Bad Influences
~Chapter One~
AN: Hey, yet another challenge fic response. This is the second of three I planned on so far, cause I was running low on ideas and went through the challenges to see if it sparked some brainstorming. I figured I might as well answer some of the challenges that struck my interest as well. So found three so far that sparked a story idea for their response, as well as a totally original/non-challenge fic I will eventually get to as well.
Challenge: 96
I would love to see a fic where Spike, Buffy and Dawn leave Sunnydale. Post Wrecked and/or Gone, Social services are threatening to take Dawn away and she is having social problems at school. Buffy loses her job at the Doublemeat Palace and receives notice that the bank is going to foreclose on her house. She hears about a job that's elsewhere and decides to leave the hellmouth.
Must haves:
-Spuffy, of course, with a Dawn cheer section and a healthier relationship then in the show.
-Buffy getting a good paying job.
-The Scoobies hassling Buffy to come back to Sunnydale.
Can haves:
-Willow as the baddie.
-The Scoobies getting Angel to hassle Buffy about coming back to Sunnydale.
You decide if Buffy tells the gang she's leaving or if they make a run for it.
As Buffy packed her suitcases and kept an ear open to make sure Dawn was doing that as well, she thought back on the events that had led up to her decision to go ahead and leave Sunnydale. Since not too long after Mom died, Social Services had been on her tail to take care of Dawn top notch, a bit leery at the big sister taking over the role of mother. They had started voicing their concerns when Dawn started doing bad in school, skipping classes. Was it her fault Dawn was made to be a supreme pain in the ass? She sighed and stuffed the shirt in the case a bit forcefully.
And then, they had started coming to the house to check up on her. Hey, didn't they know she had been dead for a few months? Show some compassion... give her awhile to readjust to LIVING. Not that the bill collectors had cared either. She had thought after she got rid of the first witchy lady with her invisible antics that she could get away to smooth sailing for awhile. And she did, for only a little bit. That is, until they sent another one.
This one seemed kinder and was, probably gave her more chances than any of the other social workers would have. Not that she should have needed second chances, she took good care of Dawn. It just seemed everyone had bad timing when she was having a visit. Spike kept hanging around, popping in and out with his smoking blanket and making semi-lewd comments. Adding to the image that he was Buffy's boy toy that made booty calls with Dawn just down the hall doing her homework. Buffy rolled her eyes, AS IF! Then, there was also Willow living in the house. This should have come across has more help with the raising of Dawn and did at first, until the social worker kept finding Willow's weird things laying about and one time, Willow came downstairs and started with a spell to help get her some breakfast before she noticed the social worker. Surprised the women didn't faint, but she had been wary of Willow and Willow's influences on Dawn after that.
Oh OH! And she should mention Xander and Anya's little visit! They had come right in the door talking about demons and all sorts of no-no stuff right in front of the social worker. Buffy could have slapped them both upside the head and nearly did, but settled for dragging them into the kitchen by their ears. She gave them the stop-with-the-demon-talk speech then went back to the social worker, only to have Anya go from demon talk to very blatant and graphic sex talk, trying to discuss the social worker's sex life because then maybe she would loosen up. Buffy had gone very pale and nearly fainted herself then.
Dawn went back to doing bad in school during this and then came the stealing. So finally, Buffy was once again told by the new social worker that she was on probation, just as the last one had told her. She had went down to the basement and stewed the day away after that, putting her fist through the wall at one point before she had to hurry off to work.
Work, ahh... that was going good for awhile. She had been able to pay the bills and at least keep them from starving and being homeless, but then she kept getting called into school because of Dawn's behavior and her stealing. She kept missing work or having to leave early for this, once or twice purely because she had gotten so laid up by a demon she had not been up to working the next day and had called in sick. This led to her being fired and eventually getting tight on money again. They were definitely going to lose the house next. The calls from the social worker had started up recently, Buffy had been avoiding the phone, letting the answering machine get it... knowing what the news would be. They were going to take Dawn from her.
So, faced with that, she finally sat Dawn down and looked her in the eyes, demanding to know if she wanted to even stay with Buffy. She had been acting up, even in front of the social worker, giving Buffy the hint that she was TRYING to get her taken away.
Dawn had looked so shocked that Buffy would even ask that and sat there blinking for a few moments before finally answering her. Telling her that she did of course want to stay with Buffy. She loved her. She had gotten teary and started apologizing, begging her to keep them from taking her away.
Buffy had cried, too, hugging her sister and also apologizing for even thinking that was the case. Then vowing she was going to do something to keep them together. That was when she decided they were going to leave, it was about the only viable option she had. She could go mess with the social services office again and even shred her file, but that would only buy her a little time again before she had to put herself through more hell. So she called Giles, finally giving in the urge to ask for help from the second father figure to abandon her, hoping there was SOMETHING he could do.
