Camp KillalotBy Karen
The three vehicles pulled into the main clearing of the camp and were immediately swamped by hysterical teenagers. Spike leapt out and pushed his way through the crying and wailing teens"DAWN! DAWN! Where the soddin' hell are you? DAWN!"
He spun in a tight circle desperately trying to find the beloved face in the crowd, but the teenagers were tightly packed in and he kept losing his place as he was shoved to and fro. He felt a familiar presence at his back and whirled to meet the terrified eyes of his nemesis
"I can't find Connor."
Spike opened his mouth to reply and then realised that the snarky comment he should be making wouldn't come, instead a century's worth of bitterness and hatred were lost in the shared experience of every parent's worst nightmare. Missing children.
"I'm going for the fire. If they're anywhere they're going to be there and they're going to be together. C'mon Peaches."
Angel swallowed and glanced back quickly at Cordelia before he followed his blonde grandchilde through the children and into the trees. Cordy waved and then set about herding the terrorised humans up and into the long, low dining hall. Anya squeezed Xander's arm and moved to help her leaving Buffy, Xander, Gunn, Fred and Wesley all standing staring at each other. Buffy shook her head sharply
"Ok, standing around isn't doing any good. Xan, you and Wes go east and search for any sign of the kids, demons or any survivors. Gunn, you and Fred go west, same deal. The guys seem to have taken north so I'll take south. Meet back here in.."
She broke off as Dawn and Connor staggered out of the trees from completely the opposite direction the two vampires had taken with another large crowd of humans in tow
"Dawnie!"
Dawn raised her head from where it lolled on Connor's shoulder and squinted to see her sister racing towards her. The two teens came to an unsteady halt and weaved uncertainly on their feet as the Slayer slid to a halt in front of them
"Dawnie, are you ok?"
The young brunette found a weak grin from somewhere
"I'm fine. Scratched and bruised and a little blowed up but I'm fine."
Buffy ran concerned eyes over her and reached to take her from Connor but Dawn frowned and strengthened her hold on the boy
"No. We'll make it by ourselves."
She watched as a flicker of hurt raced across the Slayer's face and then it was gone to be replaced by a look of pride and respect. Buffy stepped back and nodded shortly holding back the others as they pressed close to the two bedraggled and exhausted young people
"Yes, you will. Cordy's inside setting up a triage. I'll send someone to tell Spike and Angel you're ok."
Dawn nodded and exchanged a look with Connor and then they moved slowly forward to head towards the soft lights of the dining hall. They stopped as Buffy called after them
"What do we need to do? Is there anything we need to contain?"
Dawn turned her head and shot her sister a wide, beaming smile
"No. We took care of it."
When Spike entered the hall twenty minutes later he was down to his last nerve. In fact it had been stretched so tightly it would hardly be fair to call it a tissue sample let alone an actual nerve. His bright blue eyes darted around the room until he found her head and then he plunged into the crowd of mewling children intent on reaching his girl. Dawn winced as Cordelia tightened the bandage around her shoulder and smiled up at Connor as he passed her a steaming cup of hot chocolate and swung a blanket around her shoulders once again. Cordelia smiled to herself as she watched her son make cow eyes at the Slayer's sister and for what seemed to be the fiftieth time in the last half hour gave thanks for their safe, practically whole, return. Then she screeched as she was roughly elbowed aside and a frantic vampire leapt on Dawn
"Spike! What are you...mmpff"
The rest of her words were muffled against his leather-clad shoulder as he pulled her up out of her seat and into his arms. Connor jumped up and forwards but before he could reach Dawn he was plucked out of the air and swept into an embrace of his own. Dawn fought her way partially free and glared up into terrified sapphire eyes
"Spike, put me down! You spilled my drink!"
She raised the arm still clutching the now empty mug and clonked it against his head to make her point. Spike, typically, took no notice and pushed her backwards, allowing the blanket to slip once more from her shoulders
"Are ya hurt 'bit? Are you alright?" "I'm fine! Jeez, Spike, show a little calm huh?"
She watched as he swallowed and closed his eyes and then rolled her own in despair as he gave a low growl and yanked her into his arms once more.
Connor wasn't faring any better. Angel had one large hand clamped to the back of his head and the other arm in a vicelike grip around his back pressing him into his chest. He batted at his father's chest and scowled
"Dad! Dad, let me go. There are people here."
Angel copied Spike's move with Dawn and pushed his son away from him to rake over him with anxious eyes
"Are you ok? Are you hurt?"
