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TITLE: Day Break
AUTHOR: Nico
E-MAIL: stoprobbers@hotmail.com
DISCLAIMER: I say "FUCK YOU JOSS" with this one. Yeah, he owns the
characters and the timeline, but I own the fic.
TIMELINE: Mid Season 6/3, right after Connor is taken by Holtz.
SPOILERS: Umm, you gotta know about Connor and about Holtz and that Holtz
took Connor, and that's about it. It's referred to in passing, that's all.
And, hey, if you didn't know.. now you do!
SYNOPSIS: Buffy disappears every night, and Dawn wants to know where she
goes. Dawn POV.
DISTRIBUTION: LoD, obviously. My site TO DUST (http://decaying.net/buffy).
If you would like it, please ask. I usually say yes.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: It recently started to bother me that Angel never really
seemed so concerned with Buffy's life after she came back from the dead.
Now, I understand the distractions of his OWN life, what with a son and then
a kidnapped son and then an out-to-kill-him son, but still.. and I mean,
vice-versa. They established that the Scoobies and the Fang Gang keep in
some sort of contact, they have each other's numbers, whatever. And with
Angel being STILL IN LOVE WITH HER (as he admits in the beginning of the
season), I started to get miffed. This is my explaination.
FEEDBACK: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!! stoprobbers@hotmail.com!!!!
RATING: R for some cursing, refrences to sexuality, butt-grabbing..
Day Break
She usually leaves soon after she comes home from patrol. She thinks I don't
notice, thinks that I'm asleep when she goes, but I always know. If I'm
asleep, I wake up. I'm usually not, though. I'm usually awake and waiting to
hear the key in the lock as she leaves the house. She keeps me safe, that
much is true. And, after all, Willow is here to help out too.
I wish Tara was still here, though.
She leaves after she comes home, and every night she's a little more bruised
and battered than the night before, but not in places where enemies usually
go for. There've been a lot of bruises around her hips, lately. Her wrists
as well. Willow worries that she might have been captured, that something
might have been done to her to slow the healing. I don't know -- I'm not too
well-versed in the Slayage. But I don't think it's battle. Whenever Buffy's
just been in a battle, she comes home looking so alive; so energized, so
awake. When she comes home now, she looks bone-tired, like we should have
never pulled her from her eternal sleep. Like her alarm clock in the sky
went off too early.
Although, I suppose you could say it did.
She comes home, and she kisses me on the cheek, whispering a sweet goodnight
into my ear, and I have to lay really still and make sure I'm breathing
really even when she does it, so that she thinks I'm asleep. Some nights
she'll stay for a while longer, just stroking my hair, and that's really
hard because I always want to laugh and sometimes I almost do, and more
often I actually fall asleep. Then I don't hear her leave. I used to try to
fool myself into thinking that when I fell asleep, she actually stayed, but
I know better now.
When she's done, she leaves my room, and I can hear the shower start in the
bathroom next door. She showers quickly, and it's the only time when I don't
hear her blow-dry her hair. She dresses quickly too, or maybe I nod off for
a moment from time to time, because the next thing I know, I hear the front
door open with a soft click, and then close with one equally as soft. The
lock creaks every time it turns, and it always creaks a few minutes before I
hear the rumble of Mom's SUV start in the driveway. The car makes a soft
roar as it pulls away, and then everything is silent again.
She does it almost every night.
Now, I know I have my faults, and I suppose one of them is mischievousness,
but it's not really a fault, okay? It can be an asset, because, I maen, if I
wasn't curious I wouldn't know so much, right? So I'm curious and I started
to get really curious about why Buffy was leaving every night right after
she got home. It's a human thing, to be curious. And, you have to admit, it
was a rather curious situation. So I wasn't really at fault, alright? It was
just.. human nature. Or something.
And while I'm curious, I'm not always that smart. And I should have thought
about that before I did what I did, but I really don't regret it, and..
yeah! I don't have to prove myself to you. So, yeah, it wasn't the *best*
idea, but it wasn't a *bad* idea, so I guess it all evens out, then. And it
was pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Straight out of a movie. See, all I
did, was hide in the back seat.
Oh yes, I am a genius.
