This is a successor to my previous story "Heart and Eye" however you don't have to have read it to enjoy this. Basically all that you really need to know is that Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies joined Angel's team during the Fall at the end of Angel Season 5. In the fight, Giles lost his left arm, Willow was magically injured and left a paraplegic and Xander was killed.

Also Fred is still alive due to the combined actions of Xander and Willow though with some of Illyria's abilities and married to Wesley and they recently had a baby girl named Alex. Dawn is her Godmother and is currently living with them.

Now that the Fall is over, the whole world now knows about magic and vampires and demons.

I will go into detail about these things so if you are a new reader, don't worry, it should all start to make sense after a few chapters.

It is the year 2006 or nineteen months after The Fall.

Chapter One: Too Tired to Sleep

… and after almost two years since what is now referred to as The Fall it would appear that a sense of normality is now finally returning to Los Angeles. With the final reconstruction efforts well underway, Governor Schwarzenegger had this to say on the matter:

"While we cannot underestimate the threats that we face in this new world, at the same time, we cannot and will not underestimate the might and resilience of the people of California's largest city. Los Angeles shall remain strong in the face of adversity!"

In other news Father Samuel Taylor of Our Lady of the Angels once again denounced the possibility of non-humans being permitted to own land or hold office

"It's very clear in the Bible that the Lord says that the servants of Satan must―"

SSSSK

"Like I want to hear what that moron has to say anyhow," Dawn Summers muttered tiredly as she turned off the television depriving the living room of its only source of light and plunging it into gloomy darkness. Even after nineteen months one would still find news reports or talk shows featuring The Fall as the topic of discussion. Dawn couldn't understand why everyone wanted to keep bringing it up; she would rather forget it all.

Even after all this time she could still remember what it had been like during the long weeks Los Angeles had plummeted into the depths of Hell. Fire streaking across the sky, monsters in the streets, the sound of screaming filling the air, Xander… No, she was not going to think about Xander, not today. She glanced over at the clock on top of the television that read, 2:04. "God," she groaned, "I should really sleep." However she knew that the odds of her getting sleep were about as likely Willow taking up being a professional rapper. "Ah, screw it," she muttered, rising from the couch and feeling her way through the gloom until she had found the kitchen light switch. She rummaged about through the pantry and made herself a mug of hot chocolate.

"Can't sleep?" Dawn turned around to see a small, fair skinned woman with long brown hair and three horizontal scars across her face. Winifred Burkle to her parents and and any legal people, just Fred to everybody else.

"Nah," she replied, "Too tired."

"I can understand if you're nervous," the older woman said while pouring herself a drink, "You do have a big day ahead of you with the new job and all."

"I'm not nervous," Dawn said quickly, "After everything we've been through I seriously doubt that being a consultant is going to be too much of a hassle."

"So what's keeping you up?"

"I don't know," Dawn said, shaking her head slightly, "Just… I don't know, I was just thinking about all the stuff that happened. I don't know why people want to keep bringing it up. It's bad enough that we had to live through it once but now it's like people want to go through it all over again."

"It's a big change," Fred said gently, "People are still getting used to it. Not everybody grew up with this stuff like you. When I found out about all of this it almost drove me insane. Just give them some time."

"Do you ever think about him?" Dawn asked suddenly. Fred did not have to ask who he was.

"I named my daughter after him," Fred said seriously, "Of course I think about him. Is that what's keeping you up?"

"No," Dawn responded instantly before immediately backpedalling, "Maybe, I don't know."

"It's the first I've heard you mention him in a while," Fred remarked, "What brought this on?"

"I guess it's all the renewed interest in what happened," she answered, "Did you know that Kennedy is even writing a book?"

"Willow mentioned it last time we spoke."

"Why the Hell would she want to do that?" Fred took a sip of chocolate.

