Impressionable Sorrows
by DawnBTVS
Part IV: Getting Into the Swing of Things
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I open my eyes, slightly annoyed at the interruption. Dawn is squatting, peering at me with interest. I sigh.
"What?" I ask, now completely out of my meditative state, and not that happy about it. Dawn grins.
"Could you teach me?" she asks. I look at her, thinking about the reaction Buffy...and Joyce would have. I shake my head, earning a pout.
"Sorry, kiddo. Get permission from your family first. I'd like to not wind up in a grave at their hands," I whisper, sadly. Dawn's pout disappears. Now it's turned into a frown. She isn't sure how to console me, and instead just stands up, and exits the room. I sigh, resting my head on the seat of the couch. I wonder if I can ever be consoled.
"Faith, you ready?" asks Buffy, peeking her head in. I look up at her, slightly startled. I nod my head, using the couch to help rise to my feet. She smiles, turns, and heads back into the kitchen. I walk out into the hallway, catching Buffy and Willow kissing rather intimately. They break, Willow blushes when she sees me. I avert my eyes, angry at myself for being caught, and for staring in the first place.
"I'll be in the car," I mutter, making a feeble gesture. I turn and walk away, still embarrassed. I catch the look Buffy and Willow share though. A look of concern and worry exchanged like spoken words. I really don't want them worrying over me yet. I don't deserve it. I wonder if I'm depressed. Maybe, although I'd never take the medicine even if I was, so it really doesn't matter I guess.
~~~BTVS~~~
I walk in and I'm fucking floored. Giles has turned this dump into a pretty respectable place. Buffy was telling me he got the lease from the previous owner, but wouldn't go into details. Cool by me. I grinned upon seeing Giles as Buffy and Willow made their way to the table where Xander and Anya were seated.
"Nice job, Giles. I have to say, if I were a witch, or into shit like this, I'd buy here," I exclaim, taking a seat at the table. Giles frowns at first, not sure what to make of it.
"Yes, w-well, thank you for your adulation, Faith," he replies. I smile. I lean forward, getting a little antsy at what's going down.
"Okay, so start telling me about what's going on," I say, not bothering to beat around the bush. All the guys share a glance.... well, Willow, Xander, and B do. Anya continues to be mesmerized by Xander. It's starting to border on very disturbing.
"Okay...Dracula arrived in Sunnydale. He actually heard of me! Yeah, uh, anyways...he took control of Xander, bit me, put me under his thrall, but I killed him," Buffy says, smiling the whole time. I frowned a little when she mentioned Drac had heard of her. I doubt any demon has heard of me, except for the fact that I killed the Deputy Mayor. I saw Willow get a little tense during the explanation.
"Were you jealous of Dracula, Red?" I ask, smirking. Willow suddenly gets a bashful look, shaking her head vehemently.
"Uh-uh. No jealousy here, no sir. I was totally cool. Even with the biting...and the thrall...and okay, maybe a little," Willow admits, defeated. I grin, a giggle actually playing up my throat. A fucking giggle!
"Man...you're so bad at lying, Red. Speaking of, how did you two uh...get together?" I ask. I didn't want to intrude but the suspense was killing me. I just had to know what drove them together. I fleetingly wondered if my brief fling with Buffy had any reason. If it did, B would never bring it up.
"It was at the end of last year, after you two had switched bodies," Willow begins. I wince, knowing the memory is a cutter to everybody. Willow ignores my reaction and continues. "You sort of scared Tara away. Oh, we're still friends, just not girlfriends. Anyway, Riley dumped Buffy shortly thereafter. Riley couldn't handle Buffy's Slayer side. We were consoling each other. We had been in love for a while; we just kept putting it on the back burner so to speak. Things would come up, we'd ignore for fear of hurting the other," says Willow, finishing by kissing Buffy passionately, short, but very full of passion. I blush, wishing somebody would show me that kind of attention and love. My ditch 'em and run act wasn't me trying to save face. It was me being scared of hurting the one I love.
"Sorry," I whisper, as Willow shakes her head. I look at her, confusion clouding my features.
"Thanks, actually. It was bad, what you did, but it led to us finding each other. Guess Fate kind of worked out," comments Buffy, a true grin of happiness there. I smile, then blush. Who knew I'd ever make somebody else happy?
"Am I the only one that realizes that Dawn isn't wha-" I begin, but promptly get cut off by Giles clearing his throat. I glance at him. He looks very worried now. I frown, then realize that something is seriously up. Buffy also has a look like she doesn't want anybody else to know. I shoot her a look, my eyes asking what's going on, but she just shakes her head. I sigh.
