Title: One Girl...
Series: Magic Season (5/12)
Author: Kerry Blackwell-Dustin
Email: magicbox@whitehats.co.nz
Pairing: B/G, W/T, S/Dawn
Further disclaimers etc in part 0
The white cat had been given the temporary name of Snowy. It had been agreed by general consent that something better had to be chosen as soon as possible since Snowy was both a terrible cliché and the name of a comic book dog besides.
"And," as Hazel said, "no self-respecting cat wants to be named after a _dog_."
Sneaky made a point of her superior position in the household by climbing onto Dawn's lap and refusing to budge, no matter how much Dawn insisted she had to get dinner ready. Snowy, being new, tried out several laps for size and finally settled on Joy. Literally as well as figuratively.
Tara laughed at them both, each well trapped by a curled up bundle of fur, and organised everyone else to prepare the meal. Hazel was shooed back to the sofa and Brianna was told firmly to stay put with Sionell. At just over four months, Sionell was still new enough that Brianna was happy to spend most of her waking hours with her daughter, even if some of that time included trying out a prodigious pair of lungs. So she obediently stayed seated and tried not to look _too_ pleased about it.
"Just don't let Angel near the actual food," she called after the departing cooks and got a horrible grimace from her husband for her impertinence.
"Angel's a good cook," Hazel commented idly as they disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. "He does killer bacon and scrambled eggs."
Joy nodded as she continued to stroke Snowy and discover all the places that made the little cat undignified and drooly.
"It's my job to stop him getting a swelled head," Brianna explained. Sionell opened one sleepy eye and blinked, as if agreeing with her mother and Dawn chuckled.
"Poor guy. You've ganged up on him."
"You have a problem with this?" he niece asked her sweetly.
"Not really," Dawn conceded with a laugh. "He's your husband after all. And you can keep him. I don't want him."
"I'm sure Uncle Spike will be glad to hear that," Joy said wickedly, but Dawn just poked her tongue out at the girl as if she was a teenager again.
"Can Uncle Spike cook, Aunt Dawn?" Hazel asked curiously. "I mean, vampire and all that."
"Quite well, actually," Dawn admitted. "Just don't tell him I told you."
"Shouldn't he be back by now?" Joy asked in a slightly worried voice. Spike might be the least official of her unofficial relatives, but he was also her favourite.
"He'll be all right," Dawn said easily, not betraying for an instant that she too was worried about her ... well, whatever-it-was that Spike was to her. In the last year he had become the acknowledged other half of her, whom she couldn't imagine being without. While she'd never betray him to anyone, not even her own flesh and blood relatives, she knew there was a vulnerable, sensitive man under the tough vampire exterior and he'd exposed more of that tonight than he probably ever had before, certainly not since he'd died. She was half afraid he'd take off running and she wouldn't see him again for weeks. But the children didn't need to know that. "Like Hazel said, vampire. It's not like he's going to get lost in the dark or come down with hypothermia."
"But..." Joy began to protest, only stopping when she saw the look on her aunt's face. "Sure," she said instead. "He'll be fine. He's Spike, after all."
"Yeah," Dawn agreed so softly only Sneaky could hear and she wasn't particularly interested. "He's Spike."
Being Spike, when he walked in fifteen minutes later, his arrival was announced by a bang and a clatter. A bang as the door was pushed open with a little too much force and a following clatter as too many feet walked across the tiles in the hallway.
Dawn looked up abruptly, earning herself a hiss of displeasure from Sneaky, who had had her comfortable perch disturbed. She was just putting down the book - she was up to chapter three now and enjoying Spike's tale - as he appeared at the door, pulling someone behind him.
"Lookie who I found asking strangers for directions to our place," he announced and dragged the girl into view.
She was seventeen, with startling red hair that only owed a small amount of its colour to a dye bottle. A unexpected streak of white amidst the auburn - that was unfortunately all too unnatural and had been caused by close contact with Brithnar demon blood - made her look even more striking. She was dressed in the height of current fashion and had an attractive face that was currently ruined by a mulish expression.
