Disclaimer: I don't own any IPs that might appear in the story
A New Life for Dawn Winchester
A Council of Thirteen universe story
One shot
Beta:
It was a pleasant evening and Dawn Winchester was meditating at a leyline nexus. Contrary to what most would expect, this did not involve her trekking out into the wilderness. Leyline nexuses could be found anywhere, including in the middle of a city. In fact, many cities had at least one such nexus as many of the confluence of things, such as fresh water, arable land, underground minerals or other resources, that fostered the development of cities were just as likely to translate into nexuses.
In this case, she was relaxing at the bar of her hotel suite in Toronto sipping on some whisky dressed in a sexy burgundy dress. Sure, she liked dresses, but she tended to favour casual dresses in her daily wear so what she was wearing now was a little excessive. To be honest, she did not need to dress up to meditate but some strange intuition had inspired her to do so for some reason. Like she had someone to impress, which just didn't make sense.
Using the calming familiarity of sipping on her whisky as a mnemonic to assist her in the process, she slowly fell into the proper meditative state to attune to the world's magic, drawing from its well of power to hasten the recuperation of her own reserves that she'd drained earlier in the day hunting a poltergeist that had been haunting an apartment building in Scarborough. It wasn't anything new, she did it all the time whenever she found herself in a safe spot, as she was now behind the ample wards she'd cast over her hotel room, and her reserves were low.
There was something slightly different this time though as besides the familiar inward flow of power as she drew magic from the leyline nexus into herself, there was an odd pull on her magic. It seemed similar to what she felt when her magic resonated with a magic tool when she attuned to it, unlike most casters she eschewed the use of a single Mystic Code instead choosing to use a variety of lesser focuses instead, but it was slightly different. It was stronger for one. But it was also odd that she'd feel this whilst she was tapping into the leylines. As far as she knew, this shouldn't happen.
What is this? The veteran Hunter thought as she focused her magical senses and sought out the origin of this strange pull.
This seemed to catch the attention of whatever was its source as she felt an immensely powerful entity of some kind turn its focus towards her.
Who are you? A young sounding voice asked her as a form of a beautiful teenager manifested in Dawn's mind's eye. She had startlingly red eyes that shone like rubies, skin as pale as alabaster and long ivory colored hair. Dawn had met many beautiful women in her life, many mages and monsters both tended to like to appear stunningly beautiful, but somehow this girl, at least in her eyes, trumped all of them.
D-Dawn. Dawn Winchester. Dawn stutteringly answered the enchanting girl's question. W-Who are you? And why is my magic resonating with yours?
The mysterious teenager looked startled at Dawn's question and tilted her head in an adorable display of confusion before her eyes widened in realisation as she seemed to piece something together.
Our magic is resonating with each other. The red eyed girl confirmed. I don't know why though. This has never happened to me before.
Me neither. Dawn confessed.
Hmm… I think I'll need to ask my Mummy about this.
You call your mother, Mummy? Dawn asked with a chuckle. She normally wouldn't be so forward with someone she'd just met but something about this girl just made her relax in a way that she would have called unnatural if it didn't feel oh, so right.
I have three mothers. The girl said with a shrug. I can't call all of them Mum. So we diversified a little and I got stuck calling my birth mother Mummy.
Makes sense. Dawn allowed, filing away that detail about the girl having three mothers. So, what's your name by the way? You know mine, but you haven't told me yours.
Oh, apologies. Where are my manners? The girl said, looking delightfully flustered. My name's Nexus Tredecim. It's nice to meet you, Miss Winchester!
A week after meeting the adorable Nexus, Dawn found herself down in Raleigh, North Carolina where her adoptive brothers had settled down enjoying a Winchester family gathering. Or more accurately she was sipping on a bottle of beer and leaning against the hood of the black 1967 Chevrolet Impala that Dean had originally inherited from the boys' father and which he'd passed onto her when he and Sam had decided to give up the life as nomadic Hunters for a more sedentary existence. Whilst simultaneously watching the rest of her family mill about in the campground outside of town they'd chosen for their little barbeque.
Times have certainly changed huh? Dawn thought with a combination of fond amusement and nostalgic regret as she watched Robin and Sarah, Dean and Sam's respective wives, watch over their kids making sure they all got something to eat, and ate their fair share of greens, and didn't get hurt or too dirty as they played around.
