Subject: [BA_Gutter] Fic: Follow The Yellow Brick Road 2/? PG-13 Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 17:31:30 -0400 From: Andrea P Title: Follow the Yellow Brick Road Author: kindred Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and a vast pantheon of notable others. Rating: PG-13 Feedback: If you would be so kind Summary/Spoilers: General S5 AtS spoilers, nothing really specific. Dawn arrives in L.A. and visits Wolfram and Hart to see Spike and mend some fences. A/N: A BIG thank you to Toby for taking time from her busy schedule of alpaca wrangling and yodeling to help polish this story. Thank you!! 2. With a soft chime the elevator doors opened to reveal a sparkling and beautifully designed cafeteria. It looked like a five star restaurant to Dawn. Certainly something from a photo shoot in an upscale magazine. She looked about quickly and saw a host of humans and demons or demon like things at tables, working the cash register and behind the sumptuous table displays of food and food like things. "Care for that smoothie, Dawn?" Fred smiled, "banana strawberry is my favorite." "That would be great, but I-- I--" Dawn's cash was running low. She splurged on a pair of boots and watched her entire vacation fund go into a trendy boutique's cash register. She was her sister's sister, that's for sure. "It's on the house, Dawn. Like Spike or Angel would have the slayer's sister pay for anything!" Dawn nodded and thanked Fred. "You just snag us a table." Dawn nodded again and wandered tentatively past a table of what looked like a team of melted flesh demons in identical black velvet robes. Dawn thought they were whispering about something ominous until one of them mentioned Paris Hilton loudly, looked around secretively and resumed whispering. Dawn found a small booth and sat down next to a large spherical glass bowl that was filled with darting black and white striped fish. She failed to notice a former resident of Pylea sitting behind the fish bowl eyeing her with interest. Dawn folded her arms and waited for Fred. Suddenly the insanity of what she was doing hit her. She'd been hell bent for leather, or some equally compulsive cliché, since overhearing a conversation Buffy had on the phone with Giles. Spike was alive or less dead than they had originally thought. Andrew had seen him. Rome was a nightmare for Dawn. A new school complete with a new posse of cruel, shit head girls to deal with topped a long list of annoyances. Buffy was busy with her new group of slayers and dating anything in pants while actively avoiding the 'S' words. Spike and Sunnydale. With her affinity for languages, Dawn became resident translator for Buffy. Like Dawn didn't have a life? Or a cute guy she had her eye on? Well, more than one actually. Couldn't Giles spring for one of those cool techno-gadget translator thingys? Dawn had better things to do that translate Buffy's boring lectures to the Italian slayer squad. And what was worse, she had to listen to Gabriella and Francesca grumble in Italian and halting English. Didn't she already graduate from the Kennedy-Rona school of slayerette crap? Life was deeply unfair. Truly, deeply, and unendingly unfair. Finding out Spike was ordinary dead and not Mr. Dusty dead launched Dawn on a long and involved mission to get to the states and seek him out. She had a whole other scenario about a black cat suit and infiltrating the building under cover of darkness, but that was probably due to too much Andrew influenced fantasy leakage. He mumbled one day about a diamond heist and a tight leather belted body brace, but Dawn stopped listening when she figured it could well be a sexual fantasy. A cat burglar she wasn't. Sitting in a supposedly evil cafeteria with a killer view of downtown L.A. and a friendly 'Visitor/Level 1' name tag on her jacket lapel was a far more civilized approach. Beyond the upcoming smoothie, Dawn had no idea whatsoever about how to proceed in this matter. Frankly, she hadn't thought much beyond penetrating the evil perimeter. Dawn's right foot started to tremor of its own accord. She hummed a few notes to quiet her nervousness. That made Lorne sit up and take notice. Fred's bubbly smile was soon in view and she arrived at the table with two enormous smoothies in tow. "I gave you some chocolate sprinkles. I hope that was okay?" Fred handed Dawn a beverage. Chocolate sprinkles? Okay, Fred wasn't evil. Dawn decided. She'd seen evil. Evil was horribly ugly with bad breath or outrageously beautiful with sparkling dental work. Truthfully, it was a wide spectrum. But never once had chocolate sprinkles and genuine evil collided. Dawn didn't want to add down home friendliness to the evil side of the score card. That would just be wrong. Dawn slurped quietly as Fred observed her. Lorne also observed but from a distance. He normally didn't do that kind of thing, but this pretty stranger did hum a few notes in his vicinity. It had been a long time since Lorne had seen a future as normal and loving as that girl's was. And she had the cutest babies in store for her. Lorne felt the irresistible urge to pinch their currently non-existent cheeks. "So...Are you in town long?" Fred launched into some neutral small talk. She was adept at this kind of thing seeing as she talked often on the phone to her parents and the whole 