He had found her a job with a friend of his in Georgia. It wasn't much, but it was everything to Buffy. She would have an income to build her and Dawn's new life on. Then he got back to her after contacting his friend about giving Buffy the job and he had somehow been able to get them new identities and find them a place there to rent with the help of the friend. Buffy had been in tears, so happy to have the help.
So now, with new identities waiting for them in a small town in Georgia where she would be a waitress in a bar and Dawn would finish her high school then go to college, they were leaving right away that night. She would be leaving without word to what she felt were her bumbling, selfish friends who seemed to always be part of her problem. Slayers are meant to be alone for a reason. Painful, but true. They had always been her weakness, the weak link the bad guys could use to get to her and her distraction. As well as them always relying on her for everything, so much so that they ripped her from heaven only thinking that THEY needed her HERE, not that she might be happy where she was. And the things they did on ACCIDENT were almost as bad as some of the things her enemies did. Then they go around with their self-righteous attitudes... it had just all been grating so thin with her since they brought her back... and her trying to put on a smile for them...
She shook her head and closed her last suitcase. She picked it and the other one up, then grabbed the make-up case and the duffle. She tossed the duffle over her shoulder and headed down the hall. She paused at Dawn's door and poked her head in to check on her progress.
"I'm taking my bags down to the car and then come back to help you if you need it," her eyes moved over the room and then back to Dawn. "Don't worry, okay? When we're settled and everything, we'll send them back word that we're okay. But, if we tell them now they'll just try to stop us."
"I... I understand, I really do, Buffy." Dawn nodded with a small smile. "You asked me if I wanted you to fight to keep me, if I was okay with running... and I agreed. No turning back now."
"I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll make a great new life for us and take care of you so well and be there for you when you need me... I'll do anything to make it better." She returned the small smile, forcing herself not to get teary eyed. It was not the time to break down and cry, they needed to get out of there before the others returned. So, she turned and hurried down to the car.
When she came back, Dawn was already heading down the stairs hurriedly and dragging a large suitcase behind her. She handed it off to Buffy and thumbed over her shoulder, "Got a couple more bags up there. Just start the car and I'll be right down to hop right in."
Buffy nodded and went to do just that. Dawn came to slide into the passenger seat and threw her book bag and a duffle into the back seat. She buckled up and Buffy started driving.
"We should stop at the gas station on the way outta town to get some snacks and fill up, get a map or something maybe." Dawn leaned forward to motion ahead of them and glance towards Buffy. "That way less stops if we got some food with us."
"Okay," Buffy smiled indulgently and pulled over when they got there. She topped off the tank and went inside to help pick out snacks. She handed Dawn the wad of money to pay for the gas and snacks. "I'm gonna make a pitstop before we get on the road. Go wait for me in the car, okay?"
She leaned over the sink to look into the mirror with a sigh. So this was it... she was leaving Sunnydale... she was leaving her friends... she was leaving her old life... she wasn't even sure if she would still need to slay in this new town. Though, maybe Giles picked it for the purpose it was having a problem or for its lack of problem. She would have to see when she got there. She splashed her face with some cool water and dried it off before heading back out to the car.
The bags were moved around in the back of the car and she glanced at Dawn as she buckled up. "Why were you digging around back there?"
"Wanted my jacket and I accidentally shoved my book in my case. Wanted to read and jacket is so I can use it as a blanket if I want to take a nap." She smiled at Buffy and held them up.
"Okay," the engine roared to life when she flicked the key, "Next time just think about that stuff before we get on the road."
They drove the rest of the night and then all day, stopping a few times for meals, gas, and restroom breaks. Dawn napped half of the time and Buffy was left either listening to the radio or thinking to herself, going over things over and over in her head. How things will be where they were going and how it must be at home now that everyone was starting to realize her and Dawn were missing.
She was also starting to make plans for what they would need to do once they stopped. She was going to get some hair dye for herself at the nearest shopping center and she already got some coloured contacts online. Dawn would probably want in on the hair dying fun, too, though. She shrugged, oh well...
They had just got across the Texas border not too long ago. She found a nice looking town and stopped at the shopping center she spotted by the bright lights. She went inside and as she expected, Dawn decided if Buffy got a new look then so did she. Buffy grabbed a nice chestnut colour, nothing flashy, while Dawn got a strawberry blonde. The switch was not lost on Buffy who rolled her eyes at her sister's choice. But, she took them to the front and paid before they headed next to find a hotel.
Buffy clipped her hair to about her shoulders and Dawn helped her even it out better. Then Dawn asked her to put some layers in her hair. She did her best and then they ordered pizza to eat while they had their little hair dying party. Buffy got the shower first cause her hair colour needed to come out first, then while Dawn was in the shower she headed out to the car to finally bring their bags in.