"Dawn, what did you want to talk about?" Sam asked as he and Dean walked over to join her by the car, each holding a bottle of beer.
Though aging had been kind to both of them, unlike her they were starting to look their age as they entered middle age. They didn't have magic to slow the effects of aging down and had turned down Dawn's offer to use hers to help them. Which was one of the main reasons why they had finally decided to settle down.
"Just wanted to catch up is all." Dawn lied, something her brothers saw through immediately if the look they shared was anything to go by. Not that she was surprised, they'd practically raised her since they had rescued her from the monstrous hag that had been masquerading as the matron of the orphanage where they'd found her. They knew all her tells.
She was surprised that they didn't call her out on it though.
"Nothing much to tell on our end really," Dean said as he took the spot leaning against the Impala's hood to Dawn's right. "Things are pretty much the same old. My auto shop is doing okay as is the sideline supplying Hunters passing through town."
"The auction house is going alright too." Sam added, deciding to just stand in front of his siblings. "We got a few interesting items that Hunters left with us that you should probably have a look at but other than that, nothing new."
"I'll look over them tomorrow." Dawn promised.
"No problem." Sam said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Take your time."
"Yeah, more importantly what about you, Dawn?" Dean pressed. "What's got you moping over here instead of spoiling the kids like you usually do?"
"I've got something I want to ask your opinions on," Dawn said with a sigh, a little dissatisfied at not being able to play coy for longer than she had.
"About a hunt?"
"No," Dawn said with a shake of her head. "I've been feeling a pull on my magic lately."
And she had. After she'd first made contact with Nexus, the pull on her magic was constant. Though it remained especially intense when she tapped into the leylines and she was only ever to actually speak with the girl when she did so.
"What kind of pull?" Dean asked with a contemplative look as he probably rifled through his head recalling everything he knew about the topic.
Dawn blushed, not knowing how to explain without embarrassing herself completely.
Sam noticed though and a knowing grin spread across his face.
"It's a pull towards a compatible partner isn't it?"
Blushing even harder, Dawn nodded.
"So you've got yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend?" Dean asked, excited. "When can we meet them?"
That she was bisexual and had dated both men and women over the years was something that her brothers knew and accepted. Something she was incredibly grateful for.
"Nexus is a girl." Dawn clarified. "And we're not dating. To be honest I don't even know if I want to."
"The level of compatibility scales with the strength of the pull, correct?" Sam asked, looking at Dawn intently and continued once she nodded in agreement. "Then how strong is this pull?"
"Very," Dawn said, putting a hand over her heart which burned with a longing for her to seek Nexus out right this instant. "Very, very strong."
"Then why aren't you sure?" Dean asked, looking confused. "I mean it's not like you have anything to lose, your previous relationships haven't panned out have they? I mean just give it a try, if it works out then great. If not, at least you gave it a short. Right?"
"It's not so simple, Dean. When I meant Nexus was a girl, I meant it. She's only three years old."
Dean winced at that but Sam though clearly knew that there was something she wasn't telling them.
"And how old is she in human years?" Sam asked pointedly. "Is she an adult?"
"Barely," Dawn admitted. "She's one of a kind but in terms of maturity she's roughly equivalent to her late teens or early twenties. She's legally an adult though."
"Then what's the problem?" Dean asked, sounding thoroughly confused.
Dawn just shrugged. Unable to put into words how she felt a bit like a cradle robber despite Nexus' maturity or that she felt like she'd lost some of her agency by it being their magic which had brought them together. Or her whole hosts of other worries. Chief among them that Nexus was the Thirteenth Lord's daughter. The prospect of dating the Assassin Lord's daughter terrifying her. She could just imagine what Lady Tredicim would do to her if she upset Nexus.
"Dawn," Sam said, putting a hand on her shoulder and shaking it slightly. "Whatever reservations you might have, just think about whether they scare you more than never seeing where a relationship with this Nexus girl could lead. Are you willing to give up this chance at happiness?"
"Sam's right, Dawn." Dean added. "You yourself said that your compatibility with this girl is damned high, didn't you? That means the chances of you two actually being happy with each other is high too, ain't it? So don't let your fears deprive you of the chance for that."
