Fiction EotH12- A Friend In Need

Essence Of The Heart

Restive Nature
Rated NC-17



Chapter Twelve
A Friend In Need



Buffy grinned as she let herself into the house. She’d finally had a good day to kind of make up for the last few crappy ones. "Spike? Dawn? I’m home!" she called out as she flipped through the mail they’d just received. Mostly their first batch of bills. And ads. Buffy picked out the take-out forms and carried the rest to the kitchen. She paused for a moment to listen but heard no telltale sounds of anyone else about. She glanced at the refrigerator, where they normally posted notes for each other. There was one from each of them. Dawn had gone out to start planning her pre-back to school shopping trip. And Spike was off taking care of his job situation.



They’d both been searching hard, even deigning to apply at the same fast food places that Dawn had been to. Buffy had already gone this route once, knowing the reality of getting into the grease business. So she was even more relieved by her news today. The morning after Spike had dispatched the Marnigall; Buffy had been a little depressed. Rationally, she knew it had been hormones coursing through her body. But she’d put on a brave front before her sympathetic sister and overly cheerful fiancé. It was like they were trying to smother her with their understanding. But they didn’t even come close. She’d been dreaming of having a baby for almost two years now. Spike, while he’d talked about it with her, hadn’t started looking forward to it until a few weeks ago.



And Dawn, she was still young enough to not know the yearning that possessed Buffy. She’d idly wondered once why her biological clock seemed to be ticking now. Why it was so early. But she’d shrugged it off as Slayer physiology. Everything in her life happened to her young. This was just keeping in the pattern. That morning, after Dawn had gone for her job training and Spike hurried off to begin pampering her, she’d given in. As soon as she heard the roar of the DeSoto’s engine, she’d broken down. She’d soaked both pillows, the comforter and a great deal of the sheets before she was done in the bedroom. And then in the bathroom in the shower. And then in the empty bedroom beside her own.



After that, while she made up the bed with the extra sheets and carried the wet ones to be laundered, she’d chastised herself for losing it like that. It had only been their first real try. And what she’d said before made sense. Every conception was a miracle in and of itself. She and Spike just hadn’t connected in exactly the right moment. And as for their hopefulness, well, things were stressful. It wasn’t as if she’d never encountered this problem before. In high school, she’d always been on the wacky cycle due to the ever-increasing apocalypses she’d faced. And tests. Big tests that she wasn’t prepared for always threw her off.



After Spike had returned with bagels, cream cheese and mochas, she’d convinced him that she needed to get out of the house. They ended up at the closest mall. And it was there that Buffy had seen a woman posting a ‘Help Wanted’ sign at the front of a bookstore. She’d felt almost as if fate were slapping her across the back of the head. She’d been suffused with the bookiness for the last almost ten years of her life. Why would that change now? Ignoring Spike’s earlier request that she stay put for a moment, she’d hurried into the store, catching the woman behind the counter. She noted that the woman’s tag proclaimed her the manager. She’d greeted Buffy with a smile, which widened when Buffy requested an application.



"I certainly didn’t expect a response so quickly," the woman shrugged. She offered to let Buffy fill it out at the end of the counter. It was quickly done and she slipped out a folded resume that she had kept in her purse for such an occasion. The woman glanced at it briefly, commenting on her stint as ‘library assistant’ and her occasional work at The Magic Shop. They related directly to the work to be done in a bookstore. Buffy thanked her and the woman promised to look it over at the earliest possible moment. The opening was to be immediate, within the next two weeks and they needed someone for a full-time position.



Two days later, Buffy had been called back for an interview. She’d been happy for it, even though it meant being inundated with books again. Spike and Dawn had teased her, of course. There wasn’t a day that went by in their home when someone wasn’t teased. Buffy had done her best to pick out her most professional looking outfit from her still meager wardrobe. Over the last few years, she’d been going more for the comfortable stylish than the impressible stylish. She’d finally chosen a simple black skirt and a pinstripe shirt she’d pilfered from a happily not-so-ignorant Spike. With glee, she’d slipped on the Nine West shoes she’d treated herself to last year and had only worn twice since.



The interview was amazing. Buffy and Daphne, the manager had an instant rapport. Buffy quickly found out that it was Daphne’s first managing stint and was only a few years older than she herself was. They’d gone over the usual requirements and then Daphne had asked some abstract questions about the book industry. Buffy had been a little flustered, because she actually knew very little about the process of making and selling books. Her experience was more the open a really dusty tome and bore yourself to sleep type. But this place for the most part sold novels and how-to books.