"Everyone has their ways of dealing with it and putting it down," she said, "Maybe she thinks that she can do that by… well, literally putting it down. Making it real and tangible. Then she can move on." She drained the rest of the mug. "You should really try to get some sleep, Dawn," she said in an almost maternal tone of voice, "Even if it's only four hours or so and definitely not on the couch, you have a perfectly good bedroom." Dawn rolled her eyes but the smile peeking at the edge of her lips removed the gesture of any disrespect.

"Yes, mother," she deadpanned. Sighing in resignation, she allowed Fred to lead her to her bedroom. Once she had laid down on the bed, Fred pulled the covers over the younger girl.

"You know I'm proud of you," she said, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "You're taking a really big step today."

"Did you do this for Harmony or Xander?" Dawn asked drowsily.

"Yeah," Fred answered softly, "They were family, just like you."

As her eyes started to close her mind drifted back to that terrible day when the city finally escaped the clutches of Hell. Los Angeles might have endured but it paid a very high price.

"It's actually not all that bad, all the people I love most are here."

The price was too high.

~o~O~o~

While a cursory glance at its website will tell you that most CIA officers work in Washington, DC, after the events during The Fall, the agency thought it best to set up a new office in Los Angeles for the newly established Directorate of Magic and Supernatural Threats. It failed to appear on the webpage because, like all government agencies, entire ages would pass before the CIA would finally get around to updating its home page.

As Dawn climbed the exterior concrete stairs and approached the entrance she felt a momentary flutter of trepidation. Was she doing the right thing? After all, her past experiences with the governments more clandestine operations had never been positive. She was still bitter over the Initiative. While she was very young at the time she still remembered what they did to Riley, drugging him so that he was nothing more than a rabid animal and then abandoning him. She could still picture him huddled in the bombed out ruins of Sunnydale High School.

She paused at the landing, mere feet from the automatic doors that were waiting to slide open and took several deep breaths as she weighed up her options. If she wanted to, she could simply turn around and leave. They couldn't do anything to her, after all, she was the little sister of Buffy Summers. She frowned at the thought as she realised that she wanted to be more than that.

"They'll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the one who isn't chosen. To live so near to the spotlight and never step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realizes because nobody's watching me. I saw you last night. I see you working here today. You're not special. You're extraordinary."

"I can do this," she whispered to herself, striding forward with mostly genuine confidence and passing through the threshold, entering the building. She passed through the reasonably busy lobby and approached the receptionist's desk. "Hi," she said, "I'm Dawn Summers, I'm here to start work as a consultant."

"Uh-huh," said the receptionist in a bored tone of voice as he glanced at his computer screen, "Crane mentioned something about a newbie but he said nothin' about you being a baby."

"I'm twenty," she said coolly, "Now can you please tell me where to go."

"Take the elevator to the third floor," he said dismissively, not even looking at her, "and go to Room 3.04. You'll find Mister Crane there and I'm sure he'll know what you're supposed to do."

"Thank you," she said curtly before walking past him and to the elevator.

Off to a great start, she thought sarcastically.

~o~O~o~

Knock, knock.

Marcus Crane looked up from his work and at the source of the noise.

Must be her.

"Come in," he called out. The door opened to reveal a rather nervous looking young woman. The first thing he noticed about her was that she was clinging to the oversized leather jacket she was wearing like it was a security blanket. "Dawn Summers?" he asked to which she silently nodded. He inwardly sighed, it's going to be one of those. "There is an element of verbal communication in this job," he said causing her to flush slightly.

"Yes, I'm Dawn," she said, mostly hiding her nerves, "I was told to come to your office."

"Yes, that's right," he confirmed, "Today is essentially Orientation Day, I'm going to help you get acclimated but after that you are expected to be self-sufficient. We will not be picking up after you, should this be a problem there's the door."

"I fought at Sunnydale and during The Fall," she said firmly but without any hint of boasting, "I think that I can manage." That's more like it.

"Good girl," he praised, "However I am going to hold you that."

~o~O~o~

Please review and let me know what you think. I'll try to update as soon as possible.