Dawn nodded. Her brothers were right. She was letting her fears blind her to the possibility of her happily ever after and that was just foolish.
"Dean, Sam, you're right." Dawn agreed. "Thanks for helping me work through this."
"That's what family is for." Dean said with a chuckle. "Now come on, enough moping from you. Let's go see how the kids are doing."
"They're missing their Aunt Dawn." Sam added with a grin.
"And we can't have that." Dawn declared with a smile as she pushed off the Impala.
She'll speak to Nexus about their relationship tomorrow. For now, she had nieces and nephews to spoil.
"Are you sure about this Mummy?" Nexus asked her birth mother as they sat in the Governor's Palace's library surrounded by dozens of tomes on magical bonds. "Can't it be something else?"
"It could," Mummy allowed. "But that's highly unlikely. Everything you've described about your bond with Miss Winchester fits a mate bond."
Nexus frowned but had to admit that her mother was correct. Just the thought of the beautiful woman that was always dressed up in fancy dresses sent a surge of longing through her mind and that kind of reaction was most characteristic of a mate bond. But…
"Are you absolutely, positively sure?" Nexus pressed. "I don't want to make a mistake about something like this."
"Well, since it didn't have you two jumping each other like I did with Felicia and Shirayuki I can't be totally sure, but I am fairly sure."
Nexus nodded. That was probably the best she was going to get.
"So I should give being with this girl a chance?"
"That is up to you to decide, Nexus." Mummy told her with an encouraging smile. "But if it were up to me, I'd at least give it a shot. As strongly as your magic is resonating with hers, there's a good chance that she's your destined one."
Nexus nodded, a happy grin spreading across her face.
"Then I'll talk to Dawn about it the next time we talk!"
After her talk with her brothers, Dawn did not waste too much time. Just the next day, found her dressed to impress in a sophisticated dress with a bodice featuring a jewel neckline and quarter length sleeves and a skirt that opened in a full length tiered A-line silhouette as she prepared to meditate to tap into Raleigh's leyline nexus.
She was just getting into the right mindset and began the process of tapping into the leyline nexus when suddenly she felt a burst of familiar magic a short distance away. Pulling out of her meditative state, she turned to the source of the burst of magic and which her magic was being pulled towards.
"Nexus?" Dawn asked tentatively as she stared in awe at the rainbow tinted translucent projection of the girl she'd come to adore in the short time she had known her.
A projection that showed that the girl had like her seemed to have gone to the trouble of dressing up for the occasion. In fact she had gone even further than Dawn had and chosen an elegant champagne dress featuring an off the shoulder neckline with a body-hugging bodice that wrapped her frame in a tight fit that enhanced the contours of her figure. The dress had two layers of skirt attached to the waist and a long and wide majestic train flowed from the back, giving it a royal look. To top it off, the whole dress was covered in beautiful appliques from top to the very bottom.
"Hello, Dawn." Nexus said, twisting her hands nervously. "Can we talk?"
"Of course," Dawn said with a nod, shaking her head slightly to stop herself from leering at the younger girl. "I wanted to speak to you too."
"Oh? You go first then." Nexus said, graciously.
Dawn took a deep breath. Preparing herself to take the plunge.
"Nexus, would you like to explore this potential bond between us?" Dawn said, wincing mentally at the words coming out of her mouth. Why can't I just be blunt!?
"I'd love to." Nexus said eagerly. "But, uh, what do you have in mind?"
Come on, Dawn! This isn't the first time you've asked someone out, you can do this! Stop being evasive and just ask her!
"What, uh, I'm trying to say," Dawn said, offering what she hoped was a hopeful smile. "Is whether you would, um, like to be my girlfriend?"
Nexus sucked in a deep breath and stood there stunned for a long moment. Long enough that Dawn's heart fell as she thought she might've been rejected.
"Uh, I, um, think I would like that." Nexus said at long last, looking shyly away.
Her positive reply buoyed her heart. So much so that Dawn immediately jumped to her feet, and in a moment of raw joy that was fueled by a sudden surge from the link between her and Nexus, she threw herself at the other girl.