"Melanie!" Dawn was so surprised she dropped the book. It landed on Sneaky's tail and the cat yowled in protest, dug all her claws into Dawn's thighs and used them as a springboard to propel herself to safety. Snowy, startled by the noise, bounced off Joy's lap in an only slightly less injurious manner and disappeared under the sofa.
Melanie herself looked astounded by the fracas she had unwittingly caused. "I'm sorry, Ms Summers." Her words tumbled over themselves in her haste to apologise, although Dawn wasn't sure if it was for her presence or the cat-astrophe that had just occurred.
"What's going on out here?" Buffy had arrived from the kitchen to find out what all the fuss was. As soon as she saw her, any remaining façade of defiance Melanie might have been trying to maintain disappeared.
"Oh, Mrs Giles!" The girl hurled herself across the room into Buffy's arms and buried her head in the older woman's shoulder. Since she was a good three or four inches taller than Buffy, it wasn't exactly an easy thing to accomplish.
Buffy instinctively brushed the girl's hair with one hand, trying to soothe the sobs that had started the moment she had seen Buffy enter the room. She cast a desperate glance at the others in the room, hoping they might have some idea of what was going on, but all she got in return was a collection of blank looks.
"Found her down the street," Spike offered. "I thought I'd better bring her back here."
"Hush, Melanie girl," Buffy crooned. "Shhh. It's okay."
The sobs were growing a little less desperate, but didn't show any sign of stopping soon. Awkwardly, Buffy manoeuvred Melanie over to the sofa - which Hazel hurriedly vacated as they approached - and sat down, pulling the girl down beside her, murmuring soothing, meaningless words the whole time.
She felt a familiar presence nearby and looked up to see Giles standing behind the sofa, a solid, reassuring backup even if he had as little idea as she what the problem might be.
When Melanie's tears finally began to turn into hiccups, Buffy gently extricated herself from the girl's grip. Melanie swallowed, gulped and sat up, looking at Buffy with reddened, unhappy eyes.
"What's happened, Melanie?" Buffy asked when she thought the girl was in control enough of herself to answer. "What are you doing here?"
"How did you get here?" Giles added quietly. "And does Richard know where you are?"
That turned out to be totally the wrong thing to say. With a wail of despair, Melanie collapsed into Buffy's embrace again. This time, she didn't let her cry. Instead, she gently forced Melanie to sit up again and repeated her question.
"What's happened?"
"They want to take Richard away," the current Vampire Slayer wailed miserably. "They're going to send me a new Watcher."
Buffy and Giles exchanged confused glances. The Watchers' Council might still have its faults, but its record was nearing spotless compared with the days when Buffy had been the Slayer. Richard Marsh's tenure as Watcher to the current Slayer had been exemplary and neither Giles nor Buffy could imagine that the Council was stupid enough to consider replacing him.
Giles held his hands, palms up, open and empty. To Buffy, who knew him so well, it was a good as if he had spoken. _I don't know._
"Melanie," she asked, "are you sure?"
Melanie sniffed mightily and gratefully accepted the handkerchief Giles wordlessly handed her. She blew her nose nosily and offered it back.
"Keep it," Giles offered generously and she gave him a shaky smile.
She nodded. "I'm sure."
"How do you know?"
"The phone rang," Melanie explained in an unhappy voice. "Richard and I answered it at exactly the same time and this man told him they were sending another Watcher. They were talking about flights and England when Richard realised I was listening and he told me to go and train instead of eavesdrop." She blew her nose again, heroically. "So I came here instead."
Buffy was shaking her head in astonishment. "You mean Richard doesn't know where you are? You travelled across three states, by yourself, to come and see _Dawn_?"
"I left him a note," Melanie said in a small voice, her tone suggesting she was only just realising the enormity of what she had done.
