Adult-FanFiction.org : Buffy

Both Sides Now	By : addielogan Category: BtVS AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 6137 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Music pulsed
around her, beckoning her to get to her feet and dance, but Dawn stayed in her
seat, idly twirling the stirrer in her drink. There was a dull ache in her
head, but she knew it was more than that that kept her seated. She'd felt this
way for days now, like something was�off. She couldn't quite put her
finger on what, but it was there, itching just below her skin.
"So you're
gonna celebrate the spectacular ass kicking we performed tonight by
staring into your drink?"
Dawn looked up sharply,
then gave her friend Emma small smile as she watched
the girl slide into the booth across from her. Out of all the Slayers who had
been Called that last day in Sunnydale, Emma Rawlings
had been the one who had stood out from the crowd, the only one who had come even
close to achieving the sort of status the Slayers before her had had. She'd
also proven herself time and time again to be a true friend, something for which
Dawn was grateful.
"Sorry,"
Dawn said to her. "I was off in my own little world."
Emma shook her
head, her bright, multi-colored brushing in front of her face as she did.
"Only you, Dawn, could drift off into your head in a place like
this." Suddenly, Emma's mouth turned down. "You're okay, aren't you?
I mean, that vamp smacked you pretty hard into the wall�"
"I'm
fine," Dawn said. "I threw up a shield just before my skull
connected. I didn't have time to make one that would protect me completely, but
it kept me from getting my brains smashed out." She rubbed her head.
"It's just a little sore. Although this�" She tapped the edge of her
glass, her manicured nail clinking against it as she did. "This probably
isn't going to help much."
"It'll help
more tonight than it will tomorrow," Emma said with a smirk. "Do you
want to get out of here?"
"Would you
mind?"
"Nah. I
should probably get out of here before K.C. tries to get me to join his
Sunshine Band anyway," Emma replied, nodding her head in the direction of
a man so fashionably challenged Dawn couldn't help but wince. "He's been
hitting on me all night."
"Ew,"
Dawn said, her nose wrinkled. "Let's split then."
The night was cool
but relatively dry for London, and the girls decided to walk the few blocks
back to Slayer Central, neither of them worried about any sort of nasty they
could run into between the club and home. After all, in their three years of
friendship, they'd formed quite a team�and had yet to find something that they
couldn't face.
They'd also
learned each other well enough to know each other's moods as easily as their
own, and Emma could tell that Dawn's spirits were not exactly
high that night�nor had they been for most of the week. "Okay, I'm
not up for a game of twenty questions, so just do me a favor and spill,"
Emma said, her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket.
"There's not
anything to spill," Dawn said. "At least I don't think there
is. I don't know, maybe it's just post-finals let down or something."
"Post-finals let
down?" Emma asked, one eyebrow quirking. "You've finished another
year of school and managed to yet
again score grades a nerd would envy. Where's the let down in that?"
Dawn shrugged.
"I don't know�all that studying and now the year's just over?"
"Um, that
doesn't usually lead to let down. That leads to celebrations and relief."
"You're
right," Dawn said with a sigh. "I have no clue what's wrong with me.
I was fine, and then the last couple of days, I've just felt off. Like�like
something's coming."
"Good
something or bad something?" Emma asked, her brow knitted.
"I don't even
know that much," Dawn said. "I tried doing a reading for myself, but
the cards were all over the place and didn't seem to make a whole lot of sense,
so I guess I'm off there, too." She took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. "I had a dream the other night, though."
"Key
dream?"
"I think. I'm
not sure. It felt like one, but�it didn't really tell me much."
"You're
always saying they're cryptic," Emma said. "What happened in this
one?"
"I was back
in my old apartment in Rome," Dawn replied. "Only it was empty. No
furniture or anything. And I think I was�looking for something, but I don't
know what. I don't even think I knew in the dream. But then all of the sudden I
knew it was behind the door to my old bedroom, but when I opened it,
there was nothing there."
"Just an
empty room like the rest of the apartment?" Emma asked.
"No."
Dawn shook her head. "Nothing as in nothing. Just�emptiness. Like
I'd opened the door to a black hole."
