Fiction APP- The Kindness Of Strangers

Title: Accidental Pen Pals

Chapter Title: The Kindness Of Strangers

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to BtVS or Dark Angel. They belong respectively to Whedon & Mutant Enemy and to Cameron/ Eglee. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Crossover

Type: Friendship/ Humor

Pairing: Dawn/ Joshua (as friends)

Summary: All she asked for was a little help on a school project... but this IS Dawn we're talking about here.

Spoilers/ Time line: This is Season 7 for BtVS and Season 2 for Dark Angel. But things have been skewed for BtVS so that the show fits into the Dark Angel format of Post-Pulse.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first please.

A/N: This is a response to the Pen Pals Challenge. For challenge details, please see the first chapter.

Accidental Pen Pals

Chapter Three

The Kindness Of Strangers

“Do you really think this is a good idea?” Logan Cale asked of Max as he carefully adjusted his glasses. He wasn't trying to sound accusatory, just honestly wondered what her true opinion of the situation was. Max, his longed for erstwhile girlfriend, touchable no longer, stood in the doorway of his inner sanctum, his Eyes Only office, leaning against the door jamb.

Her hair was as straight as usual, a preference that had come about since she had little time to do more than comb it through and get going for the day. Her only nod to vanity was to leave it as long as it was, as she seemed to like the swish of it against her back.

“What can it hurt?” she asked, shrugging one shoulder. “Look,” she sighed, a little impatient sounding, “Joshua was cooped up all his life in Manticore and now, by necessity, we have to do the same thing.”

“I wasn't arguing that point, Max,” Logan patiently pointed out. “I-!”

“Writing a letter to a kid in another town one time to explain the situation is not going to hurt anybody,” Max interrupted. “I mean, you should have seen him Logan. He was so excited at the thought of being able to help someone out.”

Logan cleared his throat, placing the spectacles back upon their perch on his face. “My point exactly. He's getting excited over something that will be over the moment you take that letter to the post office.”

Max sighed, but said nothing further and Logan knew that she was conceding the point.

“It's a really nice thought,” Logan pointed out kindly. “And maybe if Joshua were a little more, well, I mean, you know, have you thought of getting him a pen pal?”

Max quirked a smile and moved forward to pick up the box that Logan had packed for her. It was mostly filled with papers, but there were little knick knacks here and there. “This is gonna cost a fortune to mail,” she sighed, but then cheered again. “At least Cindy and Alec kicked in with me on it. Anything to keep the big guy happy, right?”

“Of course,” Logan replied smoothly, though the tension that stiffened his facial features whenever the male transgenic's name was mentioned was apparent to anyone that looked at him. “Are you're sure you'll have enough?” She was nodding before he had even finished the question. “Or I could give you a ride to the post office. Surely you don't want to try and balance that on your bike?”

“Which is why I brought my backpack instead of my messenger bag,” Max smirked, seeing right through his ruse. “And it's not like I don't handle stuff like this all the time at work.” Logan sighed, sinking in his seat as he watched her, resigned to his addition in this mini adventure at an end. Max threw him another appreciative smile as she closed up the box and put it into the aforementioned backpack. “See ya,” he heard her whisper and when he glanced up she was gone.

*****

Joshua stared down at the sheet of paper in his hand. On the table before him there were several false starts. He had worried a little that he would be imparting bad news to someone. That was never easy, and he knew that Father had a special way with words that Joshua could never hope to emulate. But he had found that with a little thought, he had been able to convey what he wanted to say, by saying it simply. He stilled as a familiar squeaking noise caught his attention from outside. He cocked his head at an angle to appreciate exactly which direction it was coming from and then smiled. Max was here.

He stayed put at the table he was using, as he wouldn't be visible from the front door. As he expected and Max had gotten used to doing, she breezed right in. Once she checked in the kitchen and then on to the living room where he was situated, Joshua took in her empty hands and frowned. He had been sure that Max said that she would come by to add the letter to the package that they were sending to Dawn Summers. She greeted him happily enough even as she slung her backpack off of her shoulders and then onto the table before her.

“You've been busy, I see,” she teased gently, brushing a few of the crumpled papers out of her way.

“Writing letter,” he replied stiffly and watched as she unbuckled the top of her backpack and reached in. She withdrew a long, somewhat thin box and set it on the table before him.

“I thought you might want to see what we found before I mailed it,” she explained, pushing the box over to him. Joshua's pensive frown was instantly replaced with a beaming smile as he set the letter he'd decided on aside and reached for the box. “Careful,” Max warned, one hand darting out to keep him from just upending the box. “There's a breakable in there. We'll have to wrap it in something.” Joshua nodded and very carefully let the contents slide out, ready to catch the breakable. With renewed pleasure, he looked over the bright and attractive brochures for different attractions around Seattle. There was information about the structure of the City Hall and the business that typically took place there. Another listed all the amazing things about the space needle and how the city had worked to restore some of the splendor found before the Pulse. There was a brochure about the history of Seattle's beginnings and some famous people that came from the area. Max or Logan had included a small bag of coffee grounds and a snow globe of the waterfront skyline. Joshua shook it gently, never having seen one before. His eyes widened as a white swirling mass came up like a vortex before falling gently through the liquid to settle at the bottom again.

