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Time Bomb by Seven Sins
Chapter 2 - Unable to Move
Posted: 8.2.04
Dawn opened her eyes, and what she saw almost made her scream.
She was sitting in her old room in her old house in Sunnydale.
'What the fu--'
And then she remembered, and a huge smile broke her face.
"It worked!" she yelled, jumping out of her bed and rushing down the stairs.
She rounded the corner at the bottom and then abruptly stopped, staring into the living in shock.
"Mom?" she said.
Joyce turned her head, "Oh, Dawnie! You're awake!" she said, smiling.
Dawn rushed forward and threw her arms around her. Joyce was caught off guard, but gently hugged her back. When Dawn pulled away, she looked like she was fighting back tears.
"What's wrong, honey?" Joyce asked.
Dawn shook her head, "Nothing," she said, wiping away the tears, "Just...allergies!"
"At this time of year?" Joyce asked.
"Um..." Dawn said, "Yeah! I think it's that new fabric softener!"
"But we didn't get new fabric softener," Joyce said questioningly.
"Oh.." Dawn said, "Well then, I don't know what it is. She turned to look around the room. Giles was sitting in a chair, staring at her strangely.
'Oh hell, I'm still the key,' she remembered.
She smiled at Giles, who didn't return it, and continued looking around the room. Her gaze fell to the TV where an episode of 'Friends' was playing.
"Hey, I remember this one!" she said, smiling.
Joyce furrowed her eyebrows, "How can you honey? It's a new one," she said.
Dawn bit her lip, 'Oops' she thought.
"I mean, I remember hearing about it," she said.
"Oh," Joyce said, still looking confused.
Dawn smiled and slid down onto the floor, turning to face the television.
Minutes later, the door opened and Buffy stepped inside, "I'm back by popular demand," she said.
"Did you have a nice time?" Giles asked.
Buffy shrugged and sat down, "You know, I think I did. Much-needed fun, apart from Willow's headaches and Spike's cameo appearance," she said.
Dawn spun her head around, "Spike was there?!" she asked, a bit too enthusiastically.
"Unfortunately," Buffy said, looking at her the same way Joyce had moments ago.
Joyce came forward and sat down beside Buffy, "Well, I'm relieved that you're home. Because to be honest, I wasn't feeling all that safe with you gone," she said.
Giles raised his eyebrows as he sipped his tea.
"At first!" Joyce added quickly, "And then I, um, remembered that, um, Rupert was here and I felt much, much safer."
Giles sat his cup down and stood up, "Yes, well, thank you for the little backpedal, but uh, I'm forced to agree that I'm ... barely an adequate substitute for a Slayer in the house," he said, moving towards the door, "Good night."
"Good night," Joyce said back.
Dawn watched Buffy get up and follow into the hallway. There was a mumbled conversation, and Dawn knew it was about her.
She shrugged and turned back to the television "Not like I haven't been through it before," she said to herself, "Actually, she added thoughtfully, "I have been through exactly this before," it took everything in her not to laugh at her little, private joke.
"Dawn!" Buffy yelled suddenly.
Dawn rolled her eyes, "I didn't take your clothes, shut up," she said.
Buffy and Giles exchanged glances, "Bull!" Buffy continued, "Then what happened to my blue cashmere sweater?"
Dawn looked away from the television, "Spike has it," she said quietly to herself.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"Spike has it!" Dawn jumped up and raced to the door, "Giles!" she said, "Can I get a ride to the cemetery?"
"What?" Buffy yelled, "Absolutely not! You are not going to the cemetery!"
Dawn rolled her eyes, "I wasn't talking to you," she said, "Giles, please! It's important."
Giles looked at her like she was insane, "Um...if...you mother says it's alright, I guess I could," he said slowly.
Dawn smiled, "Mom! Can I?"
"I...wha..."
"Great!" Dawn said, grabbing her jacket off the coat rack, "Oh, I miss this jacket," she said before sliding it on.
Buffy and Giles exchanged nervous glances as Dawn raced out the door.
"What the hell is wrong with her?" Buffy asked, watching Dawn throw open the door to Giles' car.
"Well, let's go!" she called to them.