"Anything
else after that?"
"Nope. That
was when I woke up. And I had that freaky post-Key dream feeling, so I guess
that was what it was, but usually, I hear something in the dream. The Key will
talk to me, or I'll talk to me, or
something. But this one was silent." Dawn didn't say anything for a moment
before she began to talk again. "I haven't even thought about that
apartment in years. It never really felt like home, not like the house on
Revello Drive back in Sunnydale or here. It felt more like�a train
station."
"A train
station?"
"Yeah. Like a
stop on the way but not the destination. I always felt like Rome was just a
stop between Sunnydale and wherever I would settle down next."
"So maybe
that's what it meant in the dream," Emma suggested. "You said you
felt like something's been off the past few days. Maybe the Key is trying to
tell you that you're at about to make another transition, like when you came to
London."
"Maybe,"
Dawn replied. "But what? I have no intention of leaving London, especially
not now when I've got my life going right where I want it to be. And it's not
like I have anything new and exciting lined up for my future."
Emma elbowed Dawn
gently. "That's the fun part about the future, Dawnie�there's always something
new and exciting, just from what it is. We never know what's ahead, so it's
always an adventure."
Dawn eyed her
friend. "Are you just in an incredibly optimistic mood or are you
drunk?"
"I'm buzzed
at best," Emma said with a roll of her eyes. "Don't let the fact I
could probably be easily stored in someone's carry-on luggage fool you�I can
hold my liquor with the best of 'em."
"Is that why
I had to call Spike that one time and have him drag you out of that club, all
thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes?" Dawn asked with a
snort.
"I thought we
agreed not to discuss that," Emma muttered. "Besides, I'd had waay
more to drink that night than I did tonight."
Dawn shook her
head slowly. "I'm still not sure how you managed to wrangle
that whole bottle from the bartender."
"I have my
ways," Emma said with a wide grin. After a beat, Emma sobered again.
"But seriously, Dawn, maybe you should talk to someone who could do a
better job at helping you figure things out, especially if there's been a dream
involved. If there's one thing I've learned being a Slayer, it's that prophetic
dreams should not be taken lightly."
Dawn knew Emma was
right about that. "If it keeps going on, I will," she said. "It
could just be that I'm having a down week, and I don't want to be the little
girl who cried apocalypse."
"Does it feel
apocalypse bad?" Emma asked.
"No,"
Dawn answered. She frowned, her brow knitting as she tried to focus on the
strange feelings inside of her. "It feels like something more�personal."
Emma smirked.
"Personal, huh? Maybe you're about to meet Mr. Right." She laughed.
"Oh shut
up," Dawn replied. "You start going all Carrie Bradshaw on me, and I
will have to kick your ass. I don't care if you have Slayer strength."
"Ugh. Don't
even call me Carrie. Or any of them. Those women get on my nerves sooo
bad."
Dawn giggled.
"You mean you don't want a life that revolves around men and
shoes?"
"Let me
think�no. I'm happy enough with a good pair of boots and one man. Even if he
does tend to spend most of his time in another dimension."
Dawn reached out
and gave Emma's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Still no luck in convincing
Aiden to relocate permanently?"
Emma shook her
head. "Nope. Apparently being in a hell dimension is more appealing than
being with me."
"I know the
feeling," Dawn muttered. She kicked a small rock in her path. "Men
suck."
"Big
time," Emma agreed. "It's too bad I like them so much."
Dawn laughed at
that. "I feel your pain. Sometimes I think life would be easier without
them, but then I remember that they do have their�perks."
Emma's lips turned
up in a sly smile. "And Aiden, he's rather, um�perky."
"Uh huh. I
bet he is," Dawn replied with a teasing smirk.
"So I guess
we're just doomed," Emma said with a heavy sigh. She reached her arm up to
put it around Dawn's shoulders, despite the difference in their heights.
"At least we have each other."
"Thank
goodness for small mercies," Dawn replied with a chuckle.
Emma pulled her
arm back. "So you'll let me know if you don't start feeling any
better?" she asked.
"I
will," Dawn said. "And if my dreams keep with the creepy and the
cryptic, I'll go talk to Giles about them or something."
