dimensional rift to the demonic plane. Love, Anya,’ ” Faith read from a piece of paper on a table.

Xander snorted. “Answers that,” he commented wryly, then furrowed his brow in confusion as Alec headed to the back room, which, oddly, had the door closed. “Wait a second. Weren’t Buffy and Spike here, too?” he asked.

“Hey,” Alec exclaimed, “this door's locked.” Tentatively, he put an ear to the door, just in time to hear a series of thumps, followed by a “bloody hell!” and a few more thumps. Grinning, Alec moved away from the door as it opened, revealing a very bedraggled looking blond Slayer wearing only a black t-shirt far too big for her.

“Uh, … hi,” she greeted meekly, turning red. Alec chuckled as he looked past her shoulder to see Spike, clad only in black boxers, hopping around on one foot, trying to tug on a pair of black jeans.

“Oh, sod all!” he cried out before tumbling to the floor in a tangled knot of denim and frustrated vampire. Buffy turned to regard her lover with a wry smile before turning back to her brother.

“Just give me two minutes,” she implored before hurriedly closing the door in his face.

Alec laughed quietly and returned to the common area of the Magic Shop.

Xander looked up. “What’s going on? Are they in there or not?” he asked, sounding a little testy.

“Yeah,” Alec nodded slowly, drawing the word out, “they’re in there.”

“Well? What’s going on?” Faith insisted.

Alec shrugged and walked over to a table to look at an open book. “Tension relief,” he stated simply, not looking up from the book. For a few moments, the words didn’t register, then slow grins spread across the faces of Xander and Faith. They turned to look at the back room with its closed door, then back to Alec, who had a crooked grin creeping across his face.

Willow laughed lightly. “Must be the impending apocalypse,” she suggested as Alec walked over to her.

“That does seem to be the general consensus,” he agreed before leaning forward and planting a kiss on the young witch's head. Willow beamed up at him before getting up from her seat and heading over to the computer.

Buffy and Spike entered the room, amidst much tugging in of shirts and straightening of hair. “Hi,” Buffy greeted the group cheerfully.

Spike mumbled some kind of greeting and walked over to his now-dry jacket to get a cigarette. Everyone did their best to ignore the lovers' rather incriminating state of physical disarray. Buffy continued to smile inanely until she noticed the splatter stains on Alec’s shirt.

“What happened?” she asked, frowning.

“We had a little… adventure,” Alec offered reluctantly.

Buffy turned to Xander. “Xander, what happened?” she demanded.

“Alec infected a rat with one of the demonic parasites, which turned it into a zombie cannibal monster, Faith cut its head off and Alec blew it up,” he said in a rush and sent an apologetic look to Alec. “Sorry, man, but she can beat me up.”

“So can I,” Alec growled back as Buffy shook her head.

“Can I have that again? In full detail this time?” she asked sardonically. Rolling his eyes, Alec quickly regaled to Buffy about Willow’s findings and his rather disastrous attempt to learn more about the parasites.

“What happened to the other two parasites?” Buffy asked.

“Destroyed,” Giles responded. “One was still in the jar which Alec threw at the creature before setting it on fire. The other was on the microscope, which I took the liberty of disposing of, before we left.”

"I leave you alone for five minutes, big brother." Buffy said in a cute, condescending voice as she patted Alec's cheek.

Alec didn’t know if he wanted to laugh, or kill her, so he settled for swatting her hand away irritably. "Knock it off, sis," he said. "I have enough going on without-"

Then he stopped, and frowned at Buffy; she was cradling the hand he'd knocked away. No, not the hand - the wrist - and her face was drawn in pain as if attempting to hide just how much such a casual tap on the arm had hurt her.

"What the hell happened to you?" Alec demanded.

The others gathered around to see what all the commotion was about, everyone except for Spike, who snorted, choosing instead to remain where he was and light a cigarette.

Buffy smiled placating, attempting to draw away from her brother. "It's nothing, bro, just a little love-…"

Without warning, Alec's hand shot out like a striking cobra, grabbed her arm, well away from the wounded wrist, dragged Buffy closer to him and hiked up her shirt sleeve: large, angry, black bruises covered her wrist all the way around it, and they resembled-

"Fingers," Alec bit out. "Those are fingers. This was done by someone's hand?"

"Really, Alec, its nothing."

Alec wasn't buying it; without releasing his grip, he gently probed the bruises with his free hand, lightly feeling the bones underneath. Buffy gasped in pain just as Alec found what he had been looking for.

