A New Dawn
Chapter 0ne
McGee was late. Sixteen minutes late to be exact, and Tony wanted to know why. Scanning the room Tony stood up and slide over to McGee's desk to see what he could find, maybe he could find a clue as to why the geek-mister was late. Just as he was opening the third drawer Kate made her way back into the bull pin with her newly acquired tea, looking at Tony she shook her head, "Tony, leave McGee's desk alone. Don't you have anything better you could be doing?"
"Oh come on Kate! Aren't you curious about why McGoo is late? Besides, if the probie doesn't want people going thru his desk than he should be here on time."
"Oh please. Like that would ever stop you."
"Well your right it wouldn't but still . . . Uh Hi boss!" Tony choked out as Gibbs swept pass on the way to his own desk.
"Get out of McGee's desk Dinozzo."
"Yes boss." Tony said while sliding into his own desk chair just as McGee came hurrying into the bull pin towards his desk.
"Sorry I'm late boss, won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't . . . ElfLord."
Flushing McGee sat down and began organizing his desk. Noticing the third drawer was open he thru a glare at Tony who just grinned back and gave a small mocking wave. Sighing he just closed the drawer and pulled up his computer to work on his paper work since they didn't have an active case. It had been rather quite for a while and McGee was surprised to realize he was hopping they would get a case soon. Not that he wanted anyone to get hurt, its just that he had hoped for something to break up the monotony. Then as if in response to McGee's thoughts the phone on Gibbs desk rang out, causing three special agents to focus on Gibbs as he lifted the receiver to his ear, "Gibbs."
After a brief conversation Gibbs placed the phone back down and stood up while grabbing his coffee. He made his way around his desk and headed out of the bull pin towards the elevator. As he passed kate's desk he called out, "Get your gear, we have a case."
"Where to boss?"
"California Dinozzo."
"What? Really?"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/On a marine base 10 miles outside of Sunydale./
Lt Riley Finn sat in a chair by one of the medical beds. A bed that just happened to hold one Dawn Summers. Dawn ,who had just been brought in after the doctors finished stitching her up, was laying down waiting for the nurse to bring some water. Her hands where resting lightly on her stomach, almost protectively as she stared at the floor. Riley was looking at her in concern, leaning over he put his hand on her shoulder and asked, "Is your stomach bothering you? We can tell the nurse and she will get you something for the pain."
"Riley, I was just sliced open by a demon who was going to sacrifice me to bring hell on earth. Of course my stomach hurts." Dawn said with a wavering voice. Shaking her head she continued, "That's not even the worst though. Every time I close my eyes I see Buffy lying there, and I can't help thinking that it should have been me. I was the one that was supposed to die, not her. Even with that I can't stop wondering what's going to happen to me now? Isn't that disgusting? My mom is dead, and now my sister is dead too, and all I can think about is me."
"Dawnie," Riley said as he took her hand in his, "what you are feeling is normal. I would be worried if you didn't care what happened to you. As for Buffy, Dawn you're her sister and she loved you more than anything in this world. She did what she did to make sure you would live, and I think she would have done it a thousand times over to make sure you were safe. What happened was bad. There is no dening that, but that was all Glory's fault. Not yours, you are not to blame. You did nothing wrong."
Dawn gave Riley a watery smile, "Thanks Riley. When did you get so good at that?"
"I'm just that amazing." Riley stated with a little smile. Dawn gave a little giggle and then put her hands back on her stomach with a pained grimance. "It's probably better not to laugh, I'll try not to say anything else funny."
"Right, thanks for that." Dawn said rolling her eyes.
" I try"
Just then a shuffling of shoes could be heard from the hallway. Dawn and Riley turned towards the door in time to watch as a military officer lead in a new group of people. As the group made its way over Riley stood and snapped of a salute, "Sir!"
"At ease soldier. Tease people are NCIS agents. They are here to investigate the rolls played by the marines who where in Sunnydale during that occult fiasco. This is special agent Gibbs and his team special agents Todd, DiNozzo, and McGee. You will cooperate with their investigation in every way. Is that understood marine?"
