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Author's Chapter Notes:
I know, it's the perfect fantasy; eternal youth.
“I really can’t believe we are having this discussion again, Dawn,” Spike grumbled. “Traveling through portals is all well and good for hunting down nasties in various hell dimensions. That’s work. Using a portal to hop half-way around the globe for a visit is a foolish risk. There are safer ways to get from point A to point B.”

Keenly aware that Spike had just used her given name for the third time -- a clear indication that he was supremely pissed off – Dawn tried to keep her voice steady as she replied. “First off, I didn’t just pop in on a whim. Giselle called and said that she was under strict orders not to disturb you for any reason, but she had to leave immediately because of a family emergency.” Spike’s eyes flashed amber, but Dawn managed not to flinch as she continued. “You know, this could have all been avoided if you didn’t have her convinced that you’d eat her if she makes a mistake! You’ve got her completely terrified!”

“Nice try, but you could have called us,” Spike said, using his fork to cut through his stack of pancakes and dragging the bite through a puddle of syrup before popping it into his mouth.

Spike, Dawn and Joy were all seated around a table in the spacious sun-drenched atrium that served as a combination kitchen, family room, and playground. After a few decades of experimentation, Buffy had eventually overcome her tendencies toward food terrorism and could now manage most breakfast foods with aplomb. While Spike remained the family’s primary chef, Buffy took charge of pancakes, waffles and breakfast smoothies.

Under the present circumstances she was just as happy to have kitchen duties that kept her out of the conversation between Spike and Dawn.

“Do you want more many pancakes, Bunnie-head?” Buffy held up a stack of steaming hotcakes on a spatula, waiting for Joy to answer.

“Two, with lots of syrup!” the four-year-old replied.

“Wow! I’ve see you’ve got the Summers' appetite, Joy-Joy,” Dawn interjected, happy to change the subject.

“Yeah,” Spike drawled. “And I think she’s got the Summers' stubborn streak too. But I’m not finished with you…”

Realizing that he wasn’t going to let it go, Dawn interrupted. “You’re right, I could have called. And now I guess know I probably should have,” Dawn admitted, looking down for a moment and appearing thoughtful, before looking up again with a hint of defiance. “But I knew where you two had been for the past two weeks. I didn’t want to disturb you either. And I wanted to see Joy…”

“So you jumped into the nearest portal, exposed yourself to God knows what dangers, and didn’t even tell anyone what you were doing?” Spike looked at her, both eyebrows raised in a look of total bewilderment. “Do you have any idea what it would do to me -- to your sister -- if anything happened to you?”

“I guess I should have told someone,” Dawn conceded. “But using portals isn’t as dangerous as you think. You just don’t like anything new.” She tried to return his look with a challenging glare but couldn’t quite pull it off with her lip stuck out in a pout.

Knowing he had her now, Spike softened a bit. “No Nibblet, I’m no Luddite. I’ll take all the modern conveniences you can throw at me. It’s messing around with magic and other mystical stuff that makes me nervous. But what’s done is done. I’m happy to see you. My girls are happy to see you. Tell us about Giselle’s emergency.”

Dawn related how Giselle had called her earlier that morning, obviously distraught, and not altogether coherent. What she’d been able to gather from Giselle’s explanation was something to do with one of her sisters and a mating ceremony. All she knew for sure was that Giselle had to leave as soon as possible, didn’t know when she could return, and needed to take two dozen eggs with her. Dawn had used a portal to travel from her home in California to Spike and Buffy’s house in London. Then she opened another portal so Giselle could go to her demon family’s dimension.

When Dawn first discovered her powers – a benefit of being the Key -- her travels had been limited to known portals. Later, Willow figured out not only how to find more existing portals, but also how to position new portals wherever they were needed. Spike and Buffy were among several teams who used the portals to eliminate demon threats even before they manifested in their home dimension. The Council of Watchers now relied on the combination of Dawn and Willow’s abilities to stay at least a step or two ahead of most garden variety apocalypses. Portal travel had revolutionized the whole slayage business.

Fortunately for all concerned, since her blood remained a critical ingredient for opening portals, Dawn’s powers also allowed her to defy ordinary aging. Like Buffy, she looked like she was in her early 20’s, although her chronological age was more like late 70’s. Willow used her multidimensional access pass to visit a world in which time travels backwards at an accelerated speed. She went there as needed to reverse her own aging process. Unlike Dawn, however, she tended to reverse only to her early 30’s, preferring the curves she’d attained as she got a little older, and convinced that people took her more seriously when she left on a few more years.

Although both Willow and Dawn earned full-time salaries from the Council, Dawn only needed to work a few weeks a year to maintain portal travel for the slaying teams. The rest of the time she ran a dance school in San Francisco. When people asked her about her youthful appearance she always attributed it to doing Pilates three times a week. As a result, none of the Pilates studios in the area could ever find enough instructors to meet the demand.

When Giselle’s call reached her, Dawn was working on costumes for her fall recital. Knowing that she had made an extra cat mask, she brought it along as a present for Joy. It had been an instant hit with the four-year-old, prompting her insistence that she show it to her Mama and Papa. Dawn ran after Joy to try to stop her from running upstairs, but she took it for a game which led to the thumping and squealing that had brought Spike and Buffy out of seclusion.

Now that she’d finished stuffing herself with pancakes and syrup, Joy was ready to play again. She sidled up to her father and grabbed his hand. “Come on Papa,” she said. “Let’s play Hall’ween!”

“Okay, Widget,” Spike answered. “But you’ll have to tell me how to play.”

Tbc…





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