"Buffy, this is broken."

"Broken?" Giles commented, concerned - breaking a Slayer's wrist wasn't the easiest of things to do in the world. "Good lord, Buffy. What on earth happened?"

"I had a little run-in…" Buffy said hesitatingly, drawing the sentence out as long as possible, "….with…-"

"With who?!" Alec growled.

"Dracula," Buffy said with a sigh.

Carefully, Alec released her arm and locked eyes with Spike, who was doing his best to not pay any attention to all of this.

"He dies," Alec said simply, which instantly convinced everyone present that he meant it. "Spike, mate, grab your coat, we have a vampire to kill."

"Now hang on there, bro," Buffy said.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't know where he is, do we?" Willow added.

Giles chimed in. "Furthermore, son, we're uncertain about his powers and abili-"

"HE BROKE BUFFY'S WRIST!" Alec roared.

Everyone leapt back in alarm, except Giles, who sighed and took off his glasses, beginning to clean them.

"He hurt Buffy and I'm going to put him in the ground! In pieces!" Alec cried, his fists clenched in white-knuckled fury and darkness beginning to ooze out from between his fingers.

"Alec," Buffy said quietly, "rage won't help us and neither will payback. Right now, though, trust me, Dracula's more than you can handle at the moment."

"Then bet on him rather than your own brother, Buffy. But I guarantee you I'm coming back with his head on a bloody stick!"

Willow stood behind Alec with a very worried expression her face. She began to take out a small pouch of herbs when Xander caught her eye and shook his head vigorously NO. Willow hesitated, but put her spell ingredients away, remembering what had happened the last time she had tried to influence her lover with magic.

"Alec, Dracula knows more about what is occurring here in Sunnydale, and within the larger world, in regards to the Hellmouth. He is also the only person who understands the connection between it and Dawn," Giles said calmly, though he emphasized the last point. "If you are serious about protecting Buffy, Dawn, and everyone else, you will not confront Dracula and risk either depriving us of your martial prowess by being injured or slain, nor depriving us of vital information by slaughtering him.”

The results were instant: Alec forced his hands open, fingers stiff and palms up. The darkness was gone and color was returning to his skin. He closed his eyes, took three deep breaths, and opened them again. The pupils of his eyes had begun to darken noticeably during his tirade, but now they were their normal shade of green and violet.

"Fine. Fine. Okay, Dad, we do it your way," Alec relented. There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone.

Buffy caught Willow's eye and mouthed, “Wow.” The redhead just gulped and nodded.

Alec caught the look and turned on Buffy. "But you, my dear, are going to be a whole hell of a lot more careful and you're going to avoid Dracula at all costs," he told her firmly. She opened her mouth to protest, but Alec cut her off with an angry narrowing of his eyes. "No complaints, sis. This is the second time he's gotten the drop on you, though at least this time it didn't end with his teeth in your neck…-” A sudden thought struck Alec and he opened his mouth again to ask.

"NO!" Buffy cried out. "God, chill out! No, there was no neck snackage of any kind, I promise you. Things just got physical and I got careless and that's all, I swear."

Alec sighed. He had no idea if she was being straight with him, though she usually was. Still, he could sense she was holding something back. "Fine," he acquiesced. "All right then, you just be more careful, and in the meantime, I'm going to go do… something."

"You want some company?" Willow asked, sounding meek and still a little intimidated.

"No thanks, baby," was all Alec said as he stalked past them all and entered the back room, closing the door behind him and locking it with an audible click.

There was a long, awkward silence, punctuated by everyone whom had breath letting it out slowly as the tension drained out of the room.

"What do you think he's doing in there?" Xander quipped with a grin.

Wham! came the blow from behind the door against one of the adjoining walls. The sound made everyone jump and the force of it caused a jar on a shelf, mounted on the said wall, to tumble to the floor and shatter.

"What he does," Buffy said forlornly and sighed in equal parts affection and exasperation. She turned to Giles. "You know he takes after you, right, Ripper?"

"You have no idea," was all Giles said in reply.

"I love my honey," Willow said quietly, in a tone much like Buffy's.

"How do you put up with that guy?" Xander asked her, askance.

"He's never forgotten anything that was important to me, unlike you Mr. ‘Forgets his best friend's birthday two years in a row’ ”.

"And for that you stay with a guy that makes Jason Vorhees look mellow?"

"Hey, Red?" Faith asked, speaking for the first time during all this. "Does he put that much intensity into everything he does?" Willow turned bright red and bit her lip as Faith laughed. "Thought so. So there's that in his favor, too, eh, kiddo?"

