Time Bomb by Seven Sins
Chapter 4 - Shining
Posted: 8.24.04
Dawn opened her eyes to find herself in the passenger seat of Xander's old car.
"Pull over," she commanded, making Xander jump.
Xander looked over at her, "I didn't realize you were awake," he said quietly.
"Pull over," Dawn told him again.
Xander sighed and handed her an envelope. Dawn didn't even bother opening it to read the letter inside. She already knew what it said. In one swift movement, she tossed the letter over her shoulder and grabbed the taser gun on the floor. Before Xander could react, she had zapped him unconscious and he fell forward onto the wheel.
Dawn reached over and turned the car off. Then she turned back towards Xander, and started to drag him to the side of the car she sat on. This proved to be a bit more difficult than she had planned. Eventually though, she got him over far enough so that she could drive. She turned the car back on, and slowly turned around, hoping she could figure out how to get back.
'I still can't believe she thought she'd get away with this," Dawn thought as she drove.
Dawn groaned in aggravation as she tried to parallel park Xander's car for the third.
She sighed and sat back in the seat, "I give up," she muttered, looking over at Xander as she opened her door.
She glanced around once and then walked over to the opposite side of the car. She opened the door, only to have the front-half of Xander's body flop out and land with a loud 'thud' on the sidewalk.
Dawn cringed, "Oops."
She bent down and grabbed his upper arms, trying to drag the rest of him out of the vehicle.
'Either I'm extremely weak,' she thought, 'Or Xander has an extremely large amount of body fat.'
Dawn took a deep breath and pulled, putting all of her muscle power it it. Thankfully, she felt the rest of him start to slip off the seat. She was just about to sigh in relief when his entire body flopped out and almost knocked her over. Dawn gasped and struggled to regain her balance. She was almost to the point where she was going to just drop him on the sidewalk, when she spotted Spike out of the corner of her eye.
He was storming down the street, muttering to himself and looking very pissed off.
"Spike!" Dawn called through gritted teeth.
Spike stopped and looked over at her, "Dawn?" he asked, "What are you doing?" he looked down at Xander.
"Help!" Dawn pleaded.
Spike didn't look too thrilled about it, but he came over and nudged her out of the way, grabbing Xander's arms just where she had.
"Get his legs," he directed.
Dawn stepped over and grabbed his ankles, and together they started struggling towards the stairs. They were about halfway up, when the door flew open and Willow gasped, "Xander? Dawn? But..."
Dawn shook her head, "Don't even talk about it," she said.
"Where do you want this?" Spike asked, indicating to Xander.
Willow pointed towards to dining room, "Set him in a chair, I'll get ice," she rushed passed them into the kitchen.
Spike and Dawn flopped Xander down in a chair, just as Anya came rushing into the room, "What have you done to my sweet cookie-face?" she asked, bending down and poking him in the chest, "Xander! Xander, wake up!" she yelled.
Xander groaned and opened his eyes, "What happened?" he asked.
"That's a good question," Anya said, rounding on Dawn, "What have you done to him? There's a huge bump on his head!"
Dawn shrugged, "I knocked him out with a stun gun and accidentally hit his head off the sidewalk.." she said.
Anya gasped, "What if you caused brain damage?" she looked back at Xander.
"No," Spike said, "You actually have to have a brain in order for it to get damaged," he turned around and walked towards the kitchen, "I'll be downstairs," he said.
Dawn frowned at his back as he walked away.
"Ice!" Willow yelled, running into the dining room, "Cold, soothing ice!"
Xander reached out and took it from her, "Thanks, Will," he said, gently laying it on the bump towards the back of his head.
Dawn looked past him, out the window, just in time to see Buffy turn onto their front walk. Her face fell into a glare, and she stormed over to stand in the entry way. She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the doorknob turn.
Buffy's eyes widened in surprise when she saw her, but before she could say anything, Dawn lifted her leg and kicked her in the shin.
"Ow!"
"Dumbass."
Buffy whipped around to stare at Xander.
" Don't look at me," he said, still holding the ice against his head, "This is a Summers' thing. It's all very violent."
Buffy turned back to Dawn, "If you get killed, I'm telling," she said, before walking into the dining room.
Dawn rolled her eyes, "I won't, don't worry," she said, following her.
"Did you find out anything about the scythe?" Willow asked.
Buffy shrugged, "It slices, dices, and makes julienne preacher."
Giles looked surprised, "Caleb?"
"I cut him in half."
"All right!" Willow said.
Anya nodded, "He had that coming."
"Hey!" Xander said, "Party in my eye socket and everyone's invited!" they all stared at him.
