Restive Nature
Rated NC-17
Chapter Eleven
Working Girls
Funny enough, it was Dawn who first got a job. With no restrictions upon her, aside from the usual chores around the house, and no being alone outside at night, she had a lot of free time. And she also had the energy and optimism to drop her resume off wherever she went, filling out applications when she could. And finally, the flooding of paperwork netted results. As she’d feared, it seemed the only places that were interested were fast food restaurants that had high turnover. But she also caught the interest of a convenience store just down from their house a few blocks.
It was a brilliant stroke of luck for the teen. She’d been bored one afternoon and decided that after her usual round of job slogging, she was going to stop and pick up a few chocolate bars and a new magazine. She’d been chatting with the cashier as she made her purchases. When she mentioned her aching feet from being all over town, the cashier had prompted her to apply for the opening they had. Dawn had philosophically done her duty, figuring that there was no way they’d hire her.
She had a moment of panic when she came across a new question on the application. Was she bondable? She asked and the cashier explained about it being the businesses roundabout way of asking if she’d ever been to jail. The woman glanced over the paperwork and noting that Dawn had just turned eighteen the previous week told her to check yes. She figured that in that span of time, it was impossible for Dawn to be convicted of a major crime and sentenced. Everything else would have been on a juvenile record and theoretically sealed off. But these days, there were so many teens and children being tried as adults, it was hard to say.
Dawn had asked her sister about it when she got home. Buffy was quick to assure her that her shoplifting stint back in Sunnydale shouldn’t hurt her a bit. She’d never been charged formally and it had happened while she was a teen. And they weren’t even sure that the stores she had stolen from had made notes not to let Dawn back into any other of the chain stores in different cities. Buffy couldn’t imagine that they had, as it seemed too much effort for the citizens of that little town to make.
"But why do they want to know if I’ve been to jail?" Dawn persisted. "Isn’t that like an illegal question to ask?"
"That’s not what bonding is about," Buffy clarified as she prepared dinner. Her hands were full of the casserole she was putting in the oven. "The company wants to know if you’ve ever been convicted of robbery or fraud. Usually the conditions of release or parole on those charges are that you can’t hold positions where you deal with large amounts of money. You wouldn’t be bondable. But as you’ve never been convicted of so much as stealing a stick of gum you are therefore, bondable." She shut the oven door and glanced at the table where her sister and fiancé were sitting. Both were gaping slightly at her. She removed the oven mitts and threw one of them down on the counter. "What?" she asked irritably as they continued to stare at her. "I’m allowed to know stuff," she pointed out.
"It’s not that," Dawn finally managed to murmur. She exchanged an amused glance with Spike.
"What is it then?" Buffy sighed. "Is my hair all funny?"
"There’s my girl," Spike chuckled as Buffy frantically checked her head, never realizing that she still wore the other oven mitt. Dawn laughed as well.
"No, it’s just you explained that really well," she offered. She turned to Spike. "Should we check for Alien invasion?"
"Nah," he shook his head. "I think she just channeled Giles for a minute there."
"Very funny guys," Buffy growled. "Keep it up and you won’t be getting any dinner!"
"Is that a promise!" Dawn and Spike spoke together, then burst out laughing. Buffy’s culinary skills, by no means perfect yet, still had come a long way. And while they weren’t eating gourmet meals, she did manage to make passable food.
"I’m serious," even as she said it, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. "Keep insulting me Dawnie and I won’t give you a good reference."
"Ha!" Dawn pointed her finger at her sister. "Can’t threaten me. I didn’t list you as a reference."
Buffy’s eyes widened. "I’m heartbroken." She thought a moment about which Dawn could have listed and her curiosity got the better of her. "Who did you put down?"
"Willow, of course and Cordy for personal references," Dawn enumerated. "And my vice principal from school, Mr. Yamashida. And Giles."
"Impressive," Spike grinned. "You really thought that out." He paused for a moment. "Did you remember to ask their permission first though?" Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Willow and Cordy last week, Giles when he was at the Magic shop years ago and Mr. Yamashida after graduation."
"You asked Giles that long ago?" Buffy was surprised. She took a seat beside Spike. Her sister nodded.
"I figured that all that work I was doing to make up for the stealing should count for something," she explained with a shrug. "I figured it was better to ask Giles than Anya." A sad smile crossed her face. "Who knows what she would have said." All three remembered fondly now, the woman’s blunt outspokenness.
And so it was that two days later Dawn was called back to come in for an interview. Even though nervous, it being her first venture into the adult world of work, she handled herself well. And when another two days passed and she’d held off on the offer from the burger joint downtown, the manager of the store called her back. Dawn was overjoyed at being offered the job. The manager was quick to point out that Dawn was on a type of probationary period for the first month. They’d had glowing references from three of those she had listed. Dawn informed the lady that Mr. Giles, the only one of which she actually had work experience with, was on a business trip to London. Dawn had told her this before, during the interview, but thanks to Cordy, was also able to tell the woman that Giles was scheduled to return in less than two weeks.