She popped the trunk lid and shrieked as the first thing that registered was that there was a body in her trunk. Then she fell backwards when Spike sat up.
"Oh my fucking god!" was all she could gasp with her hand over her heart. Then she leaned forward to pulled her towel back to cover her better and hit him in the shoulder. "What are you doing in my trunk?! How did you get in there?!"
"Can I get out first, luv?" He started climbing out as soon as she gave him only about a foot of space, stretching after being curled up in there for so long. He turned and eyed her, "What did ya do t' your lovely lil goldilocks?"
He reached out to touch her damp hair and she jerked away.
"Explain! Now!" She curled her fists at her side and glared up at him.
"The bit called last night, told me what was goin' down. Figured you wouldn' agree t' let me come along t' take care of my girls... so she told me she would talk you int' a stop at the gas station down the street an' told me t' meet you guys there. Stowed me in the trunk an' been waitin' for you t' find me ever since." He leaned his hip against the back of the car.
"I can't believe she did this... she told me..." Her jaw worked as she turned to look towards the door to the hotel room.
"Buffy," he turned her face back towards him. "Won' tell anyone where we're goin' an' she didn' tell anyone else either. She jus' didn' wanna leave me behind, wanted me t' come along t' keep you guys safe."
"I can keep her safe."
"I know. I know, pet." He crossed his arms. "Not too thrilled m'self at the thought that you tried to ditch me along with the others."
"Yeah, well..." She shrugged and turned to get the bags out like the originally intended. "I had several reasons for that... and after driving for about thirty-six hours, I need sleep." She headed inside and glanced back at him. "You are so behaving yourself. No hanky spanky in front of Dawn, that is if I ever allow it again."
Dawn was coming out of the shower and stopped, grimacing as they came in. "Spike..."
"Yeah, guess what I found in our trunk, a bleached pervert. Lucky us, huh?" Buffy dropped the bags and crossed her arms, giving Dawn her best Stern Buffy look. "You got some 'splanin' to do, Dawnie."
"He's like part of the family. We couldn't just leave him behind. Who would look after him without us there? Make sure he's well fed and healthy?"
"You talk about him like he's the family pet." She made a face, "He's a friggin' vampire! Not a cocker spaniel!"
He went behind Buffy and started massaging her shoulders, "You said it yourself, pet. You need some sleep, gotten a bit cranky from being so knackered. What's done is done, an' we'll make the best of all this."
She sighed and her head drooped forward a bit, relaxing a bit at the magic his fingers worked on her muscles. He had the most talented hands... the things he could do with them... She moaned softly and gave a soft smile, before jerking straight as she remembered the young teenager in the room.
"Okay okay, we'll work this out in the morning. You can come with us... as long as you promise to behave. Listen to what I tell you or I will kick you to the curb." She waved a finger under his nose before sliding Dawn's suitcase towards her then putting one of her own on the bed. "Guess we'll have to figure out sleeping arrangements for the night... think we can ask for a cot?"
"I can take the floor... is no problem at all, luv." He started shrugging out of his duster.
"No, no... I'll take the floor... you two can take the bed. I insist and if you try to argue with me I'm going to go sleep in the car," Dawn put her nose in the air and went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas.
Buffy swallowed and looked over her shoulder at Spike warily. "Well then... guess I can't let me baby sister sleep in the car... guess I can handle it if you can... and no touching."
"Right then, no touchin'." Spike nodded and took his pillows to toss them on the floor along with his duster for her to sleep on instead of the itchy carpet. He looked back in time to see Buffy slip under the blankets quickly wearing only her panties and bra. He took in a deep unneeded breath. The minx... was she purposefully trying to torture him?
Dawn came out and smiled at them as she stretched out on her little nest on the floor, pulling blanket over her. "Good night!" she called out happily and curled up.
Spike chuckled. "Night, Nibblet." He flicked off the light and went to the bed, getting in and doing his best to keep no touching space between him and Buffy. He laid back and curled his arms under his head, staring at the ceiling and trying to keep his mind off the slayer beside him. The sweet smelling... warm... half-nude... beautiful... He groaned and curled onto his side where the tent in the blanket would be less conspicuous.
In the morning, he jerked awake at the feel of lips lightly brushing his skin. He glanced down and saw his lovely little slayer snuggled up against him with her face to the crook of his neck. He grinned and curled his arm around her, tucking the blanket more firmly around them before falling asleep again with a delighted smile, his sleep more peaceful with her against him.
Around noon, Dawn snuck out to go get some to eat from the diner connected to the hotel to get them some food.
Buffy sat up and looked around, she saw the empty nest on the floor and panicked. She reached out and shook Spike's shoulders, barely noticing the position she had been in when she had woken up. "Spike! Spike! Wake up! Dawn's gone!"