"I need to clean this up," Willow mumbled and went to get a broom as Faith guffawed.

Buffy meanwhile turned her head to see Spike staring at her intently, his face grim. Without a word they both turned to face the closed door and the shattered jar on the floor. Their expressions became grimmer.



Alec came out of the room a few minutes later. Everyone looked up warily as he approached Buffy and asked.

“Say, where’s Angel at?”

“He went with Anya out to Breaker’s Woods to cast the spell,” Buffy answered, willing to let Alec get away with the shift in the conversation topic. “She has to do some ‘reach out and touch someone’ action with a demon, remember?”

Xander looked up with a scowl. “Why did Angel go with her?” he asked, a note of protective boyfriend creeping into his voice.

“Because exposure to Sunnydale alone at night can be hazardous to your health?”

“Okay, I’ll buy that,” Xander admitted with a grimace and a hurried nod before turning to Giles. “So, G-man, what’s our next move?”

Giles glared at the young man. “Firstly, do not call me that, …” Xander held his hands up placatingly as the older man continued, “…and secondly, I’d imagine our next course of action should be to find out whatever this ‘Grigori Estate’ is that the Count mentioned.”

Willow peeked over the top of her computer monitor. “I’ve got Miss Calendar’s ‘search engine-o-mighty’ chewing on it right now, it should only take a few minutes,” she assured them.

Giles nodded and turned back to Buffy. “Did you find anything useful in the Slayer diaries?” he asked.

Buffy blushed. “Well, to tell you the truth I… uh… didn’t get that much more research done after you guys left.” All eyes turned to Spike, who was seated in a chair, smoking a cigarette.

“What?” he asked defensively. “She started it. Little maiden of hormones here,” he gestured to the blonde Slayer. Buffy chucked a pillow at him. “Well, you did,” he growled at her before piping down. She continued to glare at him as she got up and picked up another Slayer diary, this one looking much older than the rest, and began to read.

Impatience making him ansty, Alec sighed, and began flipping through a book of Walt Whitman, when Willow’s voice perked up.

“Got it!” she squealed, holding her hands up high above her head to wrap her arms around Alec, who had come over to inspect her findings. She looked up at him and demanded, “Kiss me!”

Alec cheerfully obliged before turning his attention to the computer screen. “What do you got, princess?”

Giles and Faith came over to look at the screen as Willow began to explain.

“Well, it turns out ‘Grigori’, in Christian lore, refers to a group of angels called ‘watcher angels’. No relation, I’m sure,” she directed at the older man with a wry look. Giles smiled down at the red headed hacker before she continued, “In any case, Grigori Estate is very hush-hush, only reason why I got any hits on it at all is because there was an incident there about six years back.”

Giles frowned. “What manner of incident?” he asked.

Willow read a little further before making a face and responding.

“Uh… it says here there was some sort of disturbance… that resulted in multiple homicides,” she continued to read. “Coroner’s report disappeared, ditto with all the police work, the only thing we do have for information is the name of the place, the year, and a police code for disturbance and another for multiple homicides.” She looked up, perplexed. “That’s it. No eyewitnesses or statements, not even any photographs.”

Alec shook his head. “That seems awfully cloak and dagger. Can you get a location?”

“Uh… yeah,” Willow frowned in concentration; hitting a few more keys, new data flowed across the screen and she leaned in to read. “Looks like it’s in upstate New York, near Crown Point, no address though.” She turned to the rest of the group. “I have a cousin who summers there. She used to send me postcards.”

Giles nodded and sighed. “Well, I suppose I could call Information.”

Alec snorted. “And once you get the number, what are you going to do, call up Grigori Estate and ask them if they know of any way to prevent the end of the world?” he chuckled as Giles frowned.

“Good point,” he turned to his son. “What do you suggest we do?”

Alec shrugged. “Only thing we can do - we go out there ourselves.”

Giles’ eyes widened. “Alec, it’s on the other side of the country. For the lot of us flying, that’s going to be hideously expensive airfare.”

Alec frowned frustrated.

“Well, why don’t we drive then?” Xander piped in. “My uncle's got a huge R.V. I’m sure we could commandeer it for a week or so. With his license suspended, he sure as heck isn’t going to be driving it anytime soon.”

Willow nodded. “That’s right. When Xander and I were kids, we’d play hide and seek in it for hours, it’s so huge,” she looked up at Alec and smiled. “We used to call it the Godzilla-mobile.”