In all, it was the proximity of Dawn’s residence to the store that really got her the job. Some of the other candidates were hesitant to travel too far for a part-time job. They talked a little while longer, about uniforms, training and wages. Dawn was to start the next morning and put in three hours of training every other day for a week. Then she’d get her schedule for the week after if they were happy with her work. Even though the woman almost sounded like she was going through the mechanics with the teen, Dawn was on Cloud Nine. It gave her a giddy feeling to know that she’d been picked, for whatever reasons out of hundreds, well, maybe ten people. But still, it was ten other people that Dawn had never met, so that counted for something.
Buffy and Spike were happy for her, and vastly amused by her happy dance. It was akin to Xander’s Snoopy dance, but with a tad more grace. She’d tried to pull Spike and Buffy in but they were too busy laughing over her exuberance. But Willow was more than happy to join in when she and Cordy arrived for the celebratory dinner they were having. It was Dawn’s way of saying thanks for the kind words they’d spoken about her. After she’d exhausted her need for flailing about, Buffy ushered them into the kitchen. Her meatloaf was actually delicious that evening and the group relaxed and spent the night reminiscing about their Sunnydale days. Of course it had to come to an end when Cordy gasped and her hand flew up to her head.
"Cordy!" Willow scooted closer to the Seer on the sofa. "Are you okay?"
It took her a moment to answer. "I’m okay."
"What’s the matter?" Dawn asked in a low, urgent voice. Cordy leaned back and suddenly recalled that aside from Willow, none of the others had been with her when she had a vision. So she enumerated. "Vision. Slightly painful sometimes, in a headachy way."
"What was it?" Willow started in. "Bad? Should I call Wes and the others? Do you need some water?"
"Slow down Willow," Cordy tried to breathe slowly, hoping to get the excitable redhead to stop babbling a little. "One of these days someone’s going to forcibly break you of that habit."
"I know," Willow smiled. "Too many people find it cute. But it gets kind of annoying after a while."
"Uh, yeah," Cordy trilled in complete agreement. She turned to Buffy and Spike. "There’s a demon, big, about seven feet tall, mud brown, horns. It’s looking for children and it’s heading to the promenade."
Spike nodded, then threw a worried glance at Buffy. She shook her head slightly and he understood. "I think I can handle it, if you ladies want to stay here and keep celebrating."
"It seems strong," Cordy argued. "You shouldn’t go alone. I didn’t recognize it, so I don’t know anything about it."
"I should call Wes then," Buffy said hurriedly. "He can research it, and hey, I bet Gunn would feel really left out if you had a vision and he didn’t get to fight the big, bad demony thing."
"Yeah," Spike agreed immediately. "I’ve been meaning to get to know the bloke. What better way than to kill things together."
Willow, Cordy and Dawn were all staring at him strangely, but he didn’t give them the chance to respond. As he went to collect his weapons, Buffy hurried to the telephone. She punched in the number to AI and was gratified when Fred answered. She asked to speak to Wes, and filled her former Watcher in on the recent developments. He promised to get started researching. He was a little surprised when she asked where she could find Gunn. But he gave her Gunn’s cell phone number. She said goodbye and hung up before he could ask any more questions.
She tried Gunn a couple of times before he answered. She felt bad about having disturbed him until he revealed that he’d been working out and hadn’t heard the phone ringing. Once she’d told him what was going on, he told her he was game. He didn’t bother asking nosy questions, figuring if she wanted him to know why she wasn’t out hunting this thing herself, she’d tell him. Plus, he was looking forward to seeing Spike’s fighting style. He knew that Spike had been part of Angel’s line of Vampires. But on many occasions, his boss had referred to the Childe’s fighting style as spastic.
Once Buffy hung up the phone, she nodded to Spike. He’d listened to Cordy’s description again, although there really was no need. He insisted that the women stay put, not because they were inferior, but because he didn’t want Dawn’s night ruined. And that Buffy mildly agreed with him stunned the others enough for him to make his escape. Cordy and Willow had protested again, but Dawn watched her sister suspiciously. It wasn’t that she minded having Buffy put her ahead of the slayage, but it was completely out of character.
Buffy, for her part, was easily ignoring the others as she moved around the living room, picking up coffee mugs and taking them to the kitchen. When she’d woken up this morning, she’d hurried to the bathroom for her morning ritual. She’d gotten halfway through her shower when she realized what day it was. After getting out and wrapping a towel about her overly warm body, she’d mentally done some calculations. With a blazing grin on her face, she’d continued with her ablutions. But she couldn’t resist sticking her tongue out at the box of tampons sitting on the shelf behind the hinged mirror.