"Yes Sir!"
The officer stared at Riley for a moment before turning to give Gibbs a nod, then he turned and made his way out of the room and down the hallway. Gibbs turned his attention back to Riley, staring at him with a reassuring gaze. Riley stood straighter and met his gaze levely, not sure if he would pass muster in the older mans eyes, but still unwilling to back down. Finally Gibbs nodded his head slightly at Riley, then with a glance in Dawns direction he said, "Why don't we step out into the hallway to speak marine."
Nodding Riley gave Dawn a reassuring smile before he made his way out the door with Gibbs on his heels. As he turned right to go further down the hall he saw agent Todd sitting in his recently vacated seat. She seemed to be trying to get Dawn to open up to her. 'Good luck lady.' Riley thought to himself. About ten feet down the hall he stopped and turned to face Gibbs. 'Here it goes,' he thought, 'time to see if this new world thing will work out.' If Giles was right about the information he was able to get on this reality then Riley should be able to answer the questions without to much difficulty. He and Dawn might be able to live normal lives in this demon less world. If he could just get passed this interrogation that is.
"What can you tell me about the events of Tuesday, June 12th Lt." Gibbs asked looking at Riley.
With that question Riley looked down as the memories washed over him.
//Flashback//
Monday, June 4th Riley was pulling up into the driveway of number eleven Revello drive. He sat still for a moment looking at the house, remembering the last time he had been here. And the fight he'd had with Buffy, it had been after that fight he had left. He hadn't thought she would ever want to talk to him again, after he'd walked away without even saying good bye. But she had. One day he came home and saw he had a message from Buffy on his machine. He had frowned while listening to the message, he was confused when she said she wasn't angry with him and that she had forgiven him, and she was asking him to come back. Not because of her she explained but because she needed his help. Dawnie was in danger. Little cute, sweet, and innocent Dawnie whom he had looked on as a little sister was in danger. He couldn't stay away, he was on the first plain he could catch and then from the LA airport he rented a car and drove straight to Sunnydale. Which brought him to where he was now sitting outside the Summers house like a bump on a log.
With a sigh he got out of the car and made his way over to the house. Raising his hand he knocked on the door which was promptly opened by a familiar red head.
"Riley! Your here!" Willow exclaimed as she jumped forward and gave him a hug.
"Hi Willow." Riley answered with a small smile, "where is every one?"
"Inside," she said stepping aside to let him in, "we've been trying to work out a game plan and we think we found one. We've been going over all of our options trying to find a way to keep Dawnie safe from that hell god Glory. And so far this was the only one we could find that might work. Which is why Buffy asked you to come here, your the only one who could make it work."
"Might work?" Riley asked with a raised eye brow. "What do you mean might work? And how do I add into this plan of yours. Why would it only work for me?"
"You'll see, but I think it would be best to wait till we are all together before we start to explain what's going on." She said pointing to the living room as she walked towards it. Walking in behind her he could see every one was there, every one but Dawnie. Giles was sitting at the table surrounded by stacks of books and papers and Buffy and Xander where sitting on the couch. "Hello Riley," Giles said looking up at him, "I'm glad you made it safely."
Riley was about to answer when he heard foot steps running down the stairs. He turned just in time to get an arm full of excited Dawnie. Grinning down at her he said, "I guess this means you missed me hugh?"
"Only a little." Came her muffled reply against his chest.
"Sure." Riley said still grinning as he stared her towards the second couch. Pushing her down into the seat he sat down next to her and looked around the room. "So, what's going on?"
Buffy and Giles sent Dawn back upstairs and then spent the next hour explaining what they had learned. About Glory being a hell god, and Dawn being a key what that entailed. They explained what would happen to the world if glory got a hold of Dawn. He sat there feeling numb, 'this can't be right' he thought looking at Buffy and Giles in shock, maybe he had heard them wrong. Shaking his head he looked back up at them and with desperation in his voice said, "Please tell me I heard you wrong? You can't be serious. Dawn dying can't be the only way to stop Glory from destroying the world. There has to be another way!"