Giles stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the porch steps, Buffy hesitantly following behind him.
Once they were in the car and driving down the road, Dawn was plastered to the car window, staring at everything they passed.
"It's just like I remember it," she whispered.
"What?" Buffy asked, turning around in the passenger seat and looking at her.
"Nothing," Dawn said quickly, turning away from the window.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Giles announced, "We're here."
Dawn threw her door open and stepped out into the cemetery. She took a few steps and then froze, "Which way was it?" she wondered quietly.
She looked around for a moment, and then remembered, hurrying off in the direction of Spike's crypt. Buffy and Giles raced after her.
"Dawn!" Buffy yelled, "Slow down! Where are you going?"
Dawn ignored and ran up to the door of Spike's crypt, knocking frantically.
There was a few loud crashes inside as Dawn continued knocking.
"Bloody hell! I'm coming!" she heard Spike yell from inside.
The door flew open and Spike glared at her. He didn't even have time to register who it was before she threw herself on him.
"Spike!" Dawn said, "It's really you!"
Buffy's jaw dropped and Giles couldn't pull his glasses off his face fast enough.
Spike's eyes widened, "Yeah, really me..." he said, tentatively hugging her back.
Dawn let go of him and slid to the ground.
"DAWN!" Buffy yelled, running up and grabbing her arm, pulling her away from Spike, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Spike glared at her, "You know slayer, just because you and your stupid scoobies hate me doesn't mean everyone has to," he shot.
"Shut up, Spike," Buffy said, "Dawn, are you sick?"
Dawn opened her mouth to say 'no,' but then stopped, "Sick." She said.
"Yeah, sick. Are you?" Buffy asked again.
"Mom. Mom's sick!" Dawn cried suddenly, "I can't believe I forgot, oh God..." she whipped around and raced back to the car.
"Dawn!" Giles yelled after her.
Dawn got to the car whipped the rear door open, "Let's go!" she yelled to Buffy and Giles who were running after her, "We have to go now!"
"Dawn, what is going on!?" Buffy asked.
"We have to get home now!" she repeated, "Mom's sick! We have to get home!"
"No," Buffy said, "Mom's not sick anymore. She got the surgery. You know that."
"NO!" Dawn yelled, "She needs to go to the doctor. Something went wrong!"
"What?" Buffy asked.
Dawn ignored her and looked at Giles, "Giles, please. Take me home," she said.
Giles looked at Buffy again before slowly saying, "All right. Buffy, get in."
-----
"Mom!" Dawn called, throwing the front door open.
Joyce jumped and then looked over at Dawn as she walked into the room, "What, honey?" she asked, "What's wrong.
"You have to go see a doctor!" she answered breathlessly as Buffy walked into the house.
"Why?" Joyce asked, "What's going on?" she looked over at Buffy.
Buffy shrugged, still confused.
Dawn looked over at her, and then back to Joyce, "It's just..." she started, "I have this feeling. That something's wrong. And, I'd just be more comfortable if you went and saw the doctor," she lied.
Joyce stared at for a moment and then said, "Okay, I'll make an appointment tomorrow," she said, "Just, come sit do..."
Her voice trailed of and Dawn's head was engulfed in pain. She screamed and grabbed it, falling to the floor. Everything around her spun and images began flashing through her head.
Buffy, Dawn and Joyce all sat in the hospital.
"It's a good thing we found it soon enough, Ms. Summers," the doctor was saying, "Who knows what could have happened if we didn't."
It flashed away and another started
Dawn was standing next to Buffy's headstone with her mother, who was sobbing uncontrollably into Giles' shoulder, "My baby...oh my sweet baby girl..." her muffled voice said.
And then another
"We have to leave, Dawn, I'm sorry," Joyce was saying, "I just can't bear living here anymore.."
Dawn screamed and shot up.
She was breathing hard, her head whipping around, looking at a room she was completely unfamiliar with.
Suddenly, the door in front of her burst open and Joyce stepped in, "Dawn, what's wrong?" she asked.
Dawn gasped. Her mother looked horrible. She was pale, and bony and her eyes looked so empty.
"N...nothing," Dawn said, "Bad dream.
