choco_cherries: Skeleton Key

[lirazel]

This is a crossover pairing I'd been wanting to write for a looong time, and now that I finally have, I don't know that I've done them justice.  Maybe I'll write a full-fledged fic for this pairing, a couple thousand words instead of just 300.  And the end is schmoopy.  But I hope you enjoy it anyways!


Title: Skeleton Key
Fandoms:  Battlestar Galactica/Buffyverse
Characters/Pairing: Billy Keikeya/Dawn Summers
Rating: PG
Timeline:  AU from "Sacrifice" for BSG--Billy isn't dead--and post-series for BtVS--Dawn is at least 18. ;)
Wordcount: 300
Prompt: None
Dedication:  I missed ineffort 's birthday, so here's a present for you, May!  You deserve better, of course, but this is all I can do at the moment.
Summary:  There's no door she can't open.

  

There’s no door she can’t open, but she can’t lock the past behind her.

 

--

 

The last thing the fleet needed was eight more mouths to feed—especially when two of those mouths only feed on human blood (and doesn’t Baltar have a field day with that, not to mention the portal that opened on the bridge and dumped a group from Earth—the real Earth, destroyed, and that’s the end of that dream)—and eight more bodies to find bunks for. Billy is in charge of figuring out how to accommodate them and gathering as much information as possible before the interrogation by the President and Adama.

 

So there’s every reason for him to resent them and none at all for him to feel drawn to the sad-eyed girl with the shining hair.  He tells himself that it’s just because of Dee and her refusal, but he knows it’s more than that.

 

--

 

One night he stumbles upon her in a hallway, peering out a porthole at the stars beyond.  He joins her, silently, and after a few moments she begins to talk, quiet and sing-song and almost like he isn’t there at all.  And he begins to understand why these vagabonds are as subdued as the fleet itself.  These strangers lost their whole world: only the eight of them left.  They lost friends and fellow warriors, and she lost her sister, who died in the attempt to save the world.

 

He thinks he should be frightened of her when she whispers that they used her blood to open a door to another dimension—his dimension—that she isn’t even real, that she’s some kind of mystical Key.

 

Instead, he kisses her.

 

--

 

She can’t lock the past behind her, but he can open the door to a future.

Comments

[ineffort.livejournal.com]

THIS IS SO LOVELY, LAUREN. Pairing these two up would have never dawned on me, but they really are kindred spirits.

And the fact that you wrote Billy, who I will always maintain was cheated out of many a storyline to come, and adore the hell out of thrills me to no end. I love that he wants to be wary, knows he should be, but ultimately realizes that they're all in the same boat when it comes down to it and reaches for that connection instead.

Thank you so much, babe. You're wonderful squared.

ALSO? Because it's one of my favourite opening lines ever: There’s no door she can’t open, but she can’t lock the past behind her. Is amazing. The Dawn you drew here is so much so that little girl we first met way back when and something different all together, and the combination of the two is encapsulated in just that one line. Hence the amazing part. ♥

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Aw! I'm glad you liked it anyways, even though I felt it wasn't quite up to my standards. But I couldn't resist the idea of them--you're exactly right--they're kindred spirits. Both severely underrated and strangely alone in the world.

who I will always maintain was cheated out of many a storyline to come I KNOW! It broke my heart when he died. moonlightrick always says that he's the one truly noble, selfless character, the only one who always does the right thing.

You're wonderful...eighthed! Er...squared squared!

I was pretty fond of the opening line, so I'm glad you were, too.

And I'm glad you liked my Dawn, too. I'm very fond of the girl.

You are such a joy to write for. Seriously. And to read. And just to talk to.

[rosie1234.livejournal.com]

Yet again you give birth to another wonderful crossover ship. *clap*

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very, very partial to these two myself!

[intothemorning.livejournal.com]

♥♥♥♥

I would read more of this ship. Lots more. I hope you're considering more. :)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Thank you. They're a ship that's very close to my heart, so I suspect you might see more of them. And it makes me very happy to know that you'd read more.