But then Daphne had chuckled about how Buffy’s experience at The Magic Shop might come in handy for some of the special orders they handled. The comment intrigued Buffy enough for her to encourage the woman to go on. It seemed that they had a mild trade in obscure books that interested mainly kids invested in role-playing games. Daphne showed Buffy the microfiche that they kept, rattling off a list of books that they’d had come in recently. One of which Buffy actually remembered from her days in high school. She’d murmured about how Wes and Giles would’ve had a field day, sussing out the kids who owned these potentially dangerous books.



It was not something she’d thought about. That her job could actually be useful aside from paying the bills. And a fifteen- percent employee discount off special orders would give Wes a happy like he’d never had. At least not that she wanted to imagine. But Daphne asked again what she’d said and she quickly explained that her friends were interested in similar books. Daphne had near gone ecstatic at Wes’ name.



"He used to date Virginia Bryce, didn’t he?" she’d asked in a little gasping breath. Buffy had shrugged and nodded, hoping she wasn’t lying. She had no idea that Wes had ever dated someone that was well known. At least well known to somebody. She’d never heard of Virginia Bryce before. It set Daphne off even more and Buffy debased herself a little by offering that as Giles was still out of the country, Wes was her alternate reference. They’d also worked together while she was in high school. Although not quite in the capacity that a manager of a store would expect. She handed over the AI number with just the tiniest qualms, hoping that she could get ahold of Wes and explain what was happening before Daphne did.



She did manage to and Wes understood about what she’d done. He hadn’t actually thought of Virginia for quite some time. And even though he wouldn’t say it aloud, it fed his occasionally faltering ego that someone remembered who he was. It also didn’t hurt that Buffy had turned to him. Granted, he was being used as a substitute for Giles, but after admitting that he wasn’t cut out for the Watcher’s life, he’d been mostly able to get by the jealousy he’d carried for the man.



And that brought Buffy to this day. Daphne had called this morning with the news that she was still considering one other candidate, but she wanted to talk to them both again. So Buffy had met her in the food court of the mall. Over a brief lunch for Daphne and coffee for Buffy, they’d discussed the specifics of the job. Apparently, the other women that the manager had been considering told her flat-out no to the second interview request. She’d rethought things and didn’t think selling books was cool. Daphne had laughingly chastised herself for even considering a college student.



So Buffy had the job and was to start training the next day. After Daphne was done her meal, they’d headed back to the store. Daphne had introduced her to the assistant manager, Janet and one of the three part-timers, Teresa. The full-timer that Buffy was replacing had already slipped off for her scheduled lunch break when she saw Daphne return. Buffy was informed that the woman’s husband was with the police force and had been reassigned to another city. They’d been expecting it, but not as quickly as it had actually happened. Well, their big move was also Buffy’s and she was glad of it. The job seemed fairly easy. She’d learn how to shelve books, which she kind of already had figured out. She did know the alphabet after all. She’d learn to run the till, use the computer, do special orders, learn inventory and would help Janet occasionally with ordering books and making displays. Her hours were from nine in the morning until six, but it included a half-hour lunch break and two fifteen minute breaks in the back room of the store. So it was only eight total hours working. She’d start at minimum wage and would be evaluated after three months.



Buffy sighed as she pulled open the refrigerator to stare at the contents, that evening’s dinner on her mind. She glanced up at the clock, noting that it was early yet, only four-thirty. She pulled a bottle of water out and nudged the door shut. She moved to the living room, wondering what to do while she waited for Spike and Dawn to get home. It was then that she noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. She hurried over to it and pressed the playback button. She grinned when the familiar British accent filled the room.



"Oh blast these infernal machines," Giles sputtered. It was almost as if he were standing right next to her. "It’s Giles and it’s eleven o’clock, here that is. And I’m not leaving a message." Obviously in reply to their prerecorded directions on the machine. "I suppose I’ll try again in a little bit." There was a click and nothing else. Buffy shook her head and erased the message. Giles would just never change. Not when it came to technology, which he considered everything that plugged into a wall socket to be part of.