Nexus gasped but didn't resist as Dawn pulled her into a tight embrace, but quickly hugged her back.
"Thank you," Dawn said, cupping the other girl's face. "We will make this work out."
"We will." Nexus agreed as she leaned into the Hunter's touch. "Together."
"Together." Dawn agreed as she leaned in, still under the influence of the magic surging through the link.
Nexus' answer was to lean in as well, closing the remaining distance as they shared their first, chaste kiss.
A year into her relationship with Nexus, Dawn found herself in the lab of the Ninth Lord, Bella Swan, in Forks, Washington alongside the aforementioned biomancer, the woman's vampire spouse, and her girlfriend's mother, the Thirteenth Lord, as the biomancer made the final touched to the new body she'd grown for Nexus. Whilst her girlfriend's projections were fully corporeal and that made their interactions, even sexual relations, possible, it did make certain things like going out on the town in mundane locations difficult at best. And so, after months of mulling over the decision, Nexus had made the decision to get a more normal body for herself.
"Is the possession of the homunculus stable?" Lady Swan asked her wife who was monitoring a series of computers that were tracking several metrics pertaining to the sensitive procedure they were carrying out.
"Yes, Bella. All the scrying spells read the body as Nexus'." Jane Swan replied as her eyes darted over the readings in front of her. "Everything else is all green too."
"Good," Bella said with a nod as she raised her hands towards the test tube within which Nexus' new body floated amidst a green alchemical concoction and was attached to a host of sensors. It had pale skin, almost the tone of an albino but not quite, long silver blonde hair, a supermodel's figure and piercing ruby eyes, Dawn knew from helping to outline its specifications with Nexus, which were currently closed.
"Then let's finish growing its nervous system. Keep watching the sensors to make sure that the body remains stable."
"Got it," The vampire replied dutifully. "Go for it, Bella."
Bella nodded again and a large green magical circle appeared in front of her outstretched hands as she guided the growth of the nervous system of the homunculus through its last stages that would serve as Nexus' new body, thus allowing it to fully come to life. It was the last step, a failsafe to ensure that the body didn't develop its own consciousness that Nexus would end up overwriting.
"Are you nervous?" Lady Dominique asked from her seat next to Dawn's own a short distance behind the work area that Lady Bella and her wife were using.
"How can I not be?" Dawn replied, putting a hand over her leg which had been shaking in response to her anxiety.
Lady Dominique shrugged. "Well, even if this fails nothing would change. Nexus would still be able to interact with you through her projections. We'd just need to grow a new corporeal body and try again."
"I know," Dawn agreed. "But I can't help it. If this works, it could change everything."
"How?" Lady Dominique asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I don't live in Sanctuary, Lady Dom." Dawn said with a sigh. "Or any magical enclave for that matter. Heck, I'm practically a nomad as I travel across North America for my hunts. That means I spend a lot of time in mundane areas and Nexus' projections can't accompany me there. Even her best attempts at a lifelike projection is still translucent and will get her mistaken for a ghost. But if she had a biological body to inhabit…"
"Then she can accompany you everywhere."
Dawn nodded.
"Yes, I can see how that would dramatically change your relationship." Lady Dominique said with a satisfied nod. "Good answer."
Dawn resisted the urge to snort at her girlfriend's mother testing her once again. As perhaps to be expected as an overprotective mother, she was constantly testing her worth as Nexus' girlfriend. Not to say that she disapproved per se, but she did have her doubts. Dawn thus did her best to be understanding even if it got frustrating sometimes.
"Jane, I'm done." Lady Bella announced as her magic circle faded and she lowered her arms. "Begin draining the tank."
"Right," Jane said as her hands flew over the keyboard in front of her at superhuman speeds and activated the procedure to drain the tank.
Dawn paid that little mind though as her eyes snapped to Nexus' new body whose brilliant red eyes were open at last and had zeroed in at her with a laser-like focus. One that Dawn returned. They both exchanged smiles as well, though Nexus' was hidden by the breathing mask she wore. She stretched out a hand towards Dawn though and made a come hither gesture.
