Note: Thanks to my betas MadRog and t_geyer for their unending patience, perseverance and support.


SECTION 6 - GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

Some boys take a beautiful girl
And hide her away from the rest of the world
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun

Hey now, hey now
What's a matta with ya?
Girls just wanna have fun now
Come on

(Cyndi Lauper, Album - 12 deadly Cyns... and then some)




Chapter 6.03
Wednesday, May 15th, 2002

"Okay!" Dawn began before taking a sip of her drink. "I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that, so far, you're just too good to be true. So, if you don't want me to head for the hills, I think it's time you spilled all your deepest darkest secrets."

"You mean it isn't enough that my dad knows your grade point average and gets to watch us eat lunch every day?"

"Nope, that's just a minor inconvenience. and besides it's not like I couldn't check out your test scores if I wanted to." The teenager thought of how easily Willow hacked the school's computers on demand.

"Really?"

"Well," Dawn covered for her slip. "If I asked, you would tell me, wouldn't you?"

"B plus average."

"See, and again with the perfect. Intelligent without being geeky."

"Okay, then. How about the fact that your sister and her boyfriend, though hopefully not you, are going to freak when they find out I'm eighteen."

Dawn snorted a mouthful of coke and started coughing whilst the youth hovered next to her unsure whether he should slap her back or not. Gradually the coughing sort of died down.

"What the frilly heck are you doing in tenth grade, if you're eighteen?" the girl finally spluttered.

"Misspent youth. Ma and dad both travelled a lot when I was younger, so I was always getting pulled out of one school and put into another and some of them I didn't even know what language they were speaking never mind what they were trying to teach me. So, by the time they got divorced and Dad moved us back to the US I kinda slipped a couple of grades."

"So you lived abroad?"

"Some of the time." He gave a sigh. "It's going to have to be the full story, isn't it?"

"Mm-hmm." Dawn nodded. "Can't stop just when it's getting interesting."

"Okay, when I was real young, dad was in the army. Don't worry. He's not some gung ho spit-and-polish type. Just wanted to go to college and his folks didn't have the cash to spare, so he basically did his time and got out. Except, then he went one better and became a war correspondent. Ma would try to get work, sort of near but not too near, if you know what I mean, but her contracts wouldn't necessarily run for the same length of time as dad's and there aren't exactly a lot of films or TV getting made anywhere near Somalia, least not ma's sort of stuff."

"What exactly does your mom do?"

"She's a wrangler." He raised an eyebrow in Dawn's direction, silently asking if she knew what that meant.

"She works with horses, right?"

"Yep, so Westerns and historical dramas, pretty much it."

"Sounds interesting."

"Sometimes, but believe me being stuck in the Ukraine in the middle of winter because it's the only place the actors, or should I say the army, are cheap enough to film massed ranks on a TV budget, not really my idea of fun. Even if you do pick up the odd autograph."

"So where is she now?"

"Prague, I think. They're starting to do a fair bit of stuff over there."

"So you don't see her much?"

"Depends. Most summers she tries to work in a longish vacation and we go stay with her folks in Ireland for a few weeks, or I go stay with her for a month or two where she's working, but then I don't see her so much."

"So just when I get used to you being around, you're going to up and leave me?"

"You're getting used to me being around?"

"Maybe."

"Think you'll miss me?" His pale green eyes sparkled with a teasing light.

"Again I say maybe." An answering sparkle blossomed in her own.

"Think maybe your sis would let you out of her sight for a week or two, if I promised to take real good care of you?"

"And pigs would fly." A frown flickered across the adolescent's face and she dabbed at a forehead suddenly damp with perspiration. She reached for her drink, taking a couple of large cooling gulps before she pushed herself up out of her seat. "I'll be back in a minute."

The toilets still weren't that busy, but Kirsty and her clique were hogging the space in front of the mirrors, so Dawn ducked into the first available cubicle pretending not to notice them and hoping they wouldn't notice her. As soon as the door was safely bolted behind her she slumped on the toilet seat and pulled a wad of tissue from the roll beside her to dab the moisture from her face.

Maybe this was why Buffy had never really worn the pvc dress. Standing, she pulled her leather pants down to mid-thigh before sitting back down, and somewhat laboriously managing to get them off without putting an unshod foot on the cubicle's floor. By the time this minor task had been achieved, she was again sweating profusely. This was when she began to suspect that all was not right with the world. "Too good to be true," she was startled to realise she'd whispered the words out loud. Thankfully, Kirsty and her friends seemed to have remained oblivious and shortly thereafter she heard them leave en masse.

When she heard the door slam behind them she ventured out, peering at the damp face the mirror reflected back at her. Her make up seemed suddenly garish against a pallor to which even Spike could only aspire. Fresh air. She needed out of this claustrophobic club, with it close atmosphere and seething crowds of people. She lurched the few steps from the ladies to the club's back door, only to feel a firm hand grip her upper arm as she almost stumbled. When she recognised Brandon's voice she lashed out with her free hand trying to push him away but her limbs felt like spaghetti.

"Yudithiz" she accused.

"Dawn. I haven't done anything. Whatever's wrong, I promise you it wasn't me. You can't go like this."

"Liar."

"Look, I know you haven't known me long enough to know you can trust me, but if you come back in, work out where you left your pants and your purse, I'll call your sister and wait with you till she picks you up. There's lots of other people around. Nothing's going to happen to you, but you can't wander round outside on your own like that."

"Pants?" Dawn looked down at her empty hands and felt at the dress as if she suddenly expected it to have sprouted pockets. She turned and stumbled back toward the ladies toilets. Brandon pulled his cell phone from his pocket. The calls only took about a minute.

 

---

 

A black four by four waited in a nearby alley. The figure in the driver's seat monitored communications between the two teams that were at work in Sunnydale tonight. A cell phone's ring tone broke across the radio chatter.

"Agent Finn."

"What is the status of your operation, Agent Finn?"

"Phase one is complete. We should be able to make the pick up very shortly. I have men watching all the exits."

"And alpha team?"

"We have marksmen in position at the various locations, waiting for their opportunity. The vampire won't be causing any more trouble after tonight."

 

---

 

Wesley looked at his watch. It was over five and a half hours since he had parted company with Buffy and Spike. He doubted they would still be talking things through. One way or another, it seemed likely that matters would be settled. Of course, if they had moved on from talking, then he really wasn't going to be popular, but then after his shopping trip with Dawn they owed him.

He pressed the speed dial button that would connect him to Buffy's mobile.

 

---

 

At first, Buffy had no idea why Spike had suddenly slowed down and pulled over, but when he cut the engine on the bike she became dimly aware of the ring tone coming from her purse. She passed the bag to Spike, letting him search for the offending object while she removed her helmet.

"Buffy?"

Spike recognised the ex-watcher's voice immediately. "Just a minute. She's gettin' her helmet off. What's up?"

"It could be nothing, but Dawn's not answering either her home phone or her cell phone, and Willow's just found out that her boyfriend's father is ex-army. We also have reason to believe that Riley's group may have been provoked into taking action. As soon as I hang up Willow and I are heading over to the house to check it out. We'll ring as soon as we have more news."

Spike dropped the phone into his duster pocket where it would be easier to reach. "Best get that back on, pet, and hold on tight, 'cause we're done dawdlin'."

"Dawn?"

"Who else?" the vamp asked in a voice that didn't bode well for someone.