Connor squirmed under the desperate scrutiny and muttered
"I'm fine. Will you let me..."
He swallowed the rest of the sentence as Angel pulled him back in to a desperate embrace and muttered as his face was once again smothered against a broad chest
"Oh for God's sake!"
Buffy wandered up to stand at Cordelia's shoulder and grinned at the two desperately uncomfortable teens squirming in the frenetic embraces
"So, nice to see the men taking things in their oh so macho stride."
Cordelia sniffed in exasperation and glared at the blissfully unaware Spike
"Oh yeah. They're regular Clint Eastwoods. Morons."
Buffy sniggered and turned as the rest of the gang strode up
"Hey guys, everything ok?"
Fred nodded as she watched with misty eyes the, mostly, happy reunion
"Everything's cool. We did a sweep of the camp and there's no badness out there and all the kids have been accounted for. Y'all need to speak to the guy in charge though. He seemed kinda...upset."
Buffy frowned and opened her mouth but was interrupted by the arrival of the head counsellor, Gary
"Ms Summers, I think we need to have a talk."
Buffy looked him in the eye and, just for a moment, realised how her mother must have felt every time she was dragged up to the school to answer for her daughter's latest misdemeanour
"I've just received word that the boating cabin has been damaged beyond all repair and apparently your sister also managed to destroy not only her own cabin but a jeep as well. I've also had some rather disturbing reports that she threatened and abused other members of her dorm and actually assaulted another boy. This is simply not acceptable."
Buffy opened her mouth again but the man overrode any protest and waved a finger quivering with indignation under her nose
"I don't know what kind of home you provide for that girl but to send her here knowing she has links with gangs and to run the risk of a gang war on our grounds endangering our other guests is irresponsible and morally reprehensible to say the least."
Buffy's mouth fell open and she yelped
"Gangs? Dawn doesn't know any gangs!"
The man snorted in disbelief
"I've heard it confirmed from several different sources that both those children knew the people they fought with tonight. They even had their own street names."
He spun around as Gunn muffled a laugh behind him
"Do you find this funny, young man?"
Gunn folded his arms across his broad chest and raised unimpressed eyebrows
"Yup. Those two kids saved your whiny asses tonight and all you can think about is your wooden shed? I find that pretty funny."
The other man puffed up and poked an enraged finger into the younger man's chest
"Let's see how funny you think it is when the police get here and I have those two thugs charged with murder and damage to property."
He turned again as he heard a low snarl come from behind him and saw Dawn pressing back against Spike in a futile attempt to hold him back. The bruised and battered girl winced as the vampire's snarl turned into a full blown growl and said calmly
"I don't think you want to do that. Spike! Calm down!"
The counsellor took a step backwards
"Who the hell is that?"
Dawn rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Spike's waist and dug in her heels thinking heavy thoughts but, slowly but surely, Spike dragged her over the gap between the two men
"This is my Dad. And he's kinda upset right now and you need to trust me when I say you don't want to piss him off." "That's your father? Young lady, if you..."
Dawn yelped as she was pulled away from Spike and thrust into Connor's arms and saw Angel grab Spike in one large hand and the unfortunate Gary in the other
"Spike and I will be outside taking care of this."
Cordelia winced at her lover's low, furious tone and nodded
"Ok. Don't forget the sun will be up soon!"
Her voice rose to a yell as the two vampires stalked out the door dragging the frightened man between them and then she turned back to her friends with a shrug
"Well, that went well. Dawn, get that blanket back on. Connor, come and sit down and let's have a look at you."
Connor tightened his hold around Dawn unwilling to let her go again
"I'm fine. Just a few.."
Cordelia turned her best 'mom' glare on him "I said, sit down."
Connor sighed
"Yes ma'am."
Buffy grinned as Angel's son meekly let go of her sister and sat down to let his 'mother' fuss over him. She watched as Xander and Anya pulled Dawn over to the next long table and sat down to wrap their arms around her slim form. Buffy stepped up to Cordelia's side as she poured some alcohol onto a long scratch on Connor's face and wiped it gently with some gauze
"Queen C does Ma Walton? Never thought I'd live to see that."
Cordelia laughed good-naturedly
"My glamorous and exciting life."
She stroked a gentle hand along Connor's cheek and then turned her attention to the various cuts and bruises on his hands and arms
"So, what do you think tweedle-dum and tweedle-dummer are saying out there?"