“Snow globe,” Max nodded. “Cheap little chotchke that tourists love to take home with them as a memory of the place they visited.”

“Dawn will like,” Joshua announced. At least he hoped she would. Because he certainly liked it. He was very startled when he realized that Max, grinning like a Cheshire cat, had moved around the table and produced another one from her pocket. This one was of the Space Needle. She placed it in his hand, wrapping his fingers around the slight form and making him shake it up. “For me?” he asked with awe.

“Yup,” Max nodded. “Didn't seem fair not to get you a little something too.” Joshua grinned and shook it up again, before he rose from his seat to place the snow globe on the mantle. “Is this the letter you wrote.”

Joshua grunted his assent and then glanced at where Max was running the paper through her fingers. “You can read,” he told her and he hoped he would. Father had told him about second opinions. When you were unsure about something, you asked someone else what they thought and you could take their advice or not. Max grinned at him and quickly skimmed through his letter while Joshua found the best place on the mantle for his newest acquisition. He tapped it gently once it was in place as the last of the artificial snow inside settled. This was a special gift because the space needle was Max's favorite place. She had already told him. Maybe one day...

“This is a really good letter,” Max complimented, setting it back on the table. “Maybe all those books you like to read have rubbed off.” Joshua blushed. He could never have a way with words like those book writers had. They spoke important words on their pages.

“Simple,” Joshua grunted. “Father always said 'keep it simple'.”

Max nodded. “Simple is best when you can. Well, is that all then? We'll get this packaged up and I'll have plenty of time to get it to the post office and sent out and then back to work before Normal decides to can my ass, again.”

“Oh, cushion!” Joshua leap from memory to conclusion startled Max, but she knew enough to wait for him to explain. “To put around breakable.”

“They have stuff for that at the post office,” Max grinned as she realized what he was after. But Joshua shook his head.

“Don't want it to break before post office,” he declared. “Wait here,” he instructed and moved into the other room that was obviously a bedroom, judging by the sagging, dilapidated mattress and frame. Joshua rummaged through the top drawer of belongings that he had found and had taken the time to clean, before he realized that it was just fabric and nothing special. He returned to the living room and held out the square of fabric to Max. She took it from him with a smile.

“Good idea,” she nodded and carefully wrapped the globe in the handkerchief and tying a simple square knot to keep it secure. She placed it back in the box and Joshua hurried to retrieve the envelope that he'd already addressed to Dawn Summers of Sunnydale. Max let him fold up the letter and lick it shut. Afterwards, he pawed at his tongue, trying to remove the sticky, unpleasant taste of the glue from his tongue. Max pressed a kiss against his temple and with a chuckle and an assurance that she'd be back with dinner later, was gone.

*****

“Dawn!” Buffy called over her shoulder as she entered the house ahead of her sister. Dawn was struggling to remove the mountain of books she had for her weekend homework from Xander's car. Her best friend, at least of the male variety had already climbed out of the driver's seat and had plucked the duffel bag that Dawn had lugged out of the school building at the end of the day. He was waiting as Dawn piled the books higher than either thought possible and began to navigate her way up the walk while Xander walked beside her.

“What?” her sister demanded almost petulantly. “Kinda busy here.”

“Just thought I'd let you know, you've got mail,” Buffy smiled as she stepped aside to let her sister and Xander through. It was unusual that Xander was able to give them a ride home after school from work, but since it was Friday and they hadn't actually gotten out of there until after four, as Buffy had been organizing some files and meeting with a few students after school was actually finished

Xander had decided that the crew working on both the library and science buildings could knock off early and was therefore available for drivage.

“Probably just some more 'occupant' stuff,” Dawn huffed, knowing full well the advantage Buffy took to get her excited about things that were nothing to get excited about. Older sister purvue and all that.

“Nuh uh,” Buffy protested as she flipped through the rest of the mail. Typical bills, as usual. Thank goodness pay day was coming up and while it might not be much, it was better than nothing. It helped too that social services had contacted Hank the previous year and even if he didn't remember, at least his slututary did and she dutifully had a check ready for him to sign each month. “Huh.”

“Huh what Buff?” Xander asked as he stepped in behind Dawn and Buffy automatically closed the door behind them. “Good huh or bad?”

“Good I guess,” she mumbled as she read the card. Dawn had finally dislodged her load on the dining room table and had returned to where Buffy was standing to retrieve, more like yank the card out of Buffy's hand. Buffy kept quiet since technically, it was for Dawn.

“Oh cool,” Dawn enthused as her eyes scanned what was typed out and then glanced up to explain to Xander. “It says I have a package waiting at the post office.” She flipped the card over and grew even more excited. “It's from Seattle. I bet it's from Jeanine!”

“Probably,” Buffy nodded. She hadn't a chance to note where the package was listed from.

“Can we go get it?” Dawn immediately implored of Xander. “It says they're open until five today.”

