Chapter 3

April 2000

She was fourteen when it happened. It had been over two years after her mother and sister had died, and once again it rained in Sunnydale. Except that this time it wasn't water that fell out of the sky.

There were rumors about a military cover-up, naturally the military denied this as did the government, and Dawn believed them. The government also claimed it had been the only way to deal with a group of terrorists, but she didn't believe that weak cover story.

Most likely the government had found out about the real world and as a consequence had panicked. That panic caused bombs to rain down on the unsuspecting little town, and she felt reasonably sure that most of the demons present in the town would have died during that bombardment. The cost of destroying these demons? The lives of all the people who had the bad grace to live in the piece of real-estate called Sunnydale.

Nobody who had been there had survived. Well, at least nobody human.

Jane, her best friend.

Sarah, her other best friend.

Mister Giles, who had always been so happy about her zeal for information.

Willow, her sister's best friend.

Xander, who now would never get to be her husband.

All of them had died.

As had so many more people she had known. All of them gone in one single instant. There was nothing left that tied her to Sunnydale anymore, not even the town itself. Ironically, she herself might be the only thing left that was directly connected to her former home. There was after all that one thing that would never go away. In the years since she'd moved to Los Angeles she had been training herself, had gone on missions, and had even tried to appease the voices in her head. But it hadn't been enough.

She was Noir and once again she had lost everything. Everybody she cared about died, and while she believed she had made her peace with that knowledge, the sudden proof had still come as a shock.

When she had first heard the news she had been ecstatic, the government had taken over where Buffy had been unable to continue, and they had weapons that were capable of doing what needed to be done. It was only after a couple of seconds that the reality of the situation got through to her. Only a day before had she been talking to Jane over the phone, and her friend hadn't said anything about an evacuation.

Death. He was always her constant companion, and never would she get rid of him. If only he would pay more attention to her targets, instead of hunting down her friends.

Then, about two weeks later, the rumors had started. Rumors that there had been a secret military project in Sunnydale, and that this project had created something that had gotten out. The thing that had gotten loose was supposedly some kind of mix between the monster of Frankenstein and the Terminator.

But who would believe an accusation that sounded as ridiculous as that? Especially since the rumors came from the same sources that claimed aliens were interested in sexual experiments with unsuspecting humans. In Dawn's not so humble opinion, that meant it could only be complete nonsense. But still… doubt crept into her mind.

What if for once the conspiracy-nuts were right? What if there was something more to the bombing than she suspected? There had to be a way for her to find out the truth. After two years of hard work, she now had contacts in most of the criminal underworld, and if they couldn't help her find out, no one could.

….…

"Dave," she started the conversation with her sole remaining real friend, "I need information."

"Personal, or for your boss?" Her boss, yes everybody she had ever spoken to about criminal activities knew that she worked for someone else. Knew she worked for what was slowly becoming the best-known assassin in California. Of course, nobody had ever seen this boss of hers, but who would believe a little girl could handle all those missions?

"Both, neither. It's not for a job, but it is important."

"Sunnydale," Dave sighed. She had told him once that she used to live there, and the boy was more than aware that she still had ties to it. At least, she used to have ties to it before the town was bombed into extinction.

"Yeah. I need to know what went on."

"Your boss is from there too?" And he always kept digging, no matter that one day he might actually get the answers he was looking for. Answers that would mean he had become a liability.

But this was an answer she was willing to give. "I don't know where the boss came from." In a strange and twisted way it was the truth. Nobody, with the possible exception of Altena, had known where Kirika had been born.

"One day I will find out what you're hiding, you know," he told her with a disgruntled expression. He was right about that prediction and she knew it, but Dawn was also aware that she didn't have to worry about that for now. At the moment, their professional relationship was too important for him to mess up.

It was strange how well they worked together. At sixteen years he was physically older than her, but he knew, as well as she did, that his rise in status these last two years had been mainly due to her. Dave had become the person to go to if you wanted a meeting with Dawn, thereby serving as another buffer for her. But the dynamics of the L.A. underworld as they applied to her wasn't important right now. She'd come here for information, and she wanted to get it now.

"Sunnydale," was the only thing she needed to say. From earlier experience she knew he had to be steered away from dangerous subjects, before he stumbled on information that might be dangerous to his health. Not that anyone dared to attack him, not after what she had done to the last person who tried, but he always had the suicidal habit to try to find out what he shouldn't. And one day, that would kill him, friend or not.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, let me see what I can do. I'm pretty sure there're some people that operated to or from Sunnydale that came here, but I don't know how much they'll know." He hesitated for a moment. "But if they do, they won't be cheap."

That wasn't unexpected and she took out a wad of money. One of the reasons she always got the information, was that everyone knew she didn't mind paying. The reason she always got correct information was that everyone also knew what happened if it wasn't. "How much?"