"Oh! Right, the bitch that kicked my ass still has to be talked about. She had monks with her, or a monk at least. She's looking for this key. It opens something; we have no idea what though. She's a blonde, extremely powerful. She took out a chunk of concrete column with just a right punch," B exclaims. Damn. So much for this excursion being something easy huh? Guess Fate didn't want to make my life here in Sunnydale too comfortable.
"Do we know what the Key is?" I ask. Buffy and Giles instantly exchange looks. This time, Willow catches them. She stares, glaring at Buffy. That glare could melt a fucking ice cube.
"Do you two know something we don't?" Willow asks, her voice both reflecting her hurt at something being kept from her and her anger at not being told. I'm amazed she can somehow convey both. Buffy sighs, then stands up. I wonder where Dawn is, before remembering that Joyce took her to the art gallery.
"The Key...is a human," Buffy begins. She glances at Giles, who throws his arms up in a 'whatever...tell them everything' gesture. "Giles and I have reason to believe that Dawn is the Key. That she isn't real, just a figment of our...just placed into our memories like she had always been there," Buffy finishes, slumping back into her chair. My eyes widen, as I realize now why I didn't recognize her.
"Huh?" asks Xander, mind still lapsing. I roll my eyes.
"Dawn was made out of my blood, Xander. Dawn was molded into human form, and sent to me for protection," Buffy says. Xander still looks clueless. Anya smiles and turns his face to hers.
"Dawn is the Key. Dawn's body cast is real. She has blood, a heart, pulse, etc. She's made up strictly of energy though," Anya explains. I look at her, totally in shock. How the hell did she know that? She looks around and sighs.
"Ex-Demon people. I was a vengeance demon, but I knew my way around," Anya explains, annoyed that we didn't realize that. I just shrug my shoulders in response, not sure how to respond. I didn't even know she was an ex-demon. I quickly check that off and file it into my new things learned folder portion of my brain.
"Are we gonna patrol tonight?" I ask Buffy. I just got back yesterday, but I need to hit something. Buffy smiles, and I grin, seeing the familiar spark in her eye.
"You up for it?" she asks, a slight tease in her voice. I nod my head, my grin breaking wider. So much for my steel front as far as emotions go but I can still keep my history hidden, I hope.
~~~BTVS~~~
I'm seated at the base of the couch, just leaning back. It's 2:03 AM and I can't sleep a wink. I hear footsteps padding down the stairs and look up. I tense, just a little, expecting a demon. Instead, I receive the teenage inquisitor.
"Hey, Dawn," I say. I could lecture her, but I'm sure she hears that enough from Buffy and Joyce. Willow probably helps out too I bet. She shrugs her shoulders and sits down next to me.
"Couldn't sleep," she replies, sounding pretty wide-awake. I remember myself at that age. I was stuck in a soup kitchen, seeking help, and learning that I could fight demons. It was a hell of a year at least.
"I know that feeling. As you can clearly see by my sitting here," I comment. She lets out a sigh, ever quiet. I glance at her, a little worry in my eyes. Worried. Over B's sister and I cannot fucking believe it.
"Buffy's holding something from me and in fact, it seems like everybody is," Dawn exclaims, bitter. I groan internally, knowing exactly what everybody is hiding, and why. I know I can't tell and that really sucks. Dawn doesn't deserve to be held out like that. If I tell her, Buffy will have my head on a stake, and Dawn could get herself killed, or lead this psycho to her.
"I know what they're hiding, Dawn. I'd tell you, believe me, I would, however if I told you, you could jeopardize your life greater than your sister ever could," I say, almost imploring Dawn to just ignore it. My words probably don't help that cause all that well though. I frown, as she scowls at me, but doesn't say anything.
"Want to conduct an experiment?" she asks suddenly. I'm completely lost. I have no idea what she's talking about, and sure as hell wasn't expecting that.
"What?" I ask, both wanting to know what she had planned and very leery of her big sis finding out.
"I was gonna mix every cereal we had," she replied, calmly. I snicker...which turns into a giggle, and eventually laughter. She watches me, trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I wonder that too. It's not even funny. Just the absurdity of her request compared to everything that I've gone through over the past month and a half makes it hilarious. I finally stop, now just wheezing. I glance at her, nod my head, and point at the kitchen. She grins, gleeful madness in her eyes, and scrambles into the kitchen. I follow, still holding my ribs.