FIC: Back In Boston Ch 17(R for swearing)

["CDS" <callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Yup, a new chapter. Hope ya like. :)

-CDS

? Title: Back In Boston
? Author: Callisto's Dark Side
? Email: callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxxxx
? Feedback: The more I get, the faster I write.
? Distribution: Can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/callistosdarkside/BackInBoston.htm
? Spoilers: Season 4, but since Dawn's in it, I guess there's also some of
season 5. It's an alternate universe in which Faith never joined up with
the mayor.
? Rating: I'll just set it at R now, cuz I know for sure that's where
chapter 3's gonna be. Possible NC-17 later on, so be warned.
? Pairings: Wait and see.
? Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are copyright
Joss Whedon and 20th Century Fox.
? Summary: Faith convinces Buffy to go back to Boston with her for Christmas
Holidays, but Buffy only agrees if Willow comes along as well. Dawn tags
along, much to Buffy's dismay.

"You should go?" Buffy began, "talk to her."

"Yeah, I should," Faith replied, before turning and leaving.

Buffy decided to wait in the bathroom and let Faith talk to Dawn, but
hearing Faith yell, "Shit!" changed the petite blonde's mind in an instant.

"What is it?" Buffy shouted, running out of the bathroom.

Buffy didn't need an answer.

The door was wide open. The cold was blasting inside and neither Willow nor
Dawn could be found.

Chapter 17


Faith trudged through the heavy snow, trying her best to see, but the snow
kept blasting her in the face.

"Shit, where the hell are they?" Faith muttered.

After what seemed like hours walking in the freezing cold, Faith tripped
over something and landed face first into the snow.

The brunette spat, wiping her face on her arm. "Fuck, what the hell?"

Faith looked down to see a huddled mass beneath her.

"Shit, Red!"

Faith grabbed and shook the silent redhead by the shoulders.

"Red, wake up!" Faith shouted, lifting the Wicca up in her arms.

Faith frantically cleaned the snow off of Willow's face and body.

"Red! Wake up, this isn't funny!" Faith pleaded.

Willow's eyes fluttered open, but closed immediately as a blast of snow hit
her in the face.

"Good, you're awake," Faith breathed. "What the fuck we're you thinking?"

Willow's eyes shot open.

The Wicca used her arm to block out the snow, as she tried to make out the
figure holding her. Her heart sank when she saw it was Faith. Futilely,
Willow tried to push herself out of Faith's arms.

"What the hell are you doing?" Faith snapped.

"Let me go!" Willow screamed, as much as she could in her near hypothermic
state.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Let go!" The Wicca screamed again, pawing at Faith's arms.

"You're hallucinating, Red."

Willow's pawing slowed, then stopped, as the Wicca spent all her energy.

"You're not Buffy," Willow sobbed. "You're supposed to be Buffy."

******

Dawn rounded what seemed like the hundredth corner in the freezing snow
storm, collapsing onto a snow-covered bench.

The distraught teenager, wrapped her arms around her body, as her tears
froze to her cheeks.

Unable to function much longer, Dawn allowed the cold to envelope her body,
as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

******

Buffy sensed Dawn was near even though she couldn't see her sister through
the thick white-out conditions.

She knew she was close.

Breaking through the thigh-high snow, the Slayer came upon her sister
semi-conscious on a city bench.

Buffy knew she needed to act fast, so she slipped off her coat and wrapped
it around her younger sister, exposing her own body to the elements.

Quickly scooping up the young teen in her arms, the Slayer made her way back
to their motel room.

>From the slow, silent breathing and murmuring, Buffy could tell her sister
would be okay, at least physically any way.

******

Faith dropped the despondent redhead onto her bed and began gathering up the
sheets to wrap around her freezing figure.

Willow watched as Faith walked into the bathroom, and return with towels.

"Here," Faith said brusquely, as she tossed the towels on the bed.

"Thanks," Willow muttered, as she gathered the towels in her hands.

"You should probably change out of those clothes," Faith suggested.

Willow remained silent.

Faith waited for a response, but decided that she wasn't going to get one,
so she headed back out.

Before Willow could ask where the brunette was going, Faith was gone.

Willow slowly unwrapped the now wet sheets from around her body and began
the arduous task of changing into dry clothes.