"There is, sort of." Buffy said glancing at Giles, "Giles and Willow found a way to keep her safe, but its complicated."
"What do you mean complicated?"
"What Buffy is trying to say," Giles broke in, "is that we found a way to keep her safe but it is not going to be easy. And it would require a great sacrifice on your part."
"What kind of sacrifice?"
"Your life Riley. . . You see dawn is essentially made of magic. And since the world is full of magic and its all connected Glory will find Dawn any where we might hide her. In this world that is."
"So the plan is to send me and her to a demon world while you find a way to stop Glory? ill do it." He said.
"You misunderstand me Riley. Any demon world that we could send the two of you too would also be full of magic and so Glory would still be able to track you any where we would send you. To the ends of this universe if she has to."
"This universe?"
"Yes, this universe," willow said as she stepped forward. "Riley what do you know of alternate realities?"
"Not much, just what I've seen on tv." He said looking at her curiously. "Is that what your planning to do? Send Dawn and I to a different reality?"
"Yes actually," Giles said pulling off his glasses to clean them as he spoke. "You see Riley for this to work we couldn't just send you to any alternate universe. It has to be one without magic, or else Glory would be able to follow you thru. So we had to find one where there where no demons and no magic. But that's not all. You see with us we are normal humans and we exist hundreds of times in multiple universes, so it would be not be to difficult to send one of us over to another verse because we would simply take over the body of our other selves in that world. But that won't work with Dawn because she is quite literally one of a kind. In all of the universes there is only one Dawn Summers. Therefore she will need a link to follow from this world to the non magical one. Once thru her magic would last long enough to create a new body for her in this new world, and alter things just enough to explain her existence and then it would dissipate. Because once magic is sent thru to the world it ceases to exist."
"Wait," Riley said, "if magic ceases to exist as soon as it crosses over to that world then how would it have time to make Dawn a new body. And how would we be able to get home?"
"Dawns magic is so expansive that it will take several minutes for it all to dissipate. And minutes are all it will take. As for how you would get home. Well, the short answer is you wouldn't. You and Dawn would be stuck there for the rest of you lives. If you are still willing that is."
"Of course I'm willing," riley said "but why are you choosing me? I can't be your first choice for this."
"Your not" Buffy said plainly, "I was my first choice to go with her. But when Giles checked to see if that would work, we saw it wouldn't. In the end your the only one that worked out."
"What do you mean?"
Giles sighed as he gave Buffy the 'Giles look'. "Like I said, because Dawn is what she is we will have to do quite a lot to get this transition to work. It requires a specific ritual that requires that the plants be in a certain alignment for it to work. This means we only have one time in which we can do this and be sure that it will work. And that is going to be next Tuesday. So whoever is going to go with her needs to be alive and healthy in that world. I contacted a seer from the council and she was able to see how events will unfold to a certain degree and to confirm that you will be the only one that meets that criteria. You see in the world we are sending you to Buffy died when she was 14 in LA, Xander had gone on a road trip with Jessie when they graduated and they had died in a car crash. Willow in that world went made with her grief, she is currently in a phsyceatric ward. And I . . . Well I'm in prison in that world. A life sentence for murder it would seem. That leaves you. In that world you are a marine as well. If you do this then in this new world Dawn would be your biological sister."
"Does Dawn know about this?"
"Yes, we told her."
"Ill do it."
Giles went to the desk and grabbed a stack of papers. Handing them to Riley he said "these detail your life in that world and a little about the situation you'll be in that world. When you get there you will be in a compound in Sunnydale where there is a cult about to commit suicide. Your excuse for being there is that you went to 'rescue' your baby sister who was kidnapped by the cult members. You should read these papers to make the transition easier."
//End flashback//
Looking up at Gibbs he started to explain the details of the suicide cult and his sisters connection. The rehearsed story came to him easily, and his practice with Giles made him believable as he said it.
* * * * * * * * *
End of chapter
ok so i changed a lot to make things fit. but i'm the author so i can. so there.