"Five thousand?" That was a lot for some unconfirmed information and she looked at him in suspicion. No doubt he skimmed something off the top when she gave him money, but this was the largest sum he had ever asked for.

"Why?"

"Look, if the rumors are true we're dealing with a black-ops operation here, and she said that she'd need money before saying anything."

"She? You mean you've found someone?"

"Hey, I've gotten to know you. That was anticipating your request." The shit eating grin on his face as he said that, proved that he had deliberately waited with telling her this, and she was seriously considering reprimanding him for it. But no, he just did it to tease her, and while he kept doing things like that, he wasn't doing anything more dangerous.

"Alright, and this she wants five thousand dollars for the information?" As he nodded she continued. "In that case she'll speak to me directly."

A doubting expression appeared on Dave's face. "I'm not sure if she'll go for that."

"Who says she's got a choice? I'm not gonna pay anyone that much just so they can tell you what I want to know."

….…

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to convince my father I should go out after dark? Couldn't you set the meeting for a more accessible time? You know, like maybe five o'clock or something?" Dawn was in a bad mood—actually, bad didn't even start to describe it. Her father, despite the fact that he supposedly took care of her, was one person she didn't really care about anymore. She didn't know why that was the case, but figured it had something to do with the fact that the Kirika part of her had never really had a male authority figure. Or at least none besides some of her teachers.

"Look, I already told you. She specifically said it was to be at night, I don't really know why, but that's what she demanded. And you didn't have to come, remember."

Of course she needed to come, as if she was going to risk losing that amount of money for nothing. But he was right that she shouldn't let him suffer her displeasure for what her father did. "Okay, I'm sorry about bitching at you. But I've got this thing against meetings at night." Especially when the one requesting the meeting is from Sunnydale.

That stopped Dave cold in his tracks. "You're serious? I didn't know you're afraid of the dark."

"Oh please, don't try that on me. You know I'm not, it's just that if it comes to Sunnydale I've learned it's best to do everything in the sunlight."

"Why? Because of the memories or something?"

The memories, once again she could feel the raindrops as they pounded on her body while she looked at the sight of her murdered mother and sister. She remembered the feeling of the stake as she plunged it into the assassin's heart, and the smell of the fire as she burned the blond vampire. Swallowing to wet her suddenly dry throat was a little difficult, but she managed to do it anyway, before softly answering her friend. "Yeah, something like that."

"Okay, I can understand that. It couldn't have been easy on you, and I'm, you know, sorry that I brought it up again."

That's alright, there's no need to feel sorry. And Dawn knew that her main problem wasn't that it was so hard to deal with the deaths, but that it wasn't. Even now, over two years after it happened she knew that her family—what remained of it—was always careful of what they said when she was around. None of them thought she would be able to deal with it, none of them understood what had happened that night, and they couldn't believe that she did.

After the funeral most of them had believed there was something wrong with her, what kind of child would kneel between the graves of her family and drop something in them? They weren't the most religious of families, but they still thought it was rather strange to drop some tubes into a grave. And that was without knowing what those tubes contained.

Her father had ordered her to go to a psychiatrist. No doubt the man was good at his job, but there had been only three people who might have had a chance of understanding her. Two of those she had killed herself, and the other was someone she had been ripped away from. Mireille. Mireille would have understood her actions. Had the blonde existed in this world she would have stood by her during those terrible days of loneliness. So to get rid of those weekly meetings she had simply spun a tale for the man until he was satisfied and deemed her cured.

As if.

The loneliness had been hard, but in a strange and twisted way it was probably the best thing that could have happened to her. Without any friends near, and a family that didn't really want to talk to her, she had been forced to examine herself. And during that examination she had discovered what she really was. What she was best at, and what she decided was the thing to do with the rest of her life.

It was during those weeks that everything fell in place, and she was reborn into a new person. No longer were there the multiple personalities that had made up her life after that fateful Halloween. The merging had been accelerated by the shock she experienced at the sight of her murdered family, but it was afterwards that she learned to deal with it.

Most of the traits that made up the new her came from the Kirika personalities, the kinder and more empathic person she had once been was no longer needed. The last personality had been integrated as well, but she didn't really know much about it. It seemed to focus mostly on violence, but as this was a world where only the power you had and used counted, it would be useful. Sometimes Dawn, a name that despite everything she still considered her own, wondered how she would have turned out if that night hadn't happened.

Would she have been a nicer person? Would she have had the same disregard for human life? Would killing children have been less easy on her? Whatever happened to her in that other life, she hoped that the Dawn there wasn't like her. Maybe in some parallel universe there was a version of her still capable of having a good time with her friends, someone who could express happiness with more than a slight curling of her lips.