Unable to help himself, Giles chuckled softly. "I seem to remember another Slayer doing something similar. And she didn't even leave a note."
Buffy tried and failed to sound affronted. "I only went from Sunnydale to LA. And I had just sent my demon lover to Hell if you remember."
Giles sobered. "I remember," he agreed seriously.
A sound from the doorway drew his attention and he saw the demon lover in question looking both apologetic and highly embarrassed. It was only then that Giles realised they had everyone in the house as a fascinated audience.
"Out," he said simply and, with obvious reluctance, they dispersed until only he and Buffy were left with Melanie.
"Why did you come here, honey?" Buffy asked. "Did you think Dawn could help?"
Melanie looked at her like she was nuts. "I wasn't coming to Ms Summers," she answered. "I wanted to find you and Mr Giles. When they took away your Watcher, you kept him anyway. I want you to help me keep Richard."
"Oh," Buffy said weakly.
"First," Giles said firmly, "we have to let him know you're safe. He'll be worried sick about you."
Melanie had the grace to look a little ashamed at that. "I don't want to lose Richard," she insisted, the desperation creeping back into her voice.
"We won't let that happen," Buffy assured her immediately.
Giles wasn't quite so prepared to make instant promises without knowing more about what was really going on. It was still possible that Melanie had been mistaken, or that there was a good reason why Richard Marsh was being reassigned. Although, remembering how terrible he felt when he had been fired as Buffy's Watcher all those years ago, he could understand why Buffy was so quick to offer their help to Melanie and Richard.
When a Slayer and her Watcher are well matched, nothing should be able to break them apart. If any people in the world knew that, he and Buffy did.
"I'm going to call Richard," he told Melanie. "He needs to know you're safe."
She nodded. "Tell him I'm sorry I ran away."
He gave her a smile. "It will be all right, Melanie. We'll sort this out."
"Promise," Buffy added.
Melanie nodded, relieved she had some sensible and sympathetic adults on her side. Mr and Mrs Giles would make sure this all got sorted out properly. Because she couldn't loose Richard, she just couldn't. He was _her_ Watcher, just like she was his Slayer and nobody else in the whole world could replace him. Not even Mr Giles would be good enough for her, and everyone knew that he had been the best Watcher to the best Slayer _ever_.
"Right," Buffy said firmly as Giles went through to the kitchen to start making phone calls. "I'm going to call Hazel and get her to show you where the bathroom is. You'll feel a whole lot better after you've washed up. Is that okay with you?"
Melanie nodded and Buffy was able to hand her over to Hazel and Joy's care with a clear conscience. That done, she went to find Giles.
He was sitting on one of Dawn's kitchen stools, for once looking his age, including those extra years the Powers had granted him when he didn't age.
She raised her eyebrows and he gave her a tired smile.
"I can't get hold of Richard. He's not at the house nor any of the other contact numbers I have. His cell phone is turned off and while I've left a message..."
"He's notorious for forgetting the check his messages," Buffy finished for him, having had trouble tracking Richard down herself in the past.
Giles nodded. "I tried calling the Council, but it's the middle of the night over there and the only people on duty didn't have a clue what I was talking about. It isn't really urgent enough to warrant dragging people out of bed, so I left more messages."
Buffy shook her head. "Foolish girl. Was I that much trouble when I was seventeen?"
"You were worse," Giles promised her with a reminiscent smile.
She started to protest, but he silenced her with one raised hand.
"But I loved you anyway," he added.
She chuckled. "Dirty old librarian man."
"Not like _that_," he protested. "Not when you were seventeen, anyway. By the time you were nineteen things were different."
Buffy heaved an overly dramatic sigh. "And I didn't work it out until I was twenty two. That's three whole wasted years."
Giles was laughing as he rose to his feet. "I wouldn't worry about it, love," he assured her. "I think we've _more_ than made up for it in the meantime."
Buffy looked back over their years together and smiled. "More than made up for it," she agreed.