******

Buffy almost kicked open the door to the motel room, but decided against it,
realizing she didn't want to pay for the damages, not to mention, leave the
room without a door to block out the cold.

So the Slayer went through the awkward motion of opening the door with one
hand, while still holding her sleepy sister with the other.

When she opened the door, relief washed over her as she saw her best friend
sleeping in bed, covered up to her neck in a blanket. Unfortunately, the
blanket seemed to come from Dawn's bed, whereas, the blanket from Willow's
bed, was strewn about on the floor, still partially wet.

Buffy figured that Willow had probably wrapped herself in the blanket while
still wet from her snow-covered clothes. Not wanting to make the same
mistake, Buffy decided to get her sister changed in the bathroom first.

******

"Dawny, wake up," Buffy soothed, as she cupped Dawn's frozen cheek, trying
to warm the cold delicate skin.

Buffy placed Dawn on the bathroom floor, covered with towels, to prevent
Dawn from falling and injuring herself further.

"Dawny," Buffy soothed again, trying to wake the teenager.

Dawn's eyes fluttered open, her face still extremely red from the cold.

"It's okay Sweetie," Buffy smiled, as her sister opened her eyes fully.

Before Dawn could scrunch her face into a mean frown, Buffy brought a warm,
wet facecloth to wipe her sister's face.

Dawn reluctantly allowed her sister to wash her face, embarrassed that Buffy
was doing it for her, but not protesting much as her arms and legs were
still frozen from the cold.

Dawn wanted to scream at Buffy, wanted to yell, pout, and everything she
could to make Buffy feel bad, but one look into her sister's warm smile,
broke Dawn's rage in half.

"We have to get you changed, m'okay?" Buffy stated, more than asked.

Dawn nodded and averted her eyes, but when she saw the bracelet Faith had
originally given her, on Buffy's wrist, Dawn crumpled to the floor, crying.

Buffy looked at her wrist, where Dawn's eyes had just been, and realized the
cause for Dawn's sudden sobbing.

Slipping the bracelet off and storing it in her pant pocket, the Slayer
wrapped her arms around her sobbing sister.

Dawn wanted to push Buffy away, but she couldn't find the strength.
Ironically, the same person that was causing the young teen so much pain,
was now comforting her.

******

Buffy laid an all-sobbed out, newly changed Dawn onto her bed. The blanket
on the floor was still wet, so Buffy decided to pull out some more towels
from one of her bags. Luckily, she had brought a lot of towels, although
she never thought they'd be used for this.

"Get some sleep, m'okay?" Buffy smiled, as she finished wrapping Dawn up in
towels, and placed a kiss on her sister's forehead.

Dawn nodded as she closed her eyes, trying her best to sleep away the pain.

Buffy went to the bathroom to clean up, and by the time she came back out,
Dawn was fast asleep.

Walking over to Willow, Buffy kneeled down at the side of bed, and whispered
the redhead's name, "Will."

Willow made a slight noise, but didn't wake up.

"Will," Buffy grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled it down slightly,
hoping to wake the Wicca.

"Mmmm," Willow murmured, still asleep.

"Willow," Buffy insisted more urgently, as she pulled the sheet down
further, revealing Willow's hands pulled up to her chest, holding a tiny
box.

The Slayer could read the little note on it, saying 'To: Buffy, Love
Willow.'

Buffy smiled, as she placed her hand over Willow's.

The redhead's eyes fluttered open at the touch, but upon seeing the Slayer,
they slammed shut.

Buffy frowned at the Wicca's reaction.

"Will, what's wrong?" Buffy pleaded.

Willow could only turn her head, unable to look the blonde in the eyes.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Will."

Willow choked down a sob that threatened to rack her body, as she clutched
tightly to the box she held in her hands.

Buffy felt Willow's grip tighten on the box.

"Is it this?" Buffy questioned, squeezing Willow's hands softly.

Willow shook her head, but kept her head turned away from the Slayer.

"Can I open it?" Buffy asked.

Willow thought about it for a few moments, before loosening her grip on the
box, and allowing Buffy to take it in both her hands.

Buffy cradled the box gently, expecting the redhead to turn her head any
minute, and sure enough she did.

Willow needed to see Buffy's reaction, even if it hurt.


To be continued.