I waited one night until Buffy came home and kissed my forehead and stroked
my hair. And then I heard the shower start, and I heard her hum slightly as
she was showering. So I tossed off my covers - see how smart I was, sleeping
in my clothes? - and snuck outside and into the car. Buffy never locks the
car, so it wasn't that hard, and she never locks the door until after she
leaves each night. I kept the door to my room closed, just like she left it,
too. And while she's got that great Slayer hearing, she's totally oblivious
when she starts singing in the shower. It's a surefire sign that she will
have no idea whatsoever as to what is going on in the house. So I hid in the
backseat, in the shadow between the seat and the back of the driver's seat,
where she'd be least likely to see me.
And it worked, just like it does in the movie. She left the house, locked
the door, got in the car and started it up. As the car growled when it
turned on, I managed to shift so I could look out the window, just to see
where we were. What was the point of following her if I didn't know where we
were going? So I moved so I could look and I started seeing us pull out of
the driveway and driving down the street. The she turned and we were heading
away from town. I couldn't really tell, but I thought the streets looked a
bit more suburban, and while Sunnydale is small, you can tell the downtown
part from the.. not-downtown part. And this was *definitly* not the downtown
part.
And then... okay, I fell asleep. That's what happened next. I fell asleep
because it was late, and the next thing I knew the car had hit one HELLUVA
pothole and I almost cried out but I remembered where I was in time. So I
looked out the window, and there were all these buildings and lights and we
were in a CITY and how the hell did we get there? And I was really, really,
*really* confused until I saw the sign for Santa Monica Boulevarde, and then
I all I wanted to know was why were we in Los Angeles? But we were, and I
couldn't ask, and Buffy was cursing at the turn lane, and then suddenly we
were stopped. And the passenger door opened.
Believe me, I did not expect to see Angel get in that car.
Of course, now, it makes sense. Why else would she have gone to LA? But at
the time I couldn't even breathe, just stare amazed at the now-filled seat.
He was wearing a green shirt and black slacks and for the first time in
years I saw him without his big black coat. Y'know, I really like that big
black coat. But he got in the car and closed the door and leaned over and
gave Buffy the sweetest kiss I have ever seen. And she made this little
sighing sound of pleasure that she used to make when Mom cooked really good
pasta, but she doesn't ever make it any more, not since she came back from
the dead. I heard their lips smack as they seperated and then smack once
again as they kissed quickly one more time, and then Buffy put the car in
gear and started driving again.
"I still can't believe you got your license," Angel mused and I bit back my
giggle at his words. Then I realized what he said and promptly got confused.
When did Buffy get her license?
"Yeah, well don't spread the word. They think I don't drive because I can't.
Do you know how much I don't want to get stuck with errands duty?"
"You should hire someone. Like Cordy."
I heard Buffy snort, and I would have giggled, but I was too busy being
annoyed for being left out of the loop about her license, "Yeah, I'm sure
Cordy's so willing to go fetch extra Post-It's whenever need be."
"So maybe I'm exaggerating.."
"You're always exaggerating."
Their conversation stopped as Buffy just drove and I realized how relaxed
she sounded. Even when her and Angel were together before the whole mess
with.. they never sounded this happy, this at ease. They were speaking like
old friends and lovers who had known each other for years. Which.. is true.
So.. that makes sense.
"So, how has your week been? I know I haven't been able to get out here much
this week but.."
"You don't have to come every night," he said, and his voice was suddenly
tight and tense, just like the air.
"I miss you."
"I do too, you know that, but you're not getting enough sleep.."
"You don't know that-"
"You come out here almsot every night, stay until almost dawn, and then you
have to go home and work and slay and take care of Dawn... it's tearing you
apart. I can see it."
"Wow. Way to make a girl feel special."
"I worry, Buffy. About you. I love you."
"I love you, too, Angel. And I know my limits."
"Please, I don't want anything to happen to you.. I couldn't.. not again.."
His voice caught and hitched and I was stunned when I realized he was about
to cry. I had never *EVER* seen or heard Angel cry. Ever. Ever ever ever. I
didn't even know he could. And I knew there was something really wrong
because.. I mean, this is ANGEL. Crying? Because Buffy looks a little tired?
And apparently she thought the same thing too because she wasn't having any
of it, "Angel, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just-"
"Shut up. We worked through my death months ago. It was done with a week
after I saw you at the cabin. We've even been able to joke about it-"
"Well, maybe I don't want to joke about it anymore." His voice was thick,
and he was definitly on the verge of tears.