Not one to deny her girlfriend, Dawn obliged and walked towards the test tube and put a hand against its glass flush with Nexus' on the other side. They stayed like that hands pressed against each others' through the glass, smiling at each other and staring lovingly into each others' eyes as the last of the fluid was drained from the tank. As the glass slid away, their hands grasped each other tightly as they used the squeeze to transmit their devotion to each other. Though that lasted for only for a fleeting moment before Nexus used her free hand to rip her breathing mask off and tossed herself into Dawn's arms.
If Dawn hadn't been expecting exactly something like this from her exuberant girlfriend, they'd likely have had a nasty tumble on the hard marble floor of Lady Bella's lab but thankfully she had and thus had braced herself accordingly. She had also expected Nexus grabbing her head and pulling her into a passionate kiss so happily played along.
"That's hot." Dawn distractedly heard Jane say as she made out with her girlfriend. "Bella, we should try to do something like that sometime!"
"What exactly? You jumping me naked whilst I'm fully dressed and then proceed to ravish me?"
"Exactly!"
"I'll take it under consideration." Lady Bella said with a thoughtful hum. "Maybe we can work it into our next roleplay night?"
The couple devolved into planning out how they'd do just that and Dawn lost what little focus she'd given them. Which was not much. She was mostly preoccupied with making out with her girlfriend.
A clearing throat from behind them had them freezing mid kiss though.
"Nexus, are you done?" Lady Dominique asked her daughter in a chiding tone as she tossed a towel in their direction that Nexus caught. "Because I think it's about time you get cleaned up and dressed. Don't you?"
Blushing crimson, Nexus shyly nodded.
"Um, where's my clothes?" She asked as she began toweling her body down.
"Here," her mother said, passing a stack of clothes over to Dawn. "Now hurry up and get dressed."
"Right." Nexus said, sporting a full body blush as she passed Dawn the towel. "Um, Dawn help me with my hair whilst I put my clothes on?"
"Okay," Dawn said dutifully as she handed over Nexus' clothes and took the towel to begin helping her dry her long hair.
All whilst Lady Dominique looked on in impatient irritation.
"Inferno." Nexus cast, sending a torrent of flames surging down the central shaft of the abandoned mine in Montana where she and Dawn had come to deal with a pack of feral ghouls that had been terrorising the area. Flames that would spread through every nook and cranny of the mine and burn away any taint that the foul undead had left behind.
"Dawn! That should clear out whatever nest that's inside the mine." Nexus shouted to her girlfriend who was busy dealing with the dozen or so ghouls that had confronted them when they'd come to investigate the mine.
Correction. Make that four ghouls. It seems that in the short time that Nexus had been preparing her spell to cleanse the mine, Dawn had already dealt with the majority of the lumbering, rotting corpses.
"You four are agile little fuckers, aren't you?" Dawn said with a growl as she floated away from the swipe of one of the ghoul's twisted claws courtesy of a Fly spell, the skirt of her dress fluttering in the wind as she did. She looked so graceful doing so that Nexus thought she looked like some kind of fairy. "But let's see you evade this. Cleansing Bullet: Judgement Shift!"
At Dawn's incantation, hundreds of magic circles appeared around the pack of ghouls, each of which which shot out dozens of magic bullets imbued with cleansing light energy and creating a killzone that could be best described as bullet hell as the projecticles flew at the undead from seemingly every conceivable direction. To their credit, and proof of Dawn's earlier frustration with them, they proved remarkably agile and by using each others' bodies, the walls, floor and ceiling of the mouth of the mine they were fighting in and any conceivable perch, they leapt and dodged through the barrage with remarkable success. But they could only keep it up for so long though as the magic circles kept spitting out more and more bullets and soon one by one, they fell and were reduced to ash by the purifying power of Dawn's magic.
In the face of such an impressive feat, Nexus broke out into earnest applause.
"Thank you, thank you." Dawn replied with a chuckle as she sketched a bow in her direction. "So we got all of them?"
"Yeah," Nexus nodded. "I don't sense any more of them. We're good."
"Good. Good." Dawn said almost distractedly as she opened a portal to the sealed space she used for storage and began fishing for something inside. "Aha! Found it!"
"Found what?" Nexus asked, confused. What on Earth is Dawn doing?
"This," Dawn said as she pulled out what looked like a ring box from her sealed space and fell to one knee right in front of her.