Alec smiled wryly. “And I’d always been told that size didn’t matter.”

“She lied,” Faith put in without hesitating. Alec threw her an amused look.

“Uh… guys?” Buffy began hesitantly. “Two things. One, we have the problem of traveling with vampires…”

“I can handle that, luv,” Spike interjected, “a little tinfoil, a few rolls of duct tape. Bingo! Instant sun-proofing!” He folded his arms, pleased with himself.

Buffy continued, “Okay. Two, if I tell my mother that I’m going on a road trip to New York on Christmas, she’ll pitch a fit. Plus, I can’t leave her and Dawn alone with Swamp Thing wandering the sewers.”

Alec sighed, before turning back to Xander. “Just exactly how big was this R.V?”



“That’s a big R.V.” Alec admitted. It was two hours later as Xander lumbered the mammoth machine up the darkened street and parked it across the street from The Magic Box, “ ‘Bus’ might be a more accurate term.”

Even Spike was impressed, giving a low appreciative whistle. “That’s a lair on wheels, to be sure.” He turned to Angel, who had returned from his excursion with Anya. “Hey, poof! Think I could get this thing to hit eighty in over eighty-five?”

Angel snorted. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” he commented dryly, before turning to Buffy. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Buffy shrugged. “Not a clue, but it seems to be the best way to go about things, at least for now.” She turned to her sister. “Now, remember Dawn, this is a big important, save-the-world kind of deal, so once we get to Crown Point, you do exactly what we say, when we say it, or we are checking you into a nice hotel with lots of adult supervision, and you’re staying put until we leave, all right?”

This was the only way Buffy could feel comfortable about going. Joyce had been convinced, under protest, to visit their Aunt Sheila in LA. for the Christmas season so that it took her out of the picture. Buffy figured that taking Dawn with them, however, would minimize any chances of a repeat performance of the other night. She and Alec had discussed whether or not it would be better to just check Dawn into some hotel in the city, but Alec had suggested against it, claiming that Dawn would be safest with them, in case something came gunning for her. Buffy had reluctantly relented to his logic. Dawn, however, had grave reservations about this plan.

“In other words, I have to be stuck in a giant car with you and your friends for three days, just so I can be bossed around or be dumped into the first convenient hotel in the middle of nowhere New York? Perfect!” She folded her arms and jutted her lip out in a way that usually signaled a prelude to an argument. In a stroke of divine intervention, Alec came out from behind the bus, having been helping Spike and Angel load luggage into the cargo compartment. He came up behind Buffy. “Give it another thirty minutes and we’ll be in great shape. Should be able to leave before sunrise,” he told her.

Buffy looked around at the hustle and bustle in awe at how quickly it had sprung around them. Willow was on-line getting a map, Faith was assisting, Anya was talking to Giles regarding her meeting with D’Hoffryn, and the vampires were busy loading the bus.

“Sounds like a plan,” Buffy nodded, commenting approvingly… and noticed Dawn’s sudden acute interest now that Alec had entered the conversation.

“Hey, princess,” the half-demon turned and greeted her, smiling, his voicing warming considerably.

Dawn fairly melted. “Hi, Alec,” she replied shyly back, looking down, then up through her bangs, biting her lower lip slightly. Offering a smile to both of the sisters, Alec headed back to continue preparations.

Dawn looked up suddenly at her sister. “Alec’s coming with us?”

Buffy grinned and nodded. “Uh huh. He’s officially part of the Scooby gang. But, I mean, if you really don’t want to come along, I suppose Aunt Maggie wouldn’t mind looking out for you for a while,” she smiled.

Dawn pretended to consider. “Well, I mean if Alec is coming, I suppose this won’t completely suck. I’ll put my bag on the camper.” She turned haughtily and walked towards the camper.

Smiling slightly, Buffy turned and walked over to Giles, who had just finished talking with Anya.

“How we doing?” she asked.

He turned and shrugged. “It’s a little complicated, and I have to clarify between Anya’s running commentary and the actual information received, but as near as I can deduce, D’Hoffryn has declared neutrality. He won’t actively assist, but he’s agreed to make what resources he has at his disposal available to us, for the duration, anyhow.”

Buffy sighed; it was really more than she had any right to expect.

“What about the monster R.V. - how’s it look?” she queried, changing the subject. Xander approached, answering.

“Tank’s full and the interior's clean.” He turned to regard it. “Spike and Angel are in the process of sun-proofing it now. Had to raid the all-night hardware store for the MacGuyver tape and tinfoil.”

