one last chance

Chapter Eleven

a/n so i know there hasn't been to much of spike and buffy lately but that will change in later chapters. right now i'm building cuz i'm writing like a season so i'm bringing all characters in. dont worry it all works out.

Chapter Eleven

Dawn and Xander spent the majority of the day figuring out sleeping arrangements for the girls. They weren't totally unprepared for situations like this. They thought that someday, something would happen again and they wanted to be prepared. The plan was watchers would stay with their specific slayer. The only thing they had to figure out was who would sleep where. With Spike staying at Xander's they could only put three pairs and Wesley at his place. All of the extra dorm space would be used and watchers who lived off campus would just have their slayer move in. It would be cramped and crowded but they could do it. Angel, Cordy, Faith, Robin and Lorne would stay with Buffy, Giles and Dawn. Anne and Connor would stay with them to as Dawns slayer and Angel's son. Fred, Gunn, and two watcher/slayer pair would stay in Willow and Kennedy's two bedroom flat. The Scoobies had a ton of army cots and sleeping bags and air mattresses in the attic storage, this time they were prepared.

Doesn't make it any easier, Dawn thought as she went to find Anne. Buffy planned on making an announcement to the school this afternoon but Dawn wanted to tell her slayer first. Plus she felt a bit bad about sticking her away from all her classmates.

She found Anne sitting in the library with a book spread on the table in front of her. Dawn worried a little about her slayer. She seemed to separate herself from the other girls.

Walking up to her she asked "What you reading Anne?"

"Chronicles of a Slayer," Anne replied not looking up from the tomb.

"Can we talk for a bit?"

Anne finally looked up from her book and noticed the wary look on her watchers face.

"Of course we can, what's up?" she asked pushing the book away from her.

Dawn sat next to her slayer. Now that she was here she wasn't sure what to say. Anne and Dawn quickly became close once they started training together but how do you tell a girl something's trying to kill her and everyone she had come to know.

Or she didn't have to tell her. She could wait for Buffy to do that. That might work better, but that was cowardly. Dawn might be many things but a coward never. Growing up… or at least her memories that may or may not have been real… with the slayer didn't give her that option.

Sometimes Dawn wished she hadn't grown up in her sister's shadow. She understood the whole calling thing, didn't make it less well lonely sometimes. Xander understood better than anyone. Over the past two years the one eyed wonder as Xander sometimes called himself and the epic watcher to be as he called Dawn had become extremely close, in a brother sister type of way.

"Dawn hello? You there?" Anne asked.

Dawn snapped out of her thoughts realizing she had been starring off into space for about three minutes.

"Oh yeah, sorry Anne." She paused. "Hey you know how things have been a bit weird… well weirder than normal?"

"Yeah, I mean I haven't been here very long but a free day with you and the rest holed up in your offices? Plus Spike just showin up? Everyone is talkin about what might be up. Some of 'em are gettin nervous."

"Well you know the story of the First?" Anne nodded her conformation, "Well he's, she's… it's not back, but someone's trying to finish what it started. And he's coming after the trainees. Get rid of you guys, the schools, Buffy, Faith. He does that and the rest… are easy picking. Buffy's going to explain more later tonight, she's gonna talk to everyone. But the thing is, we thought something might happen. We didn't know what or if or when or any of that, but we have a plan in place. Faith and her slayers plus watches are coming. So is Angel and company."