"Dawn?" Nexus gasped, her eyes wide.
"Nexus Tredecim," Dawn said looking earnestly up into her eyes. "We've been dating for almost five years now and I think that's more than long enough."
Is this really happening!? Nexus thought, scantly believing what was happening.
"Would you do me the favour of making an honest woman out of me and marry me?"
This is really happening!
"Yes." Nexus began in a shocked whisper but as she kept speaking, her tone gained confidence. "Yes! By the Seven, yes!"
"You look beautiful," Dom told her youngest daughter as they stood by the door leading into the ballroom of the Governor's Palace where her little girl was about to be married, waiting for their cue to make their entrance. "The dress becomes you."
"Thank you, Mummy." Nexus replied, smiling brilliantly as she ran a hand nervously over her wedding dress, a ivory sleeveless satin gown with plunging notched bateau neckline that featured an empire and waist seam detail on the bodice, a full inverted box pleated skirt with pockets and a matching satin belt decorated by a bow at the waist.
"But I think you're biased, Mummy." Nexus added teasingly. "Considering you helped me pick it out and all."
"I assure you that I speak the objective truth."
Nexus rolled her eyes at her. "Of course you are, Mummy."
Dom would've kept arguing that she was speaking the truth, because she had but knew that nothing would come of it. Her daughter would not be moved by any arguments she made. Besides, as she looked over Nexus once more she couldn't help but let out a wistful sigh.
"My youngest is getting married…"
"Mummy, please stop." Nexus said, rolling her eyes at her again. "It's not like I'm the last of your children to get married or anything. I'm only the second, well technically third, of us to do so."
That was true. Only Yuki and Yori had gotten married before her. Even Dante and Rose Iris, who were a married couple in all but name, hadn't done so yet.
"I know," Dom said, sniffling slightly. "But it's still a sign that my children are all growing up! I'm not ready to let you all go."
Nexus sighed in exasperation even as she pulled Dom into a hug.
"Don't be silly, Mummy." She chided her mother. "Even if I am married, I'll still be your little girl. That will never change."
Dom knew that. But to hear it was nevertheless a comforting balm to her aching heart.
"Thank you, sweetie. I needed to hear that."
"Then I'll tell it to you as many times as you need to." Nexus told her seriously as she pulled away. "And I'll tell Yuki-nee and Yori-nee to do the same too."
Dom chuckled, wiping away the handful of tears that her bout of sadness had created from her eyes.
"Please don't," She said once she'd gotten herself back under control. "If you do, I'm pretty sure all your siblings will swarm me with concern thinking I'm upset."
"And you aren't?" Nexus challenged.
"Not anymore." Dom told her daughter, the words ringing more true as she spoke them. "Just happy for my little girl on her big day."
Any further conversation was cut short when the familiar sound of Richard Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" began playing from the pipe organ that had been set up for the occasion inside the ballroom.
"That's our cue," Dom said as she offered her daughter her arm.
"Yup. Time to begin the next phase of my life." Nexus said as she looped her arm with Dom's.
Dom offered her daughter a bittersweet smile even as the doors to the ballroom were opened from inside by a pair of waiting footmen allowing them a view of the ballroom packed almost to bursting with the couple's family and friends, including every single one of the Lords of the Thirteen, and more importantly standing at the the other door directly opposite from their own and escorted by her eldest brother, her soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Dawn Winchester.
The Hunter looked as beautiful as Nexus did in her cream colored, V-neck dress that featured a natural waistline and an A-line silhouette. But as graceful as the dress made the witch look, what truly made her beautiful was the happy smile she shot Nexus as their eyes met. The smile spoke volumes about the love and sheer adoration she felt for Dom's daughter and that above all else was what gave her the strength to begin leading Nexus down the red carpet towards the altar at the centre of the hall and her destiny.
Done!
So this one shot was all over the place with how it used timeskips like crazy and I apologize for that. But I really didn't want to write a whole short fic about Dawn and Nexus' romance, which is what it really deserves so I instead chose to offer snippets of the most significant moments. It's definitely a cop out, but the principal motive why I write is to rid my mind of plot bunnies, so if it comes out like this? Well, I can live with it. Hope my readers can too.
Anyways, till next time see ya!