"Angel, what is wrong?! What is making you so upset? Baby, I can FEEL that
something's wrong and when you get like this, you *know* how much it scares
me-"
She stopped suddenly, both the car and her words, and as she pulled the car
into a parking space outside of a gigantic hotel that looked quited
abandoned, I felt the fear in the air rise 200%.
"Angel, sweetheart," she said softly, as if dreading the words that would
come out of her mouth next, "Where's my other angel? Why didn't you bring
Connor with you tonight?"
He cracked as soon as she asked it, bursting into great heaving sobs. I felt
panic rush through my viens, even as my brain was screaming "WHO IS
CONNOR???!?!?!", and almost instantly Buffy was out of the car and around to
his side, pulling him into as huge of a hug as her tiny person could manage.
She helped him out of the car, leaning him against the open doorframe, and
rocking him slightly as he cried into her arms.
"My son.." he was sobbing into her, "They took my baby away from me..."
I heard him repeat that a few times before Buffy managed to pull him off the
car and close the door, leading him towards the hotel. And, I swear, all I
could think to myself was.. 'Angel has a SON?'
I must have fallen asleep again, because I jerked back into conscious
thought when Buffy's door opened. The sky was still pitch black, but it was
starting to lighten to violet-grey at the very edge of the horizon, so I
knew it was time for us to be going.
"Baby, if you find out anything.." Buffy was saying as she climbed partway
into the car. I could see Angel through the window, wearing a pair of grey
sweatpants and no shirt, and handing Buffy the sweater she had worn when she
came. He pulled her to him and I saw she was just wearing the camisole she
always wore as a bra with that sweater and her jeans, her shoes being tossed
into the car behind her.
"I'll tell you," he murmured into her hair, and I could hear it muffled
through the glass of my window, "The second I know-"
"Good," she said softly, and kissed his chin, "I'll be back tomorrow night."
"No, Buffy, you need your sleep-"
"I'll take the day off work today. Sleep all day. I'm not leaving you alone
with all this-"
"I have Cordy and Fred and Gunn and.."
"I know, but none of them are here for you after they go home. I'm coming."
"But-"
"I'm coming," she repeated, and he gave her a bone-tired smile before
kissing her deeply in that way they used to when she would yell at me to get
out of her room before she ripped my eyes out. And I realized at that moment
that maybe I shouldn't have come, and maybe I was watching something too
special and too private to really have been witnessed, and maybe this wasn't
such a good idea after all. They were still kissing and her arms reached
around his neck to pull his face closer and his hands drifted to her waist
and then to her butt to pull her even closer and I couldn't help but scrunch
my nose at that one because, I mean.. ew. That's my *sister*. And that's
when I realized that, waitaminute, Angel was barely dressed and Buffy was
missing all these wierd pieces of clothing and her hair was all messed up,
even more than before and what exactly were they doing in there? And what
about his SOUL?!
But, apparently, neither of them were too worried because they kissed for a
WHILE, before Angel pulled away suddenly. Buffy sighed and looked at the sky
and he gave her a sad smile.
"Dawn will be here in an hour. It's making me itchy."
"You need to sleep too," she reminded him. He opened his mouth but she cut
him off, "And NOTHING we just did counts as sleep."
"We fell asleep-"
"I told you it didn't count! Especially after the way you woke me up."
She blushed and he growled and nipped at her nose and *ew* once again! He
kissed her once more and then finally let her go, whispering something to
her as she got in the car. She closed the door, turned on the engine and
opened her widow, leaning out to give him one last kiss.
"...ve you too." I heard her say as she pulled her head back inside. He
waved and watched as we pulled out of the driveway or parking lot or
whatever. I was starting to settle down back to sleep, because hey we were
leaving and I know where home is, when I heard her breath catch slightly.
Then I heard the sniffle, and another hitch in her breath. And I started to
realize she was crying. She pulled over soon after that and just sobbed it
all out, and maybe that's why she always looks so tired in the morning.
Because she was crying. Because she's only two blocks away from him, and she
misses him already.
We got home before day-break, as usual. She snuck back in the house, but I
had to wait until she was in for a while. I was glad I brought a key. My
back hurt like hell, and my neck was badly cramped. I faked sick and stayed
home from school. Buffy called in sick to work, just like she told Angel.
She looked pale and drawn and beyond tired. She asked Willow about the
nature of dimensional portals that day, and I don't know why. But at least
now I know why she sneaks away at night.
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