He sat up quickly and heads collided. Both groaned in pain and mirrored each other as they lifted a hand to their head. After a moment, the stars disappeared and Spike touched her cheek. "You okay, pet?"
"Yeah... but Dawn... she's not here." She pointed to the floor.
"Don' smell anyone else's presence in the room, so no one came an' got her," he vamped and cocked his head to listen to the area around the hotel, shifting through all the noise. He finally smiled slightly. "She's on her way back from the lobby... smell food. She probably jus' got hungry."
"Wished she would have waited or got me up before she left." She shook her head and hurried out of bed, grabbing clean clothes from her case and heading to the bathroom before Dawn came in to see she had been sleeping in the bed half-naked. Her voice came from the bathroom, grumbling, "I hope she got something for me... us, as well."
"I'm sure she did."
After a moment, the obvious hit her as she became fully awake. She finished zipping up her jeans and stepped out as she pulled a shirt over her head. "That reminded me... you left so fast because of her calling last minute... did you... bring blood?"
He pressed his lips together somewhat embarrassed and she could already tell his answer before he opened his mouth, "Luv... didn' even bring a change of clothes..."
"Ohh... and you can't really wear ours... heh..." She blushed. "S'pose I could send Dawn back out in a minute to that shopping center we went to last night to at least get you another pair of jeans and a couple more shirts. Should last you for now..." She walked over towards the bed. "And while she's gone with that... guess you'll have to settle for my blood..."
"Mmm, ain' complainin' there, pet... is the best of the best there... shame that offer is only good 'til we get t' your new place an' ya find a new butcher's t' hit up." He licked his lips and looked at her intently.
"Depends on if you're a good little boy." She smirked and then blushed, shaking her head. "I can't believe I just said that."
"I can... got a soft spot for this big bad vampire," he smirked and reached for her, grabbing her wrist to start pulling her down for a kiss.
They got achingly close when the door opened and Dawn came bouncing in. Spike drew back and smirked. Buffy's eyes narrowed at him, knowing full well he would have heard Dawn outside and new full well they were going to get interrupted at the last second. The big tease. She straightened with a chuckle and turned to Dawn.
"You scared the hell out of me, Dawn. I was about to call the national guard or something." She put her hands on her hip.
"I went out to get us lunch. Chill." Dawn laughed and set the food on the table. "I had them make a steak really raw for Spike and got you a turkey sandwich. I ate there."
"Good, cause I need you to run over tot he shopping center to get Spike some clean clothes." She handed Dawn her wallet and the keys before going to sit at the table. "Just a pair of jeans and a couple shirts."
"Lemme guess, black..." the teen chuckled and head out the door.
Buffy glanced up as Spike sat down next to her. She slid his box towards him and started munching on her sandwich. He looked down at his steak, but didn't start eating it immediately. He glanced up at her.
"While she's gone, might be good you had your talk with me I know you want t' have... the one where you tell me how its gonna be from now on so I know an' don' step out of line or anythin'. So this'll work." He cocked his head, studying her.
"Well, as far as I see it... long as you listen to me and remember I am the dictator of the house... no corrupting my sister... and remember we are trying to pretend to be different people and lay low. We'll fill you in on our new personas' pasts... and everything you need to know, just remember it all. Try not to embarrass us in front of the people there..." She sighed and looked down. "Not sure I can cover everything in a little speech."
"Right then, I am your bitch an' I do everythin' you tell me t', how you tell me t'." He smirked and ate a big chunk of the steak finally. "Do I still get privileges?"
"Privileges?" She blinked and then blushed. "You mean... sharing a bed or something? I... uh... I dunno... take it a day at a time? I didn't give it much thought... didn't know you would be part of the new life and..." She swallowed, pausing when a pale hand took hers. She looked up at him slowly.
"A day at a time is fine with me... better than what I expected even..." He gave her one of his rare genuine smiles before pushing away the empty box. "New identities you say, though? Think I should go by a different name an' change my look, too?"
"Dunno... this look sorta works for me," she blushed deeper and took their empty boxes to the trash. She turned around and he was right there. She swallowed. "But that's your choice, I suppose..."
"Can call me Will... an' might try lettin' my hair go without a bleachin' for a bit an' see how it looks. You hate it an' I'll go back t' this."
She nodded and stuck out her hand with a silly smile. "I'm Helen Davis... I got a kid sister, Sarah, and I work at Brooke's Grill and Bar. My mom died a year ago of cancer and I've been raising my sister on my own ever since."
He took her hand, but squeezed it. "Helen... sounds pretty."
She smiled and turned away to go sit on the end of the bed. "Better get the whole feeding thing done with before Dawn gets back." She looked up at him and watched him come over to sit beside her. She tilted her head for him and shivered as his cool hand brushed her hair back off her shoulder. She swallowed and finally said quietly, "I'm sorry I tried to ditch you, too."
tbc...