“Sure thing Dawnster,” Xander smiled his easy smile, happy to be of service and to keep Dawn on as even a keel as they could. For the life of him, he did not remember teen hood as a time of this much emotional roller coaster, even with two best friends in female form and a bitch queen for a girlfriend. But then, maybe he was starting to show his age. He smirked as Buffy nodded. She was removing her messenger bag and mumbling something about checking on what they could have for supper. She had moved to check their answering machine and threw a 'drive safe' reminder that Xander had not really needed, over her shoulder as the duo exited the door they'd just entered.

It didn't take Dawn as long as she might have thought to retrieve her package. She had to show her school id to get the package, but it was like a mini adventure to her, in the mundane world anyway. She'd never picked up a package herself before and was slightly giddy with the adultness novelty of it. Xander had convinced her to wait until she was home to open it, by the simple expediency of threatening to make her clean up any packing material that spilled out, by hand. Dawn had capitulated immediately. General Cleaning Squad Buffy was already enough of a headache.

As Dawn barreled out of the car and into the house with Xander trailing behind, they were both greeted enthusiastically by Willow. Her stomach had healed up nicely after her previous encounter with demon Gnarl, the flesh eater. And just in the last few days, she had been talking about returning to school as well and had embraced helping Dawn with her school work as whole heartedly as the old Willow had once done.

“This is so awesome,” Dawn enthused for about the hundredth time. Buffy was already prepared with a small paring knife to cut through the packaging tape. “I mean, I've gotten packages before, but Mom always picked them up and had them waiting for me.”

“Ah yes, the all important ritual of standing in line at a government office, waiting for something already belonging to you to be handed to you with the trade of the imperious yellow card,” Willow teased with just a small trace of impertinence. “It's a rite of passage Dawnie.”

Buffy chuckled behind her hand as Dawn merrily continued severing the tape. “Laugh at me all you want Willow,” she announced and then her eyebrows furrowed, “except, don't. This is exciting for me. I was worried I would never get an answer. I have a report to do, you know.”

“We know Dawn,” Buffy assured her. “I'm just glad your teacher was so understanding about it.”

“He's been great, hasn't he?” Dawn nodded. There was a little silence as Dawn finally managed to open the box and carefully allowed the contents to spill out onto the table. With a delighted squeal, she sifted through the items and held up the curios one by one. “Look, coffee!” She held it to her nose and inhaled the bitter scent. “I can't tell if it smells good or not. How do you judge good coffee?”

“I think Dawnie, if it's from Seattle, it's automatically good,” Xander smiled as he took it from her and gave it an experimental sniff himself. He rolled his eyes slowly and then shook his head. “Seeing as how we're not getting a contact high, I would suppose it's middle of the road.”

Buffy shook her head at her friend's silliness. “What else is there Dawn?”

Dawn held up in turn a t-shirt with a post pulse Seattle neo-rock band that was just losing popularity with it's long time goth crowd as it entered mainstream media about the time that Dawn got interested in music that didn't include nursery rhymes. There was also a snow globe of the Seattle skyline as seen from Puget sound and plenty of papers and brochures. “This is excellent. Just what I needed for my report!”

“Hey,” Willow drew their attention back to the box, “looks like you got a letter here Dawnie.” She pointed out the envelope that had been taped to the front, with her address prominently displayed. She deftly sliced it loose and then held it out to the teenager. Dawn abandoned her new little toys to rip into it.

“Probably Jeanine,” she reiterated. But as she opened the single sheet that had been folded in thirds, her face went from excited to puzzled, to sad and then to happy again. “Wow, listen to this. Dear Dawn Summers, I am sorry to tell you that the letter you sent was unable to reach your friend Jeanine. She no longer lives at this address and I am not sure that she ever did. I apologize for reading the letter that you sent but when I received it, I thought it was meant for me. My name is Joshua. After I mistakenly read your letter, I felt bad that you would receive no answer from your friend. When I told my friend about the letter, we decided that we could help you with your school project. My father always told me that leaning is important and that every day you learn something is a day that is not wasted. Perhaps I will someday learn about your home, Sunnydale. It sounds like a lovely place, just by the name. I hope the information that my friends gathered for you will be helpful. Sincerely, Joshua S.”

Dawn glanced up from where she was reading the letter and met the fondly amused glances. “That's so cool. I mean, total stranger, helping me out like that.” The page waved dangerously in her suddenly excited hands. “I have to write back! Can I Buffy? I have to at least say thank you. That was so nice of him, of Joshua and his friends to do this for me.”

“I was just going to suggest it,” Buffy chuckled, a little late as Dawn was already dashing to the credenza to find the letter writing supplies that their mother had always kept there and that Buffy had never had the heart to change. “Thank you letter and then try and get some homework out of the way!” she instructed as Dawn pushed the previous neat stack of books out of her way. “Supper will be in an hour.”

“Uh huh,” was her sister's murmured, distracted reply and the chuckling, amused adults made their way to the living room to leave the teen to her newfound appreciation of a fast growing lost art of old world politeness.

Taking Turns