Giles cleared his throat. “Xander, are you entirely certain you are capable of driving this the distance required?”

Xander nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll handle days, and Angel can handle nights.” He leveled a stern finger at Buffy. “Under no circumstances is Spike to get behind that wheel. I don’t want to wake up in the morning and have a roadside bar as a hood ornament.”

Buffy chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry,” she pointed to Alec and Spike who were checking off a list, “Alec and Spike seem to be in charge of working out some sort of distraction program for the duration of the trip, which reminds me,” she turned back to Xander, “you on top of snack detail?”

He nodded. “Anya and I are on it. Gonna go raid the Circle K in a little bit.” He cocked an eyebrow. “Any personal requests?”

Buffy looked around before whispering in a conspiring tone. “Those little frosted orange cakes, with the cream in the middle?”

“Little Debbie?” he asked.

She nodded and bit her lip, playfully, then confessed. “I love those things.”

Xander chuckled. “Will do. Can’t save the world on an empty stomach,” he waggled his eyebrows and headed back to the R.V.



“Smokes?” Alec asked, consulting a list.

“Check,” Spike responded, holding up several large boxes of cigarettes.

“Booze?”

“Check.” Spike gestured to several bottles of whiskey.

“Coffee?”

Spike shifted his gaze to a portable coffee pot. “I think the Slayers have got that covered, so check.”

“Tunes?”

“Check.” Spike patted a case of cassettes and held up a ghetto blaster.

“Map?”

Spike frowned. “Bloody hell, man, I’m in charge of the essentials. Leave the frills to the womenfolk.” With a snort of derision, he went back to packing his goods.

Laughing quietly, Alec walked over to Willow, who was online getting the map.

“How’s it look, lover?”

“Awful. Days and days on the road with no privacy,” she frowned and pouted at him playfully.

He grinned and pointed at the laptop. “I meant the map,” he clarified.

Willow ‘oh’-ed in mock understanding, and grinned before turning her gaze to the computer.

“Not a problem, just get on the transcontinental highway all the way into New York state,” she replied.

Alec nodded and kissed her hair. “Well done, princess.” He smiled and headed away to help Spike with the “essentials”.



Thirty minutes or so later, they were ready to go.

“All aboard!” Xander yelled, then grinned. “I’ve always wanted to say that.” The collected group filed passed him and tossed personal possessions on various fold-out beds, staking claims for their own. Xander called back to them. “All right, kids, double bunk where you can!”

People began to pair off and settle: Buffy went with Spike, Alec with Willow, Anya took an empty space for Xander and her, Angel slung a hammock across two chairs, Faith did the same, Giles had brought a small inflatable mattress for himself, and Dawn unrolled her sleeping bag out onto a large patch of carpet.

“All set?” Xander asked.

“Ready to go,” Buffy replied.

“Almost, luv,” Spike interrupted, reaching over he flipped on the switch to his ghetto blaster and ‘My Way’ erupted from the oversized speakers. The bleached vampire grinned happily, and Alec sat up, drumming on the window with the palms of his hands in time with the music, grinning like an idiot.

“ ‘Regrets, I’ve had a few!” they sang in unison, howling at the top of their lungs, as the R.V. pulled away. “But, then again, too few to mention! And more, much more than this I did it my way!”

The pair ended as the song did, and others began hurling pillows at them.

“Ingrates! The whole bloody lot of you!” Spike sputtered as they left Sunnydale.



The hours passed swiftly. The group made it out of the state and pulled into a rest stop so everyone could get some shuteye. Spike’s sun-proofing had held up nicely throughout the day, and come sundown they would hit the road again. Giles had had the foresight to bring a guitar and was kind enough to play some tunes including his infamous rendition of “Behind Blue Eyes”. Afterwards, when the former librarian started playing the first few bars of a familiar tune, Alec jumped in with vocals as well, and together they cut a pretty smooth rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone” that had even the normally dour Angel bobbing his head to the tune.

Willow smiled adoringly at Alec. “It figures, why do I always fall for musicians?” she asked.

Buffy frowned. “Did Tara play an instrument?”

The redhead nodded. “She played the flute pretty well.”

Faith, who was seated in the passenger seat next to Xander up front, turned, and opened her mouth to make a comment, but Xander shushed her.

“Don’t say it, Faith, we’ve all seen ‘American Pie’.”

Faith grinned and settled back to watch the road.