Dawn had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. It actually was funny when you weren't completely shocked that he said it.
Xander, however, hung his head, "Sometimes I shouldn't say words."
Buffy shook her head and looked back at Willow, "Hey, is Spike still in the.."
Willow nodded, "He was gone for awhile. Then he came back and helped Dawn drag Xander into the house," she gestured towards Xander, "Then he went back to the basement, he looked kind of ticked off."
Buffy sighed, "Great," she muttered, setting the scythe down and turning to go to the basement.
Dawn waited, trying to decide what to do next. Finally, she raced after her before anyone could make her do otherwise, and quietly slipped down the basement stairs far enough so that she could hear the conversation going on.
"He wears lifts, you know," Spike was saying.
Buffy sighed, "You know, one of these days I'm just gonna put you 2 in a room and let you wrestle it out."
Spike fiddled with an empty cigarette package, "No problem at this end," he said, giving up and throwing the package at the wall.
"There could be oil of some kind involved!" Buffy said excited.
"Where's the trinket?" Spike asked, walking up to her.
"The who-ket?"
"The pretty necklace your sweetie-bear gave you," Spike said, "The one with all the power. I believe it's mine now."
"How do you figure?" Buffy asked.
"Someone with a soul, but more than human? Angel meant to wear it, that means I'm the qualified party," he said, holding out his hand.
"It's volatile. We don't know—"
"You'll be needing someone strong to bear it, then. You planning on giving it to Andrew?" Spike asked sarcastically.
Buffy looked down, and Dawn followed her gaze. The necklace sat in her hands, the light reflecting off of it and making it sparkle. Dawn fought the urge to run down the steps, grab it, and run away laughing triumphantly. Somehow, she didn't think that would work.
"Angel said the amulet was meant to be worn by a champion," Buffy said.
Spike looked down at the floor, disappointment filling his face. Then, Buffy walked forward and reached out to hand it to him.
Spike took it from her, his face lighting up again, "Been called a lot of things in my time," he said.
"Faith still has my room."
"Well, you're not staying here!" Spike shook his head, "You can't buy me off with shiny beads and sweet talk. You got Angel breath. I'm not gonna just let you whack me back and forth like a rubber ball. I've got my pride, you know."
Buffy turned back towards the stairs, "I understand."
Spike hurried around and cut her off, "Clearly you don't, 'cause the whole "having my pride" thing was just a smokescreen."
Buffy sighed in relief, "Oh, thank God."
"I don't know what I would have done if you'd have gone up those stairs," Spike said.
Bufy reached out to touch his face, and Dawn turned away, her throat catching in a mixture of anger and sadness.
'This isn't fair,' she thought, 'Why is life so goddamn painful?'
'It doesn't matter,' another voice in her head said, 'You can change it.'
Dawn turned back around, watching them as they embraced.
"I will change it."
Dawn lay in her bed, looking around at all the girls that lay on the floor around her room. She glanced over at th clock. It was almost two. Now or never.
Dawn slowly climbed out of bed, wincing as she tripped over one of the girls. She froze, praying that she wouldn't wake up. Luckily, she just muttered something in her sleep and rolled over. Dawn sighed in relief and continued to make her way towards the door.
She surprised herself by going quietly. She had slipped down the stairs and to the top of the basement steps without waking anybody. Which was quite a feet because there were people everywhere.
She took a deep breath and climbed down the steps, careful not to wake Buffy or Spike up. She stared at them for a moment, lying on the cot asleep. Peaceful. You'd never know there was a war going on right now. They looked far too content.
Dawn shook her head and turned away, looking around the room for the amulet. Then she saw it. Sitting on the table, sparkling away. She glared at it, and picked it up, cradling it in her hands and moving it back and forth, watching it catch the light. Then she stopped, realizing what she was doing, and looked away.
'Now what the hell am I supposed to do?' she wondered.
But her time to think was cut short when she heard Buffy stir on the cot. She gasped and looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide. The first spot she saw was the shadows under the steps. She hurried over and crouched down, just as she saw Buffy's eyes flutter open.
Her eyes darted around for a moment, not sure of where she was. Buffy whipped her head round, and then saw Spike, and her expression softened and she calmed down. Her hand reached up to stroke his, and Dawn watched, trying to keep all the feelings from earlier from returning.
Then, Spike rolled away, letting go of Buffy. She lay there for a moment, and then stood up, walking across the room to the window. Dawn watched her, until she saw a flicker of movement across the room. She looked over and had to cover her own mouth to keep from gasping when she saw Caleb walking towards Buffy.