Joyce looked unconvinced, "Are you sure? Are you all right?"
Dawn nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Okay," Joyce said, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her.
"Oh no..." Dawn said, looking around the room again.
She slid out of the bed and walked to the window, lifting the blinds and staring out at the city around her.
"We're in LA..." she sighed, "Oh no..."
She spun around and looked at a calendar on the wall, trying to remember dates, "Oh Willow, please still do the spell," she begged no one in particular.
Suddenly, she heard a phone ring. She looked over at the closed door, and listened intently.
"Hello?" she heard Joyce say. Then there was silence.
Dawn waited, getting restless after about a minute.
Then she heard Joyce barely whisper, "Buffy?"
Dawn's face broke into a smile, "Thank God!" she cried.
Just then, her door opened again, and a petrified looking Joyce stuck her head in, "Dawn," she said, "Dawn, pack your things, we're going back to Sunnydale."
"Buffy back?" Dawn asked.
Joyce nodded as a smile slowly crept over her face. She was still too shocked to ask how she already knew.
Suddenly, another sharp pain shot through Dawn's head and she grasped it, unable to get a scream out as the memories rebuilt themselves in her head
She was in a car with Joyce. They were driving at least ten miles above the speed limit, and she was rambling on, a huge smile on her face.
"I don't know how Willow did it, but..." she looked over at Dawn who smiled back.
Then there as a loud horn sounding, and Dawn turned around just in time to see a Semi-Truck heading right for them.
She screamed as the memory flashed away
A doctor stood beside her hospital bed, talking to Buffy and Xander, who were standing on the other side.
"I hate being the one to tell you these things, especially after the death of your mother, but the crash also paralyzed your sister from the waist down. There's almost no chance of her ever walking again."
Dawn's eyes flew open, and she gasped.
She was in the magic shop, with Xander sitting next to her and Anya behind the cash register.
Xander looked up from the book he was reading and smiled, "Hey Dawnie, you dozed off," he said.
Dawn nodded and tried to stand up, but was surprised to find that she couldn't.
She looked down at her legs and had to hold in another scream.
She was in a wheelchair, and was unable to move her legs.
"Found it!" she heard Willow's voice say as she sat down on her other side.
She slid a book onto the table, and Dawn immediately recognized it.
That was the book that brought her here. The book that messed everything up.
"Yeah," Xander said, "but did you find the one with the spell to get rid of that ghost-thing that's been bugging Buffy in it?" he asked.
Willow's smile fell, "Oh yeah. I still need to find that," she sighed and stood up, heading back towards the bookshelves.
Xander looked back down at his book and flipped the page.
Dawn slowly reached out and slid the book over in front of her, turning to the page she remembered the spell was on.
"There has to be a counter-spell," she whispered to herself, scanning the pages.
Then she found it, on the opposite side of the same page.
She read it over, and then started to recite it as quietly as possible.
"What?" Xander asked, not looking up from his book.
Dawn ignored him and continued.
"What did you say Dawn?" Xander asked, as everything around her began to melt away like a candle.
"Dawnie? What's wro--"
-----
Dawn opened her eyes and she was in her and Buffy's kitchen in Rome again.
She looked over at the clock on the microwave, and was surprised that only about two minutes had passed.
"Okay," she said to herself, "I can't save Mom," her face fell in disappointment.
Then she perked up a bit, "But I can still save Tara," she looked down at the book that was still open in front of her.
She opened her mouth and began reciting the spell again, but then stopped.
'Should I really do it again?' a voice in her head asked, 'What if something goes wrong like last time?'
Dawn stopped and stared down at the pages, trying to decide.
'What if it only gets worse...'
Dawn shook her head, "I can't," she said to herself, preparing to close the book. Then she stopped, remembering everything that had happened after Tara's death.
She slowly opened the book again.
'I have to try.'
"May 7th, 2002"
A/N - The dates are exactly right, I know, but they're close. It was way too hard to get them exactly right. Anyway, R&R! I'll love you forever!
seVensIns
7sins(dot)bravemusings(dot)com
PS - Got bored and made a website! Link's in the journal under "website"! Check it out! There's images and such to go with the stories!