Dawn was smiling at Alec as he and his father continued to play. There was something about him, for her at least, that made the rest of the world fade away. She smiled, and rocked in time to the blues that were being played. Everyone was surprised however, when Spike removed a harmonica from his jacket and started to play along with the others. Buffy sent him an amazed look as he blew out a long, complicated melody, dancing his fingers against the instrument. When he finished, the vampire grinned at his lover.

“Harmonica’s a snap when you don’t need to breath, luv,” the vampire added grinning.

Alec smirked at this and continued to sing.

Anya turned to Buffy, and commented, “This is interesting music.”

Buffy shook her head. “No, Anya, this is not just 'music'.” The Slayer gestured to her Watcher, his half-demon son, and her vampire lover making music together. “THIS is a Ripley’s-worthy Kodak moment.” She grinned and started to drum on her legs in time with the music. The song ended amidst much applause, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn being the most enthusiastic of the applause donators. Willow wrapped herself around her boyfriend, who had shed his trademark duster, and was clad only in a white t-shirt and black jeans.

“So, know any Creedence Clearwater?” she asked wryly.

He smirked up at her. “Since when does the Lorrena McKennit poster child listen to Creedence Clearwater?” he asked.

Willow smiled enigmatically. “Well, you’re not the only one with secrets,” she replied lightly. He smiled and kissed her cheek. Dawn’s face fell at that and she abruptly left, sitting down between Faith and Xander, her arms crossed. Sparing a look from the highway, Xander shot her an inquiring look.

“What’s up, little lady?” he asked her lightly. She glared at him through narrowed eyes.

“Guys suck, that’s what’s the matter!” she bit out. Faith laughed and slapped her on the back, nearly sending her sprawling.

“Way to go, D,” she smiled wryly, “it took me until I was seventeen to figure that little truth out.”

Dawn frowned unhappily and turned back to look at Alec; Willow was on his lap as she tried to teach him some chords on the guitar. Faith followed her eyes and nodded in comprehension.

“Ah,” she purred, causing Dawn’s head to whip back to face her, humiliated. “I see what the issue is.” Faith got up and took Dawn’s hand. “Come on, kid, let’s go have a girl-to-girl talk.” Dawn reluctantly followed her to a private corner of the bus. She sat opposite the scarred slayer, who smiled knowingly at her.

“Looks like the ‘little lady’ is coveting the witch’s man,” Faith observed knowingly. Dawn blushed, Faith put a hand to her shoulder reassuringly.

“Listen, Dawn, can I tell you something, chick to chick?” she asked her.

Dawn shrugged miserably and mumbled downcast, “I guess so.”

“First off, you and I both know you’re not a little kid,” the older woman began. “You’re what, fourteen?” she asked.

“Fifteen in May,” Dawn replied.

Faith acquiesced the point. “Anyhow, the point is, you’re more woman than kid. Your heart does funny things to you at this age. But you’re never too young to fall really head over heels for a guy,” she leaned in to whisper conspiringly, “remind me to tell you about my Sunday school priest, who I had the hots for from age seven to sixteen.”

Dawn frowned at her. “You had the hots for a priest?” she asked, confounded.

Faith nodded and grinned. “In the worst way, amiga.” She shook her head. “The point, though, is that this was me. It was a crush, not anything more,” she looked over past Dawn’s shoulder at Alec who was still trying to learn the guitar, then turned back to Dawn. “How’s it feel, when you’re around the guy. I mean, is it a ‘I want to take him some place private and do things that would make my mother rotate in her grave’ sort of down-low tickle, or is it something more?” she inquired.

Dawn blushed before answering. “It isn’t like that. I mean,” she bit her lower lip and smiled, “he does have great lips doesn’t he?”

Faith grinned and nodded. “He’s definitely quite the honey.”

Dawn continued. “But, I don’t know, it’s not like a… you know...” She blushed.

“A ‘jump his bones till the cows come home’ kind of thing?” she supplied helpfully.

Dawn blushed, nodding. “Yeah, it’s not like that, it’s more like...” She leaned in closer to Faith and whispered, “Every time he’s in the same room with me, it’s like there’s no one else. There’s just him. And every time he touches me, even if it’s just to hold my hand or touch my hair,” Dawn closed her eyes blissfully and swooned, “I feel so… great. Warm and safe, like I'm glowing,” she opened her eyes and looked down. “I’m nuts, aren’t I?”

Faith just grinned and shook her head, chuckling. “Worse. You’re in love, and, boy, have you got it bad. Have you ever told him?”