Shaking off the morbid thoughts she refocused on her friend, who was staring at her in something approaching pity. That was unacceptable, especially since it was so obviously pity for the wrong reason. "Let's go, we've got a meeting to get to.

….…

When she entered the bar, the odor of stale beer and cigarette smoke greeted her, but she ignored it and followed Dave to his contact. As always when she entered a place like this she could feel the calculating gazes of the people who didn't know her. And, like every other time, it was obvious what they were thinking.

What's a little girl like that doing here? Why did the bouncer allow her to come in? Would she make a good tool in my business? How much would someone pay for her? And what would earn me more money then? Ransoming her, or selling her to slavers? Of course, there were also the ones with the even more distasteful thoughts who wondered what she'd look like without her clothes on, and if they'd get the opportunity to find out.

Luckily for most of these newcomers, they were close to people who had been there before, people who knew her and who had never found out what exactly had happened to those who had tried to find the answer to those questions. The only thing about them they were reasonably sure about was that they were no longer alive.

But the how and where remained a mystery, and to these people uncertain death was a lot more scary than the normal certain death. At least in that last case you could often be certain how long you would suffer, and that your family and friends knew who to take revenge on.

So, ignoring the frantic whispering, she continued on until they reached the young woman who was meant to tell her what had happened in Sunnydale. A woman that seemed strangely familiar, but who she couldn't place until she opened her mouth.

"Finally, do you know how bad it is for my reputation to be in a place like this? Look at these people, I'd be surprised if they could even spell fashion."

Oh no, her only source for information about the events in Sunnydale was one of the Cordettes. Looking at the blonde, Dawn tried to remember this one's name. She had never paid any attention to the sheep that used to follow Cordelia around. In fact she had only met them a couple of times, usually in the mall, and that was before she got to know Cordelia better.

It was some kind of name that didn't fit the girl at all, she remembered, but unfortunately that didn't tell her much. Intelligence would have been a name that didn't suit her, but she was pretty sure it was something else. Tranquility? Charity? She continued thinking about it, while Dave was apologizing for the fact that they were late, but still couldn't remember the woman's name.

"Who are you?"

"What do you mean, who am I? Don't you think you should introduce yourself to me first? I never said another person could come, did I?"

"I know you're one of the Cordettes, but what is your name?"

That seemed to stump the blonde, and she seemed to measure Dawn with an ease that spoke of experience. "I'm Harmony, but how did you know about that?"

"I knew Cordy. And you went to school with my sister."

"Your sister? Let's see…" This time the examination seemed to last longer, and while she wasn't impressed by it, Dawn did notice that Dave was having trouble sitting still. "You look a little like the freak, was she your sister?"

"Depends on who you're thinking about, doesn't it?"

"Oh, ha, ha. The head-freak of course, Buffy Summers. Sheesh, don't you even know that?"

Comments about her sister's weird behavior were things she had long before gotten used to, and this one wasn't among the worst she had heard. Nor was it from someone who she cared about, so ignoring the barb was the easiest thing in the world. "Then yes, Buffy was my sister."

"Great, the freak's sister." Realization seemed to slowly dawn on the brainless woman's face. "Wait a minute, you were just as great a freak as your sister, weren't you? I heard you were expelled for beating someone up. And there were the rumors about what happened to your sister's killer."

Answering that was totally unnecessary, so Dawn didn't even make the attempt, but simply looked at the other with what she knew was her most emotionless stare. A look that the average snake would have trouble holding, and it wasn't long before the blonde had to look away. "Now, I would've preferred to get information from someone that doesn't need Cordelia's guidance to rub her only two brain cells together, but it seems I'll have to deal with you. I've got the money here, and you'll get it once I'm satisfied with your story."

"You've got the money? Where did you get money like that? I always thought you people were poor." Where poor naturally implied that they were unable to afford Gucci shoes. On the other hand, knowing that it was Harmony she was dealing with, did explain the large sum. The woman probably didn't understand anything about money, and had most likely named a figure she knew that she could live about a week on.

"I'm here to ensure my boss gets the answers. Now spill." Patience was a virtue, one of the few she could actually claim, but even Dawn could run out of it.

"Alright already, I'm talking. It's like this. Some kind of military group came to Sunnydale to do experiments on what they called sub-tees. But their headwoman, who besides lacking anything resembling a decent fashion sense, tried to create some kind of robot thingie." As the other continued talking about what had happened Dawn silently absorbed all the information, and only occasionally asked questions for clarification.

She might not have known any of the Cordettes, or even Cordelia, well, but she did know their reputation. And nobody with that kind of reputation would suddenly be able to find out everything that she was now being told. Which left only two options; either the girl was lying, which was unlikely since the blonde could never come up with a story like this, or there was another reason she knew about all this.