She settled on the couch, picking up one of Dawn’s discarded magazines. She was flipping idly through it, only mildly concerned with how out of the loop she’d grown since the Sunnydale days. But that made sense. She was growing up and growing apart from the teenage mindset. But in some ways, she still had yet to feel like an actual grown-up. Part of her would always try to preserve some semblance of innocence that she’d lost at such a young age. Just as she was beginning to become engrossed in a fashion tip article, the phone rang again. Buffy set the magazine down; waiting a moment to make sure it wouldn’t slide shut and jumped up from the couch. She answered on the third ring and was again hearing a friendly voice.



"Well at last," Giles huffed. "I’ve been trying every ten minutes since I left that message."



"No need for the snarkiness Giles," Buffy grinned. "I just got home a few minutes ago."



"Oh, everyone was out then?" he asked, slightly more polite and more like himself.



"Yeah, it’s four-thirty something here," Buffy explained.



"Yes, I know that," Giles sighed. Obviously he had no trouble remembering the time change, unlike certain petite blonde Slayers. "I just suppose I believed you’d be home at this hour."



"The old me would be," Buffy confirmed easily. "But the new job Buffy won’t be."



"Oh heavens," Giles chuckled, "you’ve managed to find employment then?" He didn’t wait for her affirmation. "Where at then?"



"A bookstore," she rolled her eyes, just imagining his giddiness. "Just a run of the mill bookstore. That sells books. Oh and magazines. And bookmarks. Even pens occasionally."



"Yes," he interrupted dryly. "I’m quite familiar with stores of that nature."



"And potentially dangerous demon raising manuals," she threw in casually. Her lips twitched mischievously as she heard him sputter. "Don’t worry, got that under control. I’ll pass these kids names on to Wes and the others. Daphne, the manager thinks they’re using them in their D&D games."



"I should bloody well hope not," Giles sounded and most likely was outraged.



"And that’s not all the news," Buffy continued before they became lost on a tangent. "Dawn found a job too."



"She did?" he sounded pleased. "Well good for her. What kind of work?"



"Part time at a convenience store," she elaborated. "Spike’s still looking though."



"It sounds as if you’re settling in nicely then," the tone was hopeful now.



"And…"



"Dear lord," he chuckled, "there’s more?"



"Spike and I got engaged," she blurted out in a rush. "On the Fourth of July. You should see my ring. It is so gorgeous. And everyone was thrilled for us. Which was really sweet. And it was just an amazing moment. Cause I wasn’t really paying attention. So we just had to celebrate. I mean Spike and I. We celebrated with the others later." Giles let her continue until she ran out of steam.



"That is extraordinary news," he praised her; having been expecting this ever since Spike was resurrected as a human. "Congratulations to you both. When will it be?"



"Halloween," she chuckled. He laughed along with her, understanding the implications of the date as well. They continued to chat and Buffy filled him in on the fact that his references would still be required. Which led him to explain the main reason for the phone call. His plans had been pushed back a little. He had been unable to stop over in Denver to see Faith, so he’d be accomplishing that on the way back. The plan now was that he’d be back in LA on the fourth of August. Just over two weeks away. And he very much wanted to take her, Spike and Dawn out for dinner.



Buffy could tell that he was hiding something from her. She tried her best to wheedle it out of him, but he stuck firmly to his guns. Only when he assured her that it was in no way apocalypse related, did she give up. She’d just have to wait to find out. They finally said their good-byes, Giles promising to try and call once more before coming home. Buffy set the receiver back in its cradle as Spike made it home. She greeted him with an enthusiastic kiss before he even got the door shut.



"Someone’s had a good day then?" he smiled affectionately at her.



"Giles just called," she grinned. He rolled his eyes, a habit he’d picked up from her and seemed to be employing more as the days went by.



"Some would consider that bad news," he teased. "So what big bad is coming our way?"



"Faith," Buffy shrugged. Spike whipped around and gaped at her.



"Don’t tell me the bint’s gone plonkers again?" he groaned. Buffy giggled.



"No," she shook her head. "He wanted to let me know that he’d be delayed a few days ‘cause he still hadn’t talked to Faith about her getting a house."



"Oh," he nodded. "That’s okay then." He paused a moment. "What else did ya talk about?"



"Oh I told him all our good news," she smiled and tilted her head to the side. She moved towards him and he automatically wrapped his arms around her. "Our news, for which he sends his congrats. Dawn’s news, which made him happy. And my news."



"Your news?" she’d lost him on that one. She nodded. "Oh, the job interview." She shook her head.



"No, not interview. Welcome to your new job, you start tomorrow."