Dawn shook her head vehemently. “No way! Whenever I get around him I can barely get out two words. Besides,” she sighed and, looking at Alec and Willow wistfully, growled, “I doubt little miss witch would take kindly to it.”

Faith’s eyes widened. “Meow!” she commented appreciatively. Chuckling, she placed a hand on Dawn’s slim shoulder. “You’ve got to tell him, girl. Sooner or later, you’ve got to come clean. Cause there’s nothing worse than loving someone that doesn’t know.” Faith’s face suddenly frowned unhappily and she turned her gaze over at the crowd.

Dawn followed her line of sight and gasped, as she realized just whom Faith was staring at.

“Angel?” she squeaked, shocked.

Faith snapped her head back to glare at her.

“Keep it down, will ya, D?” she flicked her eyes back and forth nervously. “No need to tell the whole world,” she hissed at her.

Dawn swallowed and nodded, eyes wide. “Does he, I mean, have you said…?”

Faith shook her head. “Nah. Him and I aren’t a possibility. Too much bad history.” She sighed forlornly. “I did some pretty awful things to him way back when. We’re square and all, but it’s not going to happen.”

Dawn felt a rush of sympathy for the older woman. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “How did you know? I mean, that you were, you know…?”

“In love with the guy?” Faith replied. Dawn nodded. The younger Slayer sighed and leaned back in her chair, her eyes going glassy as she thought back.

“It was during B’s last visit to L.A. She’d come gunning for me after some serious nastiness, and Angel stood up for me.” She shook her head. “Me, the gal that had tried to kill him and steal his soul and stuff. He was standing up for me, and standing up against this girl that he had a serious thing for.” Faith sighed. “No one had ever done that for me. It made me feel something I’d never felt. That’s why I turned myself in to the cops, otherwise this bitchy chick cop would have thrown Angel into a cell with an eastward facing window.” She came back to the present. “I couldn’t let him fry. Not after everything he’d done for me. So I turned myself in, and pretty much chalked up the rest of my life as time to be served,” she finished.

Dawn regarded her with a mixture of compassion and pity.

“So what happened next? I mean, did you know then that you loved him?” she asked.

Faith shook her head. “No. It was after I got this,” she gestured to the long scar slashing down her eye. “The skank responsible was packing a shiv at the time, I got careless and she cut me. I went nuts on her, seriously wailing, I was all raring to kill her. I wanted to kill her, and I just stopped. Because I knew that I would be letting Angel down if I did.”

She looked up at Dawn. “I did a lot of death-dealing when I first came to Sunnydale. Enjoyed it, too. Angel tried to get me back on the straight and narrow. I blew him off and tried to kill him, and wound up a vegetable for the better part of a year.” She sighed. “I lost everything: friends, a future, a sense of purpose. I got taken down about as far as someone could go. Despite everything, when I got to L.A., Angel did his best to help me, he forgave me for everything I’d done to him and tried to help me help myself. He gave me hope that I could be a good guy, you know. A Slayer again. ‘Someone to be counted’ as he put it, instead of just some murdering psycho-chick.” She shook her head, trying to swallow a lump in her throat.

“Anyhow, I couldn’t let him down. So, I didn’t kill her, and as the prison cutter was stitching my face back together, I knew that I loved him. Truly, madly, deeply, I loved the guy,” she turned aching eyes back at Dawn, “and he’ll never know cause I don’t got the guts to tell him.” She sighed, again, and cleared her throat. Dawn felt a case of sniffles creeping up on her.

“Why not? If you love him that much why don’t you tell him?” Dawn implored.

Faith snorted. “What, are you kidding? I can’t do that,” she retorted.

“Why not?” Dawn asked.

Faith snorted again derisively. “And say what? ‘Sorry about trying to kill you all those times. How about dinner?’ ” she scoffed, then became serious. “Besides, he’s still in love with your sister, in a major way,” she replied quietly.

Dawn’s eyebrows nearly leapt off her face as she whirled around to regard the brooding vampire, sitting apart from everyone else, staring out the window, streetlights flashing across his face.

“Angel still loves Buffy?” Dawn whispered.

Faith scoffed. “What? Are you kidding? Majorly, you should see the look on his face every time her and her bleached blond beau are together.” She shook her head. “Angel loves her like crazy,” she sighed and slumped her shoulders, “and as long as he does, my chances with him are about on par with a snowball’s survival rate in Hell,” she finished morosely.

Dawn nodded sadly. “I see your point.” Tentatively, she reached out and placed a hand over the older woman’s hands. “I’m really sorry,” she whispered. Faith smiled a little and shook herself hard, patting Dawn’s tiny hand.