"But I'd left town the night before they came to destroy Sunnydale, so I'm safe. And that's everything I can tell you. Now I'd like you to give me my money, so I can go."

"Of course, you'll get what you deserve. I'm going to get a drink first though, I might come up with a question I'd like to ask you. Do either of you want anything?" After receiving the expected responses she got up and walked over to the bartender who she called over, after she had confirmed her suspicions in the large mirror.

"Hello Dawn, it's been a while. What do you want? A nice glass of wine?"

"Hi Fred, one wine, a coke and I'd like to have the night special as well." If she hadn't been expecting it, Dawn believed she might have actually missed the moment where Fred froze. She doubted she would have missed the way he sneaked a look at the mirror, but even that was so expertly done that most people wouldn't have noticed.

"Sure," Fred told her in a voice that was almost completely normal. "One wine, one coke, and an evening special coming up."

It wasn't long before she walked back to the table, holding the tablet containing two glasses and something covered by a piece of red cloth.

"Here's your coke Dave."

"Thanks Dawn."

The other being on the table however had become impatient, and demanded to know if she had come up with any other questions.

"No, not really."

"Good, then give me my money."

Not saying anything Dawn took the bundle of money she had prepared for this and laid it on the table, but before Harmony could take it she also placed her sister's necklace on it.

"Hey! What did you do that for?" The suddenly scared blonde asked as she moved away from the exposed cross.

"A final test actually. I didn't want to rely on the mirror," she answered the vampire before taking hold of the night special and removing the cloth. The small crossbow was in perfect working order, and Harmony didn't stand a chance when the trigger was pulled.

The dust hadn't yet settled on the ground, when Dawn took a sip from her wine. "Excellent vintage, I'll have to compliment Fred on it."

"Wha- what was that?" Dave stuttered. Looking at him Dawn noticed how he was staring at the space that used to be occupied by the vampire.

"That was Sunnydale's primary export product. A vampire, I don't usually hunt them, but I can't stand it when they make comments about my sister. Besides, it saved me five thousand dollar." And Harmony had known who she was, the rumors that she had heard were probably about the death of Spike and whatshername. Had it become known among the vampires and demons in LA who she was, life might have become a little uncomfortable around here.

"B-bu-but vampire?" The poor boy didn't seem to get it through his head that the creatures actually existed. Of course, this hadn't exactly been the gentlest way to break the news to him.

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you go home, have a nice sleep and we'll talk about it tomorrow, alright? We'll do it during daytime even, and I'll tell you all their weaknesses." Getting him out of there was going to be important, she had no intention to see him panic and call attention to them.

….…

With her friend safely on his way home, the night special returned to Fred, and her drink finished, Dawn figured she might as well go home too. Stepping outside she took a deep breath of the fresh night air—well, considering this was LA, not quite fresh but at least it was an improvement over the stuff that claimed the title during rush-hour.

While walking home she kept thinking about the information she had received from the vampire. The Initiative, obviously she had been right about the government knowing about the supernatural. Unfortunately though, she had been wrong about the reason for the bombing of Sunnydale. This ADAM that the vampire had spoken off was the reason her friends had died. No, that wasn't entirely true.

The construct had probably done the only thing it was capable of, follow orders, which meant of course that the blame should be placed elsewhere. She needed to look for information on this Initiative, but the chances that she'd get caught were far too high if she did it while still living with her father.

Pulling her gun out of her jacket she kept on debating what to do. She could probably investigate some of the things in Sunnydale, without alerting anyone overseeing the secrecy of the project. The fact that she had friends there was a perfect excuse, and that way she might be able to dig up a couple of names. The military always left tracks, no matter how well they believed to have gotten rid of them. Of course, most people wouldn't be able to find those tracks, but most people weren't the current incarnation of Noir. Especially an incarnation that was focused on revenge.

The next time she moved her hand it was to take the silencer out of her other pocket, and screw it onto the threaded barrel of her Glock. But once she had located some of the project's former soldiers, she could go and get more information from them. That information would undoubtedly lead her to someone higher up the chain of command, and she'd repeat the process there, until finally she'd end up at the big boss.

Suddenly turning around she fired her gun at the man that had been following her since she left the bar. She had hoped that wouldn't happen after she had taken out the vampire, but some people simply couldn't take a hint. Turning back she continued her interrupted thoughts; it might take a while before she could do execute her plans though.

Only the preliminary research could be done while she still lived at home, the rest had to wait until after graduation. But once she was able to do so, those bastards would learn exactly how stupid it had been to kill her friends and future husband. With that single bombardment, the US military had declared war on Noir, and she had no intention of losing this conflict.

And another chapter. Like always, I hope you enjoyed it. Also like always, feedback has still not been classified as a capital offence…