Buffy shrugged but before she could speak a shrill scream came from outside. Cordelia was shoved out of the way for the second time that night as Connor pushed by her and, to her astonishment, Buffy followed her to the floor a few seconds later as Dawn sprinted past her to join her partner as he flew out the door.
The two girls stared at each other for a moment in surprise and then rolled to their feet to follow the two teenagers out the door. When they hit the veranda outside they were faced with the unusual sight of Spike and Angel on the losing end of a brawl with several vampires and Connor and Dawn working together seamlessly to double-team a large, slimy demon. Buffy rolled her eyes
"This night is just never gonna end. Guys, weapons!"
She swung over the rail on the wooden decking followed by her friends and ran to Dawn's side
"Dawnie, get out of the way, you'll get hurt!"
Dawn scowled as she ducked and rolled through the demon's legs and slammed the demon on the back of the head with a thick branch as she came up
"Buffy, stay out of my way!"
Connor took a couple of paces back and then broke into a short run before leaping into the air and smashing into the demon's face with a hefty kick. Buffy's mouth fell open as she saw the massive head snap back with the force of the kick and then she was running forward again to stand between her sister and the feral beast "Dawn, get out of here!"
The order ended on a scream as the creature swung out and lashed across Buffy's back when she half turned to look at her sister. Dawn watched horrified as her sister went down and the beast reared over her to finish the job, her eyes narrowed and she moved forward
"Connor!"
The boy swung round and saw Dawn running at the demon and he ran to throw himself to the ground in front of her in a crouch and grunted as she stepped onto his back and flung herself into the air. As soon as the pressure from his back lifted he was up and turning, running past a stunned Xander to snatch a heavy axe from his slack hand. Dawn landed on the demon's shoulders and rammed her stiffened thumbs into the creature's eyes effectively blinding it, she tightened her grip around the creature's neck with her thighs and held on for dear life as it screamed beneath her and frantically spun around trying to shake her off.
"Anytime, Connor!"
The boy grinned at the impatient tone of voice and then obligingly stopped in front of the enraged being and buried his axe in the creature's chest. Everything froze for a moment and then Dawn screeched in alarm as she felt herself start to fall backwards when the creature began to topple. Connor let go of the handle of the weapon and moved swiftly to stand behind the body as it fell and pluck Dawn into his arms and safety. She flung her arms round his neck and they both winced at the heavy thud as the cooling meat hit the ground and then Dawn grinned up at him, as she lay cradled in his arms
"My hero."
Connor grinned back at her and tightened his grip before dipping his head and meeting her mouth with his own
"Always."
Dawn tangled her fingers in his hair and gave herself up to his kiss, smiling as she heard Spike's outraged yell
"Oh, hell no!"
Buffy climbed slowly to her feet and winced at the soreness on her back. Her eyes went disbelievingly to the dead demon the floor to the oblivious boy and girl kissing each other. She turned as Cordelia stood beside her and met the other girl's eyes
"Did you see that?"
Cordelia nodded
"Uh-huh. And I'm seeing that too." She inclined her head slightly and Buffy followed her gaze to the young couple now standing together with their arms wrapped round each other looking deep into each other's eyes
"Yeah. Um...don't you think it's a bit...icky?"
Cordelia shrugged and wiped her hands over her pants seat to get rid of some vampire dust
"It's the Buffy and Angel re-run show if you ask me."
She turned as her lover slipped his arm around her shoulders and dropped a loving kiss on her brow. Angel grinned down at her and then met Buffy's eyes. The two old loves grinned at each other for a moment and then Angel said
"Yeah, but they actually have a chance."
Spike came up to stand by Buffy and winced as he saw the state of her back. He pulled her tenderly against him and felt his dead heart beat as she leaned into him with a sigh
"Over my dead and dusty body. If you think for one moment that I'm letting my girl date one of your doe-eyed, panty-waist offspring Peaches, you've got another think coming."
Buffy squeezed around his waist and smiled up into his eyes
"I don't think you have a choice, Pa. She's all growed up."
Spike growled and then looked again at the radiant couple and the dead body at their feet. He closed his eyes and counted to ten and then stared down into the amused eyes of his love
"That she is pet. That she is."
Dawn smiled as she burrowed further into Connor's arms and heard Spike's reluctant acknowledgement
"They noticed. Finally!"
Connor laughed quietly at her exasperated whisper and rubbed his cheek on her tangled and still damp hair
"So, what do you want to do next?"
Dawn lifted her lips to his once more
"Everything."
~Fin~