“Hey, when did you become Mother Teresa? Come on, forget about it,” Faith tried to quip lightly.

Dawn shook her head. “I know how it feels, Faith, it’s the most wonderful awful feeling in the world.”

Faith nodded and sniffled before regarding the younger girl wryly.

“Hey, I thought I was supposed to be comforting you,” she commented dryly.

Dawn shrugged. “I’m feeling better now anyhow.” She turned to look at Alec. “He’s kind, and sweet, and he takes me seriously, and he’s saved my life a few times...” she smiled before turning back to face Faith and shrugged unhappily, “... I guess that’ll have to do for now.”

Faith grinned and tousled her hair affectionately.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see how long that resolve holds out when the nights get cold and lonely,” she retorted wryly.

“It’s not like...” Dawn began, blushing.

“It’s not like that,” Faith finished for her sardonically, nodding her head indulgently, “whatever you say.” Then she grew serious again. “You’re not going to spill the beans are you?” she asked looking a little worried.

“Are you?” Dawn she asked back.

Faith grinned and looked puzzled. “About what?” she asked innocently. Dawn laughed and nodded.

“Okay, cool.” Flashing the Slayer a grateful smile, she headed back to join the others, who were engaged in a heated debate.

“I’m telling you, MacIntyre was far much more the man than that tool B.J,” Spike declared. “He helped Hawkeye build the still.”

Alec snorted and waved a hand, dismissively.

“Spoken like a true lush,” he retorted. “B.J. was an infinitely more loyal friend to Hawkeye than Trapper was. Remember, the series finale? Who came to visit Hawkeye after he had a nervous breakdown? B.J,” Alec finished triumphantly.

“That’s what I’m bloody saying! If Trapper had still been on the show he would have never let Hawkeye have a nervous breakdown. He’d have filled him full of martinis and told him to sleep it off,” Spike retorted vehemently.

Buffy chuckled, deeply amused by the debate.

“The both of you are children. You know that right?” she commented wryly. “M*A*S*H has been over for years, this debate is pointless.”

Alec and Spike both shot her nasty looks.

“Well I always thought that Houlihan-” Anya spoke up.

“Oh, screw Houlihan!” Alec and Spike cried out in unison, flashing each other grins as Anya’s eyes widened in miffed surprise.

“Moisten tart,” Spike growled.

“Hear, hear,” Alec agreed. Giles cleared his throat and turned to Willow, who was regarding her lover with wry affection, finding his addiction to M*A*S*H deeply cute.

“Willow, where are we right now?” he asked politely.

Shaking her head and laughing quietly, she turned from the dispute to the laptop on the table, pursing her lips she frowned at the screen.

“According to the GPS we’ve just left Arizona and are in New Mexico,” she looked up at Giles. “Xander wants to avoid going through Nevada, says with all the Vegas holiday traffic it’d be a real hassle,” she turned back to the computer, “we’re making pretty good time considering.”

Giles nodded. “Thank you, Willow, do keep me informed, please?”

Willow nodded and turned back to the screen.



“Bloody Hell, can’t we stop somewhere and stretch our legs?” Spike demanded, loudly.

Buffy turned and faced Xander.

“How about it, Xander, feel like stopping somewhere? Besides, you could use the rest, and I wouldn’t mind a meal that didn’t come out of a bag.”

“Yeah,” Alec and Dawn both chimed in at unison. Alec turned to flash her a smile, she blushed and returned it shyly.

Xander frowned and peered at the road signs flashing by.

“Okay, well, there’s supposed to be some kind of truckers café around her someplace.”

Spike came up and peered out the large windshield.

“ ‘The Pig and Whistle truckers tavern?’ ” he read the road sign, frowned, and muttered. “Sounds a like a pretty namby-pamby establishment.”

Buffy came up behind him and swatted him playfully.

“Quit whining. You said you wanted to stretch your legs. Sounds like as good a place as any.” Despite Spike’s mutterings, she turned to Xander. “Sounds like a plan Xander, take the exit.”

Xander nodded and guided the lumbering machine off the highway and onto the off-ramp for the Pig and Whistle tavern.

Buffy sighed and stretched her arms above her head.

“Besides, it’ll be a nice change of pace to sit down to a quiet meal,” she turned and threw a look back at Alec. “Right, big brother?” she asked wryly.

Alec just nodded in agreement. “Nice change of pace,” he reiterated.





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