"You got it?" he asked excitably. She nodded again.



"And I suddenly feel the urge to celebrate," she whispered huskily as she pulled him towards the stairs.



"Anything you want pet," he growled softly. He took the first step just as the phone began to ring. He paused, but Buffy tugged on his hand.



"Let the machine pick up," she instructed. "If it’s earth shattering they’ll call back right away." Spike shrugged and with a wolfish grin chased her up the stairs.



*****



Connor had spent the last few weeks, almost alienating everyone around him. There were things going on in his life that he just wasn’t able to share with people. Not because he didn’t trust them, but because they’d believe him to be crazy. And it wasn’t just one thing; there was a multitude. And it went back quite a ways it seemed. Perhaps even his whole life. After returning home with Alyssa for his family’s annual Fourth of July barbecue, things had become worse. After taking Alyssa home and returning to his parent’s house, he’d subtly questioned them about Buffy. But they’d been completely blank on her name. They had no idea who she was. Neither did they now Joyce or Hank. And he’d been extremely perplexed. He wondered if maybe he’d met her through one of his babysitters when he was a toddler. There had been occasions when his parents had hired them, for their own evenings out. But he didn’t have one steady sitter as a child. There’s been many. And Buffy couldn’t know them all. And that explanation certainly didn’t explain why she’d never changed.



He’d continued to think about it, most of his waking hours and part of his dreams as well. Always waking in a peaceful manner after those dreams, until reality set in and he remembered why they were wrong. He felt so comfortable around Buffy, in life and dreams that he couldn’t imagine why she’d been lying to him in this strange manner. And as he wasn’t finding any plausible explanations, his mind began reaching for the implausible.



After his very first run in with a demon with Max and Angel, he’d deliberately blocked it from his mind. There were just some things about this world that he wasn’t ready to accept yet. But at his friend’s wedding reception, he couldn’t deny Lorne. He’d gotten a crash course in demonology from Max’s friend Cordelia. She’d been sure to stress the fact that not all demons were evil. And not all demons looked as Lorne and that other one did. There were some that carried human facades. And as ridiculous as it sounded to him, he began to wonder if that’s what Buffy was. Some sort of fiend in human disguise. But that didn’t explain her sister. Unless Dawn was a demon as well.



He’d eventually made himself dismiss that notion. Angel and his team at the detective agency fought these things. They certainly wouldn’t be palling around with them, would they? That made no sense whatsoever, for all the so-called good demons that Cordelia had enumerated on. Except for Lorne obviously. But there were always exceptions to the rule. And nobody who’d ever met Lorne could dislike the guy.



Finally though, the thoughts chasing themselves in circles in his head was beginning to affect the rest of his life. He wasn’t sleeping well every night. He often became distracted at work, and had earned a reprimand from Roy because of a customer complaint. He hadn’t called Alyssa once since she’d left and had been short-tempered the only time she’d called him. He was blowing off his other friends and spending more time alone with his rampaging ideas. It just wasn’t healthy, this new obsession with the impossible to find truth.



He’d resolved a few days ago to try and talk to someone about it. But the people, who he was most comfortable with, Max and Angel, were still on their honeymoon. Connor might have turned to Cordelia, but he didn’t know her well and she seemed fairly busy. Every time he’d called AI, he’d gotten the answering machine. He always supposed that he could go straight to the horse’s mouth and talk to Lorne. But he had no idea how to get in touch with him.



He was pulled out of his reverie by an outraged feminine screech. His gaze shot up to narrowly avoid mowing down a woman walking down the sidewalk. As he jerked the handlebars, the front wheel wobbled out of control and he gracelessly collapsed into a heap just past the young woman. After lying on the ground for a moment, Connor groaned. He’d banged his knee pretty good on impact. But suddenly, his vision was filled by hair, A lot of it.



"Are you okay?" the hair asked. A slim hand came up to push some of it out of the way and he concentrated on the features underneath.



"Oh, hey Dawn," he greeted with a smile as her hand descended to help hi up. "Yeah, I’m okay. How about you? I didn’t hit you, did I?" She pulled him to a stand and he winced slightly as his weight settled partially on the sore knee.



"No," she shook her head, helping to dust him off. "You swerved just in time. She brushed the smudge of dirt from her hand and swiftly picked up the shopping bag she’d dropped to help him. She also grabbed up his backpack that had slipped off him somehow. She handed it to him with a small grin. "Boy, you really mean it when you say you ran into someone."



