Title: "Floor"
Author: Hecate
Fandom: BtVs/AtS
Rating: PG 13
Pairing, Character: Dawn
Summary: There are monsters in their house again.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money made. Songline in italics is by Something Corporate
Note: Thanks to autiotalo for the beta.

she memorized the floor

There are monsters in their house again.

She can hear them from her hiding place between the couch and the window, where the curtains hide her from sight for a few minutes. The crashing noise and their growls sound throughout the entire building. But she doesn't move. She never does. Dawn knows that she isn't fast enough. Usually she forces her body under her bed, down between the shoe boxes and dust. She knows this place; she has been here many times. She feels safe here: monsters never look under the bed. But this time, she had no warning. The floor behind the curtain has to be enough.

She waits until her sister comes home, and then the fighting begins. Then she rolls away from the window and grabs the nearest weapon. Her time to try to shine. She attacks the next best of the monsters and hits the wall before she can even register how disgusting it looks. Another roll brings her out of its way and she is on her feet again. Ready to strike; ready to hit another wall. Just another one of those afternoons.

There are dead monsters in their house again.

Dawn steps around another green puddle and gives Xander a garbage bag. Time to at least try to clean up. Buffy is in the bathroom, washing out the scratches. Willow is in the kitchen, cleaning the minor mess there. That leaves Anya, Xander and herself. And three two-meter sized monsters plus green goo in the living room.

Dawn scrubs the floor with determination. There are some places that are covered with so much slime that she can't see the rug anymore. It doesn't matter. She has been in this situation many times before; she knows what to do.

Her sister has been hurt again.

Buffy stands in the living room, a long wound on her left arm. She's bleeding. Willow is at her side, talking to her. Her sister listens, nodding from time to time, ignoring her injured arm. But Dawn watches, almost hypnotized. The blood slowly runs down to her elbow and then to the hand before it drips to the ground. A small red dot on the carpet, invisible to those who don´t know it´s there. It doesn't matter. Dawn knows how to get blood out of the rug.

The apocalypse is coming again.

Dawn climbs over one of the potentials residing on the floor. She can feel potato chips crunch under her feet and shudders at the feeling. The floor is dirty with the stains of cola and coffee, the residue of meals. She'll have to chase out the potentials later to clean up a bit. She doesn't worry.

The end of the world didn't happen.

They're leaving Sunnydale and before Dawn can understand that her hometown is a hole in the ground now, they arrive in LA. Soon she is tucked into a free bed and the lights are turned out. She tosses a bit before she falls asleep. She doesn't like this new place.

There are monsters in Angel's hotel.

She doesn't know the best places to hide. So she runs. She knows that she isn't fast enough. And she can't find the weapons. The monster is ugly. And there is blood on the floor. This time, she doesn't know how to clean it.