A Matter of Choice

Disclaimer : I don't own the BTVS or the Supernatural characters. I'm only borrowing them to have some fun.

Thank you for all the reviews ! I hope you will like the rest of the fic as much. I'm leaving on holidays for a week so there will not be an update since then at least.

Enjoy!

With a sigh of relief, Dawn closed the door of the apartment behind her, letting her bag fell on the floor. She groped in the dark until she found the switch. She called for someone, but nobody was home. She had just come back from Cleveland where she had stayed during Christmas. She leaned against the door, savoring the silence. Nobody really understood that it was something precious and rare. And when you just stayed the last four days in a house inhabited by about twenty superhuman teenage girls who needed to sleep for only five or six hours a day, silence was an unknown notion and deserved to be appreciated when we could.

She had left for Cleveland just after her exam. It took her a full day of driving to reach the house. She could have easily taken a plane but she hated them. They said that, statistically, it was the safest means of transportation, but too many planes were crashing around these days. At least, in a car crash, you had a chance to survive. If your plane crashes, only a miracle could save you. And she loved driving. Unlike Buffy, she was an attentive and relaxed driver. The Slayer was a disaster behind the wheel.

In all, she had been in Cleveland for six days. Initially, she had planned to stay longer but Giles discovered an apocalypse. The Scooby Gang had preferred to have her out of danger, away from the Hellmouth, and Dawn didn't contradict them. So, she had let the pros take charge of the demons and had come straight back to Bloomington. She could take care of herself in the field. Nevertheless, she preferred to avoid getting involved. She had learned how to fight during the years. She was at ease with weapons and she was doing all right in hand-to-hand. She giggled. No, she was good at hand-to-hand. But it was a fact that was ignored by the Scoobies. When she arrived at the University, she had taken martial arts classes. Even if she decided to avoid the supernatural, she was aware of all the things that go bump in the night. This kind of knowledge was not easily forgotten. She valued her life, and because of that she had to be able to defend herself if she was attacked. Vampires were rare but not extinct. Being independent meant that she could not rely on a Scooby or a Slayer to come save her. She had even learned to shoot. You couldn't be too careful.

Finally, she put her bag in her room and took her out cell. She pressed one and called her sister who picked up at the fourth ring.

"Hi!"

"Buff, it's me."

"Dawnie! Are you home yet?"

"Yeah. I'm in my room and in one piece."

"That's great! Listen, can I call you back later?"

Buffy sounded distracted.

"How's it going with the apocalypse?"

"Good. Well, not really. But we have it all under control. I really have to go. I'll call you back when it's over. Bye!"

And she hung up. The Key sighed and put her cell away. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until Buffy called her back to say that they were all alive and that the world wouldn't stop. Not this time at least. The door burst open and Karen walked in.

"Dawnie! You are here early."

"Yeah. My sister had things to take care of, so she had no time for me and here I am!"

"Ok. So be ready and pretty in ten minutes! Aurelia's having a party! You're going with me."

The African-American did not even give Dawn a chance to protest and left the room. The Key smiled and looked in her closet. What was she going to wear?

¤

It was near one am. She took her phone out of her jean skirt pocket. No call from Buffy. Too bad. This was why she preferred to ignore it when apocalypses take place so she didn't worry. She took her cup and filled it with Cola before swallowing it. The party was in full swing. A lot of people were drunk and were laughing loudly. She had lost Karen two hours ago. She saw her leave with a football player and there was no chance that she would see her again tonight. Her head was beginning to throb as the tiredness began setting in. After getting up early this morning –or yesterday- she had driven all the day. It wasn't really resting. It was time to hit the sack. She fetched her coat and left the party.

On her way, she bumped into some of the dancers who either glared at her or leered at her. The once big green orb of mystical energy was now a beautiful woman with her long brown hair, big blue eyes and luscious lips. Her healthy lifestyle had sculpted her body and, to top it all for Buffy, her little sister had breasts! The Slayer used to complain about the world's injustice which made her small and flat-chested while her little sister was tall and voluptuous. She used to say that with her best pout and her perfect imitation of a dumb Californian blond. Dawn would respond by laughing and saying that the monks knew what they were doing by creating her. This, according to Buffy, was really strange because, hey, they were monks! They should not have known what a woman looked like.

