Disclaimer: BtVS belongs to Joss Whedon, Fox Television, etc. Highlander belongs to Panzer/Davis and a bunch of others.
TtH-100 Prompt: #036, (Past).
Wordcount: 1,546 (a little long)
Note: This occurs after Prompt #25 (Jealousy).

Chapter Title:Last Request

The writing on the envelope looked vaguely familiar. She could almost see the hand that wrote the letters in her name. The letters flowing together seamlessly in that Catholic school trained way.

She felt a presence at her back, a warm body pressed against her own, as the envelope was plucked out of her hand in one quick motion. Dawn didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Only Amanda, out of all her acquaintances, would dare to invade her personal space in such an intimate manner.

Peering over her shoulder at the envelope she now held, her other arm wrapped around Dawn's waist, Amanda spoke quietly into her right ear, her warm breath sending unintended messages. "Who's it from?"

"No idea." Dawn told her, taking the envelope back and putting several feet between herself and temptation. Amanda just winked at her action and attempted to take the envelope from her again. Dawn dodged her partner, and walking back to the bar, placing the unopened envelope next to her empty glass.

"Well?" Amanda insisted, grabbing for it again.

"If you would let me open it..." Dawn grumbled, not actually minding the delay. She had a bad feeling about the contents of the envelope. Shaking her head at Amanda's antics, she picked it up again and turned it over in her hands. The thin black circle on the back was the traditional Council seal used on 'last letters', those little bits of goodbye from a dead slayer. It had been one of her few proud moments, before her own death, to discover a way to imbue the seal with magic that prevented anyone except the intended recipient from opening a letter sealed with it. It was really a simple spell. One that only someone with slayer blood could perform. Or one very powerful witch.

She smiled faintly at the thought. She'd been able to use the spell herself, thanks to the blood she shared with Buffy, but had never gotten around to telling her about it. She could just imagine how annoyed Buffy and Willow must have been at being unable to peak at the letters she'd left behind for the others, especially Faith. Not that she'd left anything really private in her letter to Faith, that Buffy wasn't already aware of anyway, but the idea that her nosy sister and Willow could be stopped by someone such as herself had always amused her.

"Joe?" Dawn looked around and spotted the curious Watcher further down the bar. "Could I have something a little stronger?" She waved vaguely at the hard liquor on a shelf off to one side of the bar.

"Bad news?" He asked.

"That's one way to look at it." She admitted. "Did you ever do it?"

"Do what?"

"Write letters to your family or friends when you thought you were going to do something that you might not come back from?"

"Of course." Joe told her. "And that's what that is?" She nodded her head. "Any idea who it could be from?" He asked.

"Sort of." Dawn said. "There are only a few people who could send me something like this. But I'm sure they all think I've been dead for years."

"Okay." He set a shot glass in front of her and poured a clear liquid into it. "This'll help."

"Thanks." She tossed down the contents of the glass. It went down very smoothly. She was about to tell him she needed something smoother when she suddenly felt like her blood had turned to fire.

"Okay..." she gasped hoarsely. "I'm ready to open it." She picked up the envelope and gently pried it open. Removing a thin piece of paper from the envelope she stared at it for a minute before beginning to read it.

Sighing, she put it down and took a deep breath. She looked at Amanda. "Want to go to a funeral?"

"No." Amanda told her.

"Well, you're coming anyway."

"Why?" she asked Dawn, clearly puzzled.

"Because it's your fault that she even knew I was alive."

"My fault?" Amanda raised an eyebrow at Dawn.

"Someone apparently recognized me when we did that job for Albus years ago. And told her about it." Dawn told her. "Attending her funeral is the price she's asking for having kept it a secret for so long." The letter had said a whole lot more but now wasn't the time to share it.

"So, we go to a funeral." Amanda grimaced.

"You can get a new outfit." Dawn told her. "But nothing tacky."

"Well, of course." Amanda agreed. Leaning over, she gave Dawn a long hug and a quick kiss on her cheek before returning to MacLeod.

She reread the letter for the tenth time, thinking about all of the things that could have been different if she'd only known.

"So..."

Dawn looked up at Joe. "Yes?" She had a good idea about what he was going to ask her.

"An old friend? Did they know you are immortal?"

"Apparently." Dawn shrugged.

"And they didn't try to find you?" Joe shook his head. "Did they tell anyone else?"

"She was like that. Didn't interfere in other people's lives. Unlike my sister, who would have come hunting for me." She picked up the envelope and stared at it. "And no, she didn't tell anyone. Though I'm sure they all know by now since they sent someone to give me this. I'm surprised my sister didn't bring it herself." She waved it at him and waited for his next question.

"What's your connection to the Council of Watchers?"

"You've heard of them?" She raised an eyebrow before taking a sip from the beer he'd brought over earlier. "Isn't all that in my file?" She winked at him.

"Your 'file' doesn't mention them, no." He gave her a piercing look. "Should it?"

"A trade?" She offered. "I'll tell you why I know about them if you tell me what you know."

"Okay." He nodded in agreement.

"I'll need a refill." She suggested, pointing at her glass.

"Are you sure you aren't related to Methos?" Joe asked her.

"Not that I'm aware of." She grinned. "So, what do you know?"

"Not much. They show up in the chronicles several times. Some kind of secret society that protects a mystical warrior. Rumor has it that they were destroyed a few years ago."

"That's it?" She looked at him in surprise. She'd thought the two groups must have run into each other a lot over the years. She hadn't said anything about the Council in the past just in case there was a connection.

"Well... we're taught to not interfere with them if we run into them. Their warrior is supposed to be very dangerous. Even to immortals."

"That's cryptic enough." Dawn grimaced. "Sounds like 'don't go near the black helicopters if you see them, they might bite'."

He laughed. "Yes."

She took another drink before saying anything else. "So, you want to know what they have to do with me..."

"Yes."

"You are correct. And they were destroyed. Mostly." She gave him a minute to think about it. "They had to start all over."

"So there really is some mystical warrior?" Joe asked. "What kinds of things does he fight?"

"She." Dawn corrected. She wondered what he would think if he knew one of those mystical warriors had just been in his bar.

"She?" Joe stared at her. "And what does she fight?"

"Mystical things." She shrugged. "The kinds of things that seem to avoid immortals. At least I think they do. Or maybe I've just been lucky." She mused. She'd often wondered why vampires had become almost invisible since her first death. She didn't think she'd seen more than five in the last decade. Even the few other demons she'd run into had been the more harmless, mostly non-evil ones.

"What's your connection to them?" She could almost see him taking mental notes.

"My sister. She's one of their people. When they started rebuilding it, she dragged me along for the ride."

"What did you do for them?"

"Research. A little bit of this and that."

"Research? Is that where you learned all of those languages?" He shook his head in amusement when she nodded. Methos had stopped swearing in several of his favorite languages in recent years once he'd found out that Dawn could understand him.

"Mostly. Someone had to do the research, the warrior types would rather be out there hitting things, and it helped if you could read things in obscure languages."

"So they've come looking for you? To go to a funeral?" He'd obviously overheard her talking to Amanda so she nodded.

"Yup. Should be a lot of fun." She grimaced at the reaction her sister was sure to have when she showed up. "For Amanda anyway."

"Well, if you want more company, just let me know." He picked up her empty glass and headed over to Amanda and MacLeod.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Dawn muttered to herself. "Introduce one secret society to another."

She picked up the letter and envelope, shoving them into a pocket. "Good night!" She said loudly in the direction of MacLeod's table, before grabbing her jacket and sword and heading out the door.