'I'm currently infiltrating an evil law firm to destroy it from the inside out' never happened to come up with mom and dad. "Not long." Dawn answered. "Have you done any sight seeing? We do have some movie stars here." Fred didn't want to offer Disneyland as a possibility as this girl was not so much a girl as a woman. Maybe Disneyland references would be insulting. "We went to Disneyland," Dawn replied blankly. Vi squeaked about Disneyland over the entire span of the Atlantic. This was her chaperone? Vi was a great person, but capital N in the nerd department. And cartoon character rides nerdy, not 'let's split this atom once and for all' nerdy. "Oh, and how was that?" "You know, the rides, bad food, screaming kids. It was lame." Dawn shrugged. Vi had a fantastic time. "And will your sister be joining you?" Fred was not without her wheedling side. She'd heard so much about this slayer that Spike loved. Fred really wanted Spike to be reunited with his lady love. Good friends wanted their friends happy. "NO. No...She's still in Rome, doing her Rome thing." "That's cool," Fred smiled again and caught Lorne's none too subtle wave from two feet away. "Hey, gorgeous squared, am I a lucky demon, or what?" Dawn saw a tall, extremely green, smiling horned demon in a wicked retro zoot suit with a watch chain dangling from his waist practically to the floor. "Hi Lorne. Wow. That is a suit to write home about..." Fred admired Lorne as he rotated to show his fashion élan to maximum effect. "Please feel free to notice the shoes lovelies, Luis Vuitton baby crocodile-- but thankfully not a relation!" With that outburst and no invitation Lorne snuggled into the small booth beside Fred, swamping her. "And who is this dream boat in a smoothie?" Dawn found his intense red eyed glare a little disconcerting. "This is--" Fred began the introductions. "Dawn Summers of the Sunnydale Summers, I know. Don't ask me how baby doll, you were the one humming that OutKast song. And dang it all, if it isn't one catchy tune." Lorne's face calmed and he held out his hand in a gentlemanly manner. His voice lulled with the deep silken tones of a show business veteran. "So pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Summers. I am Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan, but I'm so over that! Call me Lorne-- or better yet, have your agent call me Lorne. Really babe, do you have an agent? Have you considered modeling? A sitcom? Tasteful reality show? You have the chops! And the cheeks! I tell you, it's all I can do not to squeeze them off your face and put them in my pocket for safe keeping!" God, this green guy guzzled obsequious in huge gulps. Dawn stared agog and shook his surprisingly soft and supple hand. "Um, hi." "No working over smoothies, Lorne!" Fred scowled briefly and then hit him with a goofy smile. Lorne winked at Dawn and settled in for some chat. "So what brings you to town? Please say it's not an apocalypse. I've got an appointment with Branka for a full body treatment in a week and I practically had to exterminate J.Lo to do it." He looked expectantly toward Dawn. Unsure of when she was supposed to reply to this dizzying verbal barrage Dawn paused. "Sorry, no apocalypse, only me." "No need for apologies, lamb chop, I for one am grateful." He then addressed the cosmos, or in this case the ceiling, theatrically. "Grateful! Did you hear that PTB?" "PTB?" Dawn wasn't hip to that particular acronym. "The Powers that Be--" Fred was immediately interrupted by Lorne. "The buggers who provide perpetual apocalypses as astronomical party favors. Like a little floral centerpiece wouldn't do in a pinch..." Again Dawn flashed on Andrew. She imagined a conversational cage match between these two blather masters. Cage match!? Boy, she really was contaminated by Andrewisms. "I'm here to see Spike." Dawn offered at last. "Have you seen Spike today, Lorne?" Fred's forehead wrinkled at the question. "Nope, not today. In fact, I haven't seen that scamp since he cleaned me out at poker yesterday morning. I think he cheats. I have no other explanation because, as you know Fredikins, I am a shark at cards." "He is Dawn. Gosh, I haven't beaten him at Crazy Eights, um, ever." "It's all in the shuffle, babe." Lorne winked and looked up and saw his assistant, Dan, approaching him with a worried expression on his face. "Oh, crap, I've been discovered. I tell you, I turn my cell phone off for ten minutes peace and a refreshing beverage and they send out the cavalry." Lorne sighed loudly and rose to meet the new problem. "It was such a pleasure meeting you Miss Dawn, don't be a stranger. And if you ever want to meet Mr. Andre 3000...I can make it happen." Lorne pointed at her for emphasis. He had clout now, he had connections into three adjoining dimensions. He could get her front row tickets to a taping of 'American Idol'. "Toodles girls, I'll leave you to gossip at the glory that is me." With that said, Lorne and Dan walked out of the cafeteria together. "He's--" Dawn paused. Lorne could possibly out Andrew Andrew. She was deeply impressed and a little freaked out. "Isn't he?" Fred smiled warmly. "I love Lorne, he's like the best girlfriend I ever had, you know?" "Yep, I know exactly what you're talking about. My Lorne is called Andrew. Similar vibe, but fewer actual connections." tbc...