The corridor was empty when she finally reached it. She decided to give up on the elevator and take the stairs. On the first floor, she heard yells. Curious, she followed them.

"Emma! Emma, open that door!"

Tom Carmichael was punching a door, his voice full of concern. She quickly reached him:

"Tom, what's wrong?"

He didn't turn to look at her:

"Emma's not answering."

Emma was his girlfriend. She hadn't actually met the girl but Tom was always talking about her. They had been going out since high school.

"Maybe she fell asleep."

"No. She was just grabbing a book for Marc. But it's been a while! It's not normal."

No, it's not, thought Dawn.

"Don't you have a key?"

"I let it at my apartment."

Dawn tried to think about what was happening. Maybe Emma had decided to sit down for five minutes and fallen asleep. But the pounding and the yells would have woken her up. All of a sudden, the temperature fell and the lights flickered. Dawn exhaled and a small white cloud appeared in front of her.

"Break the door down Tom."

He looked at her, surprised.

"Break this fucking door down!"

Now, Dawn's heart was pounding fast and adrenaline was flooding her veins. The part of her she had tried to forget, the one fighting the supernatural was telling her whatever was in this room was gone and that they were too late. She watched Tom kick the door. Once. Twice. Three time. On the fourth, the door burst open and he rushed in, Dawn on his heels. The bathroom door was closed and Tom did not hesitate to break it down.

"Emma! No!"

She arrived just in time to see him taking Emma out of the full bathtub. Her lips were blue and her skin so pale! Tom laid her down.

"Come on babe, open your eyes. You can't do this to me. Please, babe! Emma!"

Dawn knew it was too late. She will never open her eyes again. She called 911 while Tom gave mouth-to-mouth to Emma. He looked at her.

"Do the heart massage."

Knowing it was in vain, she began, for Tom. Emma's body was cold. She did not take her eyes off her friend and tried to keep the sadness at bay. He will need someone soon. His face was bathed in tears and she was sure he knew the cruel truth but he was not ready to accept it. Not yet. The paramedics arrived and moved them aside. Dawn helped them by grabbing her friend's arm.

"Tom, come on. Let them do their job."

He followed her when she took him to the living room where he sat on the coach. In the corridor, students were being kept away by a police officer. Another started to approach but with one look, she begged him to wait, to let them face the truth. Tom was staring at the bathroom door. She sat beside him and took his hand. He squeezed it hard. After what seemed like an eternity, two paramedics came out of the small room, defeated. One walked toward the policemen, the other toward them. Tom stood up, nodding, not wanting to hear what the man was going to say, because when he announced it, it would be for real. This entire nightmare would become real. Unfortunately, someone had to say it. So, the paramedic did his job.

"I'm sorry. We tried everything but it was too late. She was already dead."

It was then that Tom broke down. He rushed to Emma's side, taking her in his arms, crying, begging her to wake up. Dawn watched, tears falling down her cheeks. She was hurting for him because she knew all too well the pain he felt. She turned her head toward the policemen and the paramedic. He held out a bottle of pills and explained.

"We found this, open, on the bathtub. I think she killed herself."

Policemen shared a knowing look. The police investigation was closed. Suicide. Dawn looked again at Tom. They couldn't be right. She saw pictures of Emma. She was so full of life. She and Tom had so many plans. They wanted to travel, get married, have children. She was looking for a book. Not death. All of a sudden, she remembered what Karen said, one week ago.

"No! She was one of my friends! She loves life! Loved. She would never have killed herself. I saw her yesterday at this party. She was with Henry but she decided to leave early because she had an exam today."

They were killed in the same circumstances. Two girls who were bursting with life. Who didn't want to die. Two girls who drowned in their bathtub after taking sleeping pills. She remembered the little altar for Debbie. Two girls who lived in the same building. The cold and the flickering lights came to her mind. She was sure those deaths were not natural. And whatever caused them, it would kill again.