"Ha ha," he joked sarcastically. "I’m sorry. Just was kind of distracted."



"And by the look on your face it wasn’t a tall busty blonde in a short skirt kind of distracted," she surmised with a grin. Connor laughed despite his earlier surliness.



"No, just some personal stuff, is all," he shrugged, then leaned over to pick up the bike. Seeing the look of interest on her face, he sought to change the subject. "Say, I heard about your new job. Congratulations."



"Thanks," she beamed at him. "It’s pretty cool so far, but it’s only part-time. Not a lot of hours." She paused and looked at him wonderingly. "Who told you though and why didn’t I know I’ve got friends bragging on me?" she asked lightly.



"Oh, uh Buffy told me," he said quickly. Which was the truth. But the odd part was that he couldn’t really remember when or how, just knowing that she’d mentioned it.

"Oh, cool," Dawn grinned. Her big sister was getting sweeter by the moment it seemed. With silent agreement, they began walking together in the direction Dawn had been heading. "Hey, why don’t you come over for dinner? Unless you’re still working, that is."



"Oh, no," he protested immediately. "I couldn’t. I mean, I don’t want to intrude."



"Wouldn’t be an intrusion," Dawn shook her head. "Buffy would love to see you."



Connor stared into her face, seeing such openness and honesty there. It was so strange that he felt he could believe her based on her words alone. He did know that Buffy would love to see him. But how strange was it that he knew nothing of Dawn but what Buffy told him. If he’d known Buffy all his life, shouldn’t he have known Dawn? There was confliction there. He trusted this teen more than he should have for someone he didn’t really know. But the effect of not being sure of his relationship with Buffy was slowly driving him mad. He needed answers. Maybe Dawn was the one to answer them. If she knew, that was.



"Dawn," he began hesitantly. She said nothing, just waited for him. "I have something strange to ask. You might think I’m crazy, but I’m not."



"Never good words," she half-smiled, trying to put him at ease, "but go ahead."



"Well see," he tried to ease into the explanation, " when I had first met Max, we were attacked, by this thing." Dawn nodded. "And then there’s Lorne." Right then she saw where he was heading.



"And you want to know if demons are real?" she surmised. He shrugged.



"I kind of know they are, unless Lorne is a really amazing figment of our collective imagination," he scoffed. "But that’s not possible." Dawn giggled just a little, thinking of herself in just those terms on occasion. The feeling had lessened over the years, but in odd moments, it was still there.



"You’d be surprised," she rolled her eyes. "But yeah, Lorne is real. Are you having a hard time dealing with this earth-shattering news?"



"Kind of," he sighed. "I mean, I think I can handle demons. But Max and Cordelia both said that there was more to it. That some are good, some bad. And they don’t all look the same."



"Oh," Dawn nodded. "I can see this might take a while. What say we go get some coffee and talk?" He nodded with relief that he might finally get some answers. He watched as she called home and left a message for her sister. When she hung up her cell phone, he stopped her with one hand on her arm.



"Thanks Dawn," he smiled. "I guess I just need a friend I can talk to."



"No problem," she returned. "Anything for a friend of Buffy’s." He nodded and they set off for coffee and conversation. Connor wondered exactly how he’d bring up these false memories he seemed to have of her sister. Dawn wondering exactly how much she could explain without him asking too many detailed secrets, for not all of them were hers to tell.



*****



Buffy and Spike returned to the living room, noting immediately that the house was still empty. It was past dinnertime and Buffy was a little ticked off that Dawn wasn’t home, until Spike caught the machine blinking its little red light at them. He hit the play button and Dawn’s cheerful voice greeted them. "Hey guys, it’s me. It’s uh, just after five. I ran into Connor and we’re going to go get coffee And thanks for bragging about me and my job to him, Buff. That’s so sweet. Anyway, I should be back by six, six-thirty at the latest. See you then."



Spike turned to his fiancée. "There you go luv, she’d having coffee with the boy." He noticed the odd look on her face. "What’sa matter?"



"I haven’t been bragging about Dawn," she said, her face twisted with uncertainty. "And certainly not to Connor. I haven’t talked to him since before the barbecue."



"Huh," he muttered, then shrugged. "Well, maybe he heard it somewhere else and just forgot."



"Maybe," Buffy agreed, but still, couldn’t help gnawing her lower lip wonderingly.


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