"Good. Don't
make me have to worry about you."
"I'll do my
best."
The two women grew
silent again as they continued walking home.

*** *** ***
Dawn had tried to sleep
when she'd gotten back to her flat, but after spending a while lying in the bed
staring up at her ceiling, she'd given up. She'd contemplated waking Emma so
she'd have someone to talk to, but decided she was probably better off alone.
Instead, she stretched out on her couch and flipped through the television
channels in search of something boring enough to put her to sleep.
She had no trouble
finding boring television at that time of night, but none of it seemed to be
doing the trick. Dawn rolled over on to her back and sighed as she gave up on
finding any rest that night.
Suddenly, Dawn
heard a sound outside her front door. She sat up and listened until she
identified it as a child's laughter. Recently, her niece, Anne, had developed a
habit of frequently "escaping" from her home in order to play a sort
of hide-and-seek with her father�one that usually sent Spike into a mad panic
as he searched the Slayer compound for his missing child.
Dawn opened her
door, stopping short when she saw a little girl she didn't know. At least she thought
she didn't know her. There was something strangely familiar about the child,
the blue eyes staring up at her ones she was almost certain she'd seen before.
Dawn knelt down to the child's level. "Are you lost, sweetie?"
The girl shook her
head, her brown hair waving from side to side as she did.
"Are you
sure? Where's your mommy?" Dawn asked.
The girl stared at
Dawn, but said nothing. Something about the way the child was watching her
unnerved her, as if she wasn't so much looking at her as through
her. "Where's your home?" Dawn asked. "It's late. You should be
in bed." Dawn paused for a moment as she tried to remember if she had seen
this girl around before and if so, who her parents were. "What's your
name?"
The little girl's
answer was a whisper. "Summer."
"That's a
pretty name," Dawn said. "It's close to mine. Well, my last name,
anyway. That's Summers." Dawn stood. "Well, Summer, do you think you
can show me where you're supposed to be?"
Summer nodded and
reached her hand up towards Dawn. Dawn took it, a jolt going through her as she
did. She couldn't shake the feeling that she should know this little girl, and Summer's hand felt oddly right in hers. She met the
girl's eyes again, her mind whirling as she tried to place that particular
shade of blue. "Show me, Summer," she said.
Summer began to
walk, Dawn following her with the girl's hand still clasped in her own. They
walked down the long corridor towards the main section of the building only to
end up at a door Dawn didn't recognize. "Where does this lead?" Dawn
asked aloud.
Summer said
nothing, only pushed the door open, and Dawn shielded her eyes with her free
hand from the burst of light that filled the hall. Soon, her eyes adjusted, and
she looked out the door, gasping at the sight in front of her. It was a park, full
of green trees and lush flowers. In the middle, she saw herself, pushing Summer
on a swingset. A boy with a mop of brown curls on the top of his head with
looked to be the same age as Summer ran around them,
laughing.
From beside her,
Dawn felt Summer tug on her hand. "Daddy will be home soon," the
little girl said.
Dawn turned,
swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. "Your daddy? Where has
he been?"
"Away,"
Summer answered. "You'll have to fight."
Dawn frowned.
"Fight? I'll�I'll have to fight your daddy?"
Summer shook her
head no. "You'll have to fight for this." She gestured her
small hand to the scene outside the door.
Dawn knelt down
and cupped Summer's face in her hands. She gasped as she took in the girl's
features and tears welled in her eyes. "You're�you're mine."
"Remember to
fight," Summer said softly.
Suddenly, Dawn was
sitting up straight on her couch, gasping for air. Her heart pounded, and she
forced herself to calm as she realized she'd never left her apartment. The
television droned in her ear, and she lifted the remote control with a shaky
hand to turn it off.
"And I guess
that kills my hopes for this being just a bad week," Dawn muttered as she
ran her fingers through her hair. There was no way she could write what had
just happened to her off as merely a dream. It had been too vivid, too real.
That little girl� Summer�
Now if only Dawn
could figure out what it all meant.

*** *** ***
- 20
- 21
- 22
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Both Sides Now