'Wait...It can't be.'
"Pretty ain't it?" he said.
"You're not him," Buffy said back.
The First shook his current form's head, "No, you killed him right and proper. Terrible loss. This man was my good right arm," he turned to her, "'Course, it don't pain me too much. Don't need an arm. Got an army."
Buffy rolled her eyes, "An army of vampires. However will I fight—"
The First cut her off, "Every day our numbers swell. But then you do have an army of your own. Some thirty-odd pimply-faced girls, don't know the pointy end of a stake," he mocked fear, "Maybe I should call this off."
Dawn seized the opportunity to attempt to slip up the stairs.
"Have you ever considered a cool name?" Buffy asked, "I mean, since you're incorporeal and basically powerless. How about "The Taunter?" Strikes fear in the heart—"
"I will overrun this Earth. And when my army outnumbers the humans on this Earth, the scales will tip and I will be made--" he stopped, his eyes darting around and resting on Dawn.
She froze.
'Oh, I'm screwed. He saw me, he's gonna say something, and I'm screwed.'
But The First said nothing. Just watched her
"Talk on," Buffy said, "I'm not afraid of you."
The First suddenly grinned at Dawn, only he was no longer looking at her face. His eyes had come to rest on the amulet in her hands. Dawn tried to hide it behind her back, slowly beginning to climb the stairs.
The First looked back up at her and gave her a wink before looking back at Buffy, "Oh you should be," he said as Dawn hurried up the stairs, "Because nothing can help you now."
Dawn stood outside, looking down into the hole she'd just dug. Small enough that it wouldn't be noticed, but big enough for fit the damned necklace in. Dawn picked it up off the ground, holding it out in front of her and studying it again.
The she dropped it into the hole, and used her hands to push the dirt back over it, never once looking at the thing. When she was done, she stared down at the pile of dirt, trying to figure out what would happen now.
And then she felt the pain in her head. She grabbed her forehead, but didn't scream as everything flashed through her mind
She stood frozen, unable to move as she watched Xander fall to the ground, dead. The demons were everywhere. Overrunning the school. And Dawn couldn't move.
Then, Willow came running out of Principle Wood's office.
"Dawn!" she called when she spotted her, "Dawn! Run! Get out of the school, now!"
And then something hit the back of her head and everything went black.
Giles running to her side and picking her up, racing out of the building with Willow close behind.
Staring out the back window of the bus as they sped away from Sunnydale. The town collapsing
Willow crying.
Giles crying.
Faith crying.
"Dawn, Dawnie, please wake up," Willow's voice said, "Buffy's gone. Xander's gone. Kennedy's gone. Please, wake up."
Dawn's eyes snapped open, and she screamed.
Two seconds later, her door burst open, and Willow came running into the room.
"Dawn!" Willow rushed over to her and hugged her, "You're awake. Oh thank God, you're awake."
Dawn tentatively hugged her back as Giles appeared in the doorway, "What's going on?"
Willow turned to him, "Dawn woke up."
Dawn looked at her confused, "What...what happened?" she asked.
Willow's face fell, "Dawnie, lay back down. There's a lot I need to tell you."
Dawn shook her head, "No. No, where's Buffy?"
Willow pushed her back down as she fought the tears pooling in her eyes. She took a deep breath.
"Buffy's dead, honey. And so is Xander, Spike, Anya, Andrew, and almost all the potentials. They were all killed."
Dawn's mouth fell open, "What? No..no, that's not what was supposed to happen. The spell. Your spell. It didn't work?"
Willow hung her head, "Not in time."
Dawn felt tears behind her eyes and she looked around, "Where are we?" she asked quietly.
"In hiding," Willow explained.
"Hiding?"
"From The First. He's everywhere now. And we're trying to figure out ways to defeat him," a tear streamed down her face, "But it's so hard with just us. And Faith left, and we don't know if she's even alive anymore."
Dawn shook her head, "No. No. It can't...the book!"
Willow frowned, "What book?"
"Your book! The one with the picture of that temple on it. Where is it?"
Willow shook her head, "Why?"
"Because I need it," she said, "I need to make everything right again," she tried to sit up.
Willow pushed her back down, "Dawn, calm down. I couldn't give you that book, even if I had it."
Dawn froze, "Where is it?" she asked.
"All my books went down with Sunnydale."
A/N - Sorry for the long delay! I've been busy. Anyway, I re-did my site. It actually looks half decent now. Links in my profile if you want it. There's more crap than there used to be too...so. If you're bored.
Anyway, R&R! This stories almost over. Next couple chapters should be up by the end of next week!
seVen sIns