Title: Lost 4/?
Series: Leave it Behind
Author: Autumn
Email: autumnleaves@autumnpenguins.com
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns all of the characters, I'm just playing with them.
Rating: R
Category: Drama
Story Summary: Dawn reacts to life after her death. .
Series Summary: An AU of season six. What if Buffy hadn't been the one who died?
Story Order: Equilibrium, The Lesser, Of Two Evils, Lost
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In the dark Dawn opened her eyes……..
Complete darkness was the first thing she woke up to; her heart was racing as if she'd just experienced a nightmare. Her skin felt dry, and it itched like as if she'd been handling potatoes. Her ears were filled with a ringing that happens when there are too many high-pitched frequencies to take in at one time. "Dawn?"
She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. There was something above her, a person. There was no room to breath here, and she had to get out. Dawn's arms rose and began to push hard at the thing in their path. Dirt flew up from Dawn's hands and when they hit Spike his flesh began to smoke lightly.
"Bloody hell, bit stops that!" Spike yelled, as the dirt hit him.
"I'm sorry, Dawn, just stop moving around. We have to get out of here. The watchers, they did a spell to bring you back, and they're here and they'll help."
Dawn didn't say anything, but she stared up at the vampire, her eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness and it seemed like there was a film over everything. Her hearing was also off, she could hear what Spike was saying, hear the words, but they sounded muffled to her ears. She swallowed hard, trying to get her voice to work again. "Spike." She managed to croak out.
"Yeah love, I'm here."
"Wh-where are we?"
"In your coffin."
"Was it a dream?"
"No. You died. You've been gone for three weeks, but they brought you back."
Before she could say anything else, the coffin began to jerk and groan as the Watchers began to pull the coffin back out of the grave. The gleaming casket emerged from the ground much heavier than it had been the first time around. As soon as it had been settled, Giles, Dwyer and Travers opened the lid of the casket and exposed the resurrected Key, and the vampire who'd made it possible.
Dawn lay still beneath the dirt. So much had happened, and her mind was abuzz, trying to absorb all the details she'd taken in. She had been dead; she knew that, she felt that. Spike had told her how long, but it didn't mean anything, weeks were just blocks of time in the human world, and Dawn felt that she had been out of it for much longer than that. Giles had motioned the other Watchers to untie Spike. Four had moved in to release the vampire while Giles moved closer to Dawn. "Do you know who you are?" He asked the young woman.
"You brought me here. Giles."
"Yes, that's right."
"Congratulations." Dawn said hollowly.
"Dawn. I know this all comes as a shock to you-"
"You know nothing." With that Dawn rose from the coffin, and on shaky limbs flew from her own gravesite.
"Dawn!" Spike yelled, and ripped himself free from the last chain that held him.
He quickly chased after Dawn, the Watchers observing the two naked figures running in the night.
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Buffy had walked out of her house with Anya and Xander trailing close behind her much as she Willow and Tara had a day ago. They'd been talking when they slayer had gotten up and turned towards the door. "Why exactly are we following the crazy slayer?" Anya muttered.
"She needs us Anya."
"Oh yeah? I don't think she knows we're even here Xander!"
"Spike will protect her if she gets into trouble. He has that whole stalking-Buffy-by-scent thing going for him."
"Yeah? So why didn't he show up for Buffy-watch tonight then?"
"Well, he could be fighting other daemons, and as we all know that doesn't lend itself to punctuality."
"Or, she could cut right through that and just lead us right to Spike." Xander said as Buffy stopped right outside the vampire's crypt.
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Spike caught up with Dawn outside of his own crypt. "I know this place" she said it more to herself than too him.
Dawn walked into the room still covered with dirt. He followed behind her and shut the door behind her. "This is where I live Nibblet, you've been here before."
She turned to look at him briefly but her haunted eyes soon dropped their gaze back to the dim light of their surroundings. "I'll get you some clothes. We can get you cleaned up if you like."
"Cleanliness is next to godliness," she said in that same faint voice.
Spike strode past her, not wanting to let Dawn out of his sight, but feeling the need to clothe her against the chill of his humble home. He grabbed the first articles that he found that would fit her. It was just a shirt to him, but it would wear like a dress on her. He grabbed the nearest pair of leather pants and threw them on before climbing the stairs to his crypt. "Raise your arms." Spike said, coming up next to her.
Dawn did as she was asked, not noticing or not caring about her nudity. Spike carefully slipped the shirt onto her, threading her arms, head and hair through the holes in the shirt. "Let's sit down pet." He led her over to his couch, and gently sat the girl down.
She looked like a mere shadow of herself before Glory had gotten ahold of her. Her hair was greasy, and ratted beyond all means; her blue eyes were dull and lacked the spark that had set her apart from most people. Her skin retained most of the bruises from her dive off of the tower, and she was caked in dirt. She looked like hell, and Spike wondered if she'd been there. He unconsciously moved closer to her and laid an arm about her shoulders. "Do you need anything? Food, water, or something else?"
"I'm, where am I?" Her voice was so lost when she answered that he knew instinctively where she'd been.
"This is Earth Dawn. You're back on Earth. Buffy's here, and Willow and Tara, Anay, the boy." He finished, ticking off names of the closest people too her, hoping to get a reaction.
"Buffy."
"Dawn" came the voice of the blonde slayer through the open doorway.
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