Spike had picked up on her jittery excitement immediately upon waking up. She’d refused to tell him exactly what was going on. But later, when he’d caught her quickly counting off days on the calendar in the kitchen, he’d figured it out. There’s been a moment where he would have whooped and hollered, but she forestalled him. She didn’t want to wake Dawn and she didn’t want to discuss it yet. Talking about it was a sure way of jinxing it. So he’d agreed to keep quiet. And then Dawn had her news, and Buffy knew that today was definitely not the day to share. As happy as Dawn would be for them, the teen still couldn’t stand being upstaged. Especially by her own sister.
But the teen did notice as Buffy’s hand swept over her abdomen in a curious gesture. She was struck mute again as little signs clicked and fell into place for her. Buffy’s exuberant cheerfulness, the way she’d been lingering at the calendar every time she’d been near it. The happiness in Spike’s eyes even before she’d related her news. Rubbing her stomach. Not going slaying. She gasped in a little breath of air, exhaling with a soft ‘oh!’ A strange pleasure filled her as she reasoned out why Buffy had said nothing yet and was prompted to cover for her.
"You know guys," she addressed Willow and Cordy, "when Spike became a Slayer, they kind of agreed to this thing where occasionally one of them gets a night off. I think it was nice of Spike to go out and let Buffy stay in."
"Well, it is," Willow agreed finally. "It’s just not what we’re used to."
"Everything’s changing," Buffy chuckled. "That’s for sure."
"And you know," Cordy nodded thoughtfully, "Spike is right. It will be nice for him and Gunn to get to know one another. I mean, there’s plenty of baddies to go around, but eventually I’m sure we’ll be working together."
"There you go," Dawn murmured as their friends began to get used to the idea. She quickly introduced a new topic, catching Cordy’s attention by describing the uniform she’d have to wear for work. It was enough to get their minds going in a new direction. They finally left, close to eleven, with Dawn ushering them out. They teased her all the way to the door about needing her beauty sleep to face the horrible first day of three hours of work. She took it in the nature it was intended. She returned to the living room and stared at her sister, leaning against the French doors, staring out into the night. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She sighed, realizing that she should wait for Buffy to confide in her. In their home, it was becoming more difficult to keep secrets, as they grew closer together.
And Dawn, taking her growing up very seriously, understood, as one woman to another, that Buffy needed to keep this little secret just a while longer. Something that was completely hers. So she cleared her throat, and when her sister turned to face her, motioned with a thumb over her shoulder. "I’m gonna go to bed now. Good night."
"Good night Dawn," Buffy smiled serenely. "Have a good sleep."
"I will," her sister nodded. "You too." And with that, she hurried down the steps to revel in the thrill of power it gave her to have successfully understood, defended and connected with her sister. And all without said sister being aware of it.
Spike returned, a few hours later and slipped into the darkened house. He locked the door and checked the main level before heading upstairs. He took a quick shower then slipped into bed with his fiancée. She was hovering on the edge of sleep and rolled over to snuggle up next to his warm body. "Did you get it?" she asked sleepily.
"Saw it, fought it, chased it ‘til we lost it," he replied succinctly. Buffy nodded in understanding.
"S’always tomorrow," she murmured, nestling her head on his shoulder. Spike smiled as one of her legs came up to rest between his. His hand moved down slightly to caress her stomach before resting comfortably on her hip.
"That there is luv," he mumbled as sleep began to claim him.
Spike went out hunting again the next evening, starting back at the promenade where they’d first encountered the beast. Gunn was supposed to meet him there. He lingered for as long as he could. But when the other man hadn’t shown after half an hour, he moved on to the next likely spot. A park down the street seemed to be the perfect cover for a mud brown demon.
"Hey!" a feminine voice called after him. He spun around, stunned to see Buffy jogging after him. "Wait up."
Once she’d caught up with him, he spoke harshly. "What are you doin’ here?" he demanded.
"Wes called," she explained quickly. "Gunn had a slight accident and they had to take him to the emergency room."
"Is he okay?"
She shrugged. "Just cut himself, but he might need stitches." She glanced around, casing the area. "Wes also figured out the demon. Named Morning-all or something like that. Said it comes to this dimension because its food is in short supply."
"Kids?" he asked with a grimace. She nodded.
"Apparently, according to his research, the thing wears an amulet to cross over," she continued. "Wes said that if we tear the horns off of its head, then remove the amulet, he’ll be sent back and won’t be able to return."
"The horn’s the power source?" Spike asked, confused. She shook her head.
