Title: A Watcher's Duty

Author: Jedi Buttercup

Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot.

Rating: PG-13.

Summary: Die Hard, B:tVS. This wasn't John McClane's first trip on the merry-go-round. 1100 words.

Spoilers: B:tVS post-"Chosen"; "Live Free and Die Hard" (2007).

John McClane ran a shaky hand over his bald scalp, catching his breath-- just for a second, not like he really needed it-- before grunting and heaving himself back to his feet.

"Damn, those 'suckers hit hard," he groaned, rubbing at his bruised ribs.

"Dad? Daddy, are you okay?" Footsteps pounded up the path from deeper in the cemetery and his daughter appeared in front of him: ponytail whipping in the mild night breeze, stake clutched at the ready, eyes wide with distress.

He dropped his hand and summoned up a pained, but hopefully reassuring, smile. "I'm fine, Luce, don't worry about me. I got him. You caught all the others?"

"All four vampires," she confirmed, lowering the stake and tucking it away in a pocket. She pulled a gold medallion on a long chain from her coat as she approached, and handed it over with a flourish. "And one ugly thing with horns. The oldest vamp had this on him. I think it's the necklace that went missing last week when that museum was broken into. You sure you're fine? That sounded like it hurt."

John waved her concern away. "Sure looks old enough," he said, weighing the heavy piece in his hand. "Have Matt look it up later, make sure it's the right one before we turn it over."

Lucy's expression soured a little at the mention of her boyfriend's name. John didn't know what was up with them lately-- he'd been trying very hard not to know, in fact, lest the urge to pound on the kid interfere with their working relationship-- but it was hard to miss the little signs of disenchantment that had been cropping up more and more often.

"What? What's with the look?" he prompted her, tucking the medallion away. "You want me to talk to him about it instead? I can ask him tomorrow; FBI's still got us on that hacker-taskforce thing."

She shrugged her shoulders, sliding her hands in her coat pockets against the chill late autumn air. "No, no, it's fine; I'll talk to him tonight. It's just--" She huffed a breath. "Doesn't it bother you at all? That you're the one out here backing me up? You're like twice his age! I know they let you guys work with me because they're short on experienced Watchers, but Dad, you've been in the hospital once this year already--"

John cut her off with a shake of his head. "Is that what the problem is?" he snorted. "Look, Luce-- they offered to place you with one of their guys. Younger than Matt, even, just out of Watcher Boot Camp."

"But they told me--" Lucy objected, eyebrows pulling together in forewarning of a McClane temper outburst to come.

"They told you that 'cause I asked 'em to," he replied, holding his roughened palms up in a placating gesture. All the belligerent young punks and freshly raised vampires in the world had nothing on his daughter when she really got going. He'd been hoping to avoid this conversation entirely, but-- well, time to man up and admit it.

"C'mon. If I'd just told you I wanted to go with you when you went Slaying, what would you have said?" he asked, mildly.

"You're not indestructible, Dad!" she hissed, reaching out to poke him in the side. "Are you out of your mind?"

He winced as her superpowered fingers hit one of his bruises, but refused to give. "Exactly. So I told 'em they didn't have that choice."

"But why?" she asked, looking baffled. "What, you don't trust me with them? But-- even if that was the reason-- look, I know Matt's not the strongest guy out there, but he's been taking martial arts since his knee healed. He could do this, I know he could."

"What, and leave me with the research?" John snorted. "Look. D'you remember what you said to me in that warehouse, after Matt and I took out Gabriel and his goons?"

Lucy paled at that; the memories of the Fire Sale still haunted her nightmares, he'd bet. Not the first time his kids had been caught up in one of John's disasters, but the first time she'd come so close to dying. It featured pretty frequently in his nightmares, too.

"Yeah, I remember," she said, calming. "I said-- I knew you'd come for me."

"I'll always come for you," he agreed, firmly. "What, did you think I'd actually let you do this Slayer thing without me? I told that Giles guy to his face-- Lucy goes out there without me over my dead body. If it hadn't been for that girl of his-- what's her name, Buffy? Don't know what her mother was thinking-- I don't think he'd have listened, but she got what I was saying."

He took a breath, then continued. "I heard them tell you how dangerous this is. How most Slayers run into something they can't handle sooner or later, even on a 'routine' patrol. Usually sooner rather than later. What am I supposed to tell your mother when that happens?"

"Dad--" She swallowed, looking stricken.

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter how old I am, baby; I'll be out here fighting beside you just as long as I can. It's my job to defend you from the bad guys."

Lucy smiled a little at that, lopsidedly, but there was a suspicious shine in her eyes. "And Matt?"

Damn; did he really have to talk about this? But he couldn't let her keep thinking badly of the kid because of one of his decisions. John rolled his eyes. "You know as well as I do this ain't my first trip on the merry go round. You think I'm going to let the kid out on the streets before he can defend himself properly?"

Before she could open her mouth, he wagged a finger over the objection he knew was coming. "And that kung fu shit doesn't count."

She made a frustrated noise, then smiled again, more genuinely this time. "So, basically-- blame you for everything?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." He smiled back, relieved to have reached the end of the conversation without emotional bloodshed, then dug his keys out of his pocket. "So. You wanna drive us back?"

"Really?" Her eyes brightened; she'd been jealous of his new car.

"I won't even back seat drive," he teased, waggling the keys.

"Sold." Lucy threw her arms around him in a careful hug, then hesitated, murmuring quietly into his shirt. "I love you, Daddy."

"I know, baby," he replied, tightening his arms around her. "I know."

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© 2008 Jedi Buttercup.