"He was going on about clans and shame, you know how he can get," she grinned.
He chuckled as well. "Can take the man out of the Watcher’s, but not the Watcher out of the man, huh?" He sobered up then. "Still doesn’t explain why you’re here though. I thought you were gonna stay home, rest and all that good stuff."
"Well, I would have called," she tilted her head to the side, "but I-! Spike, look out!"
Her warning gave him enough chance to turn his head slightly before the Marnigall beast attacked. The thing, definitely over seven feet, picked the male Slayer up easily and threw him out of its way. He could hear the sounds of his lover fighting as he flew through the air. He landed hard, rolling to his side and coming to his knees in one smooth movement. Just in time to see Buffy kick out at the thing’s knee. Classic tactics get the thing down on the ground and keep it there. Its leg crumpled underneath it, but the Slayer had forgotten about the other dangers. Spike was to his feet, racing towards it as it happened. The Marnigall struck out hard with its fist. And though she tried to block it, the lucky shot was in, sending her reeling, holding her stomach where it had connected.
The world went red in Spike’s eyes. He was dimly aware of Buffy huddled on the ground, her face contorted in slight pain as she held her stomach and tried to breathe. With heart wrenching pain spurring him on, Spike’s world contracted down to pinpoint accuracy. The Marnigall tried to rise, but Buffy seemed to have broken its knee. The thing looked up in time to see Spike flying at him. He swung his arms around to hopefully keep this thing from getting too close. But the demon, while slightly stronger than the Slayers, hadn’t counted on facing love, adrenaline and desperation borne of fear.
Spike flew under the Marnigall’s arms, tackling it the rest of the way to the ground. He straddled the beast, fists pounding as he screamed expletives at it. His knuckles were bloodied and raw as he pounded the sneering face into pulp. But as he continued to beat it, he dimly became aware of Buffy yelling his name.
"Spike, the horns!" he heard her scream. It was times like this that he desperately wished he still had his demon to help him release his rage. But anger at what the beast had done to his love, to them, spurred him on. He pinned the flailing arms beneath him and with Slayer strength par excellence, reached up to snap the beasts horns from its head. And with no remorse whatsoever, carried the motion through as they broke off at the base and continued right into either side of the beast’s throat. Spike listened with satisfaction to the last pitying gurgle the demon made as it ceased to breathe.
Hearing a slight whimper from Buffy, Spike scrambled off the Marnigall and rushed to her side. She was just standing up, brushing off her behind. "Nice one," she complimented him.
"Buffy, luv," his voice was low, anxious, demanding. "Are you all right? We need to get to the hospital. Are you bleeding?"
She grabbed his arm and forced him to look at her. She hadn’t wanted to tell him like this, but knew she needed to, or he’d have a heart attack, worrying over her. "It was a false alarm Spike," she whispered. He stared down at her, uncomprehending. "I was just late."
He sighed as he began to understand. They’d gotten their hopes up for nothing. "I’m sorry luv," he consoled her, wrapping his arms around her and dropping a kiss on her forehead.
"It’s okay," she smiled wanly. "It was probably just stress, what with the moving and the parties and looking for work."
"Probably," he agreed. "Not to mention Slaying, bein’ big sis to the Nibblet, keeping house, makin’ love."
"A lot on my plate," she sighed, her eyes mockingly wide. "Yeesh, who has time for a job?"
A thought occurred to him then. "That’s why you came, instead of callin’?" She nodded.
"I figured since Gunn couldn’t make it, I’d help out. Sacred duty and all that," she smiled ruefully. "But otherwise, I would have called," she assured him.
"I know," he agreed gently. "There’s a lot of things you’d risk to fight evil, but not that."
"Never that," she nodded once. He took her hand and began to lead her away, towards home, but she turned back suddenly. "Oh, the amulet."
"He’s dead luv," Spike chuckled. "He’s not goin’ anywhere."
"No, Wes wanted to study it," she explained. Spike rolled his eyes and turned back to retrieve it. It wasn’t hanging about its neck, as he supposed, but around the thing's waist. Spike grimaced as he contemplated exactly where the thing might draw its power. He grunted a little as the body disappeared once the amulet had been removed. But Wes had said it would. He jogged back to Buffy, who was still rubbing her stomach.
"He kick you that hard?" he asked incredulously. Usually the petite Slayer could shake things like that off.
"That and cramps," she enlarged. Spike smiled tenderly at her.
"Then let’s go home, fill up Mr. Hot Water Bottle, find some aspirin and a good mug o’ hot chocolate," he planned. Buffy sighed and snuggled into his side, his arm wrapping about her shoulder.
"Were you always this good to me?" she asked softly.
"I tried luv, I really did."
A Friend In Need
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