It'd been quite a while since I saw the last season of Buffy, meaning I have no memory of how Willow was with her magic by the end of it so please forgive me if I get that a bit wrong. Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I really wish I did own and make money off Buffy and Supernatural... The amount of chocolate, cheesecake and Redwoods I could buy...
The next day saw the Winchesters go away on a hunt, leaving the girls alone with Bobby. She didn't say anything, but Willow was a little flattered and touched that they were allowed to stay out of the panic room with Bobby on his own. The books they were allowed to read increased too, though it didn't help all that much.
Dawn hadn't let the idea of warning the boys drop, but she hadn't pushed either; she knew enough by now to know that Willow would have her reasons and that even if she did warn them she would have to do it on her own. In truth she was beginning to wonder how and how much she should warn them about; Willow was right in that respect, how were they to know what to change for the better? And why would they even believe her?
She sighed and flipped another page over, pausing to scan the words for anything useful before flipping again. She didn't bother reading it properly, confident that anything relevant would stand out. It wasn't perfect, but she preferred it to poring over every syllable for hours.
Willow was in the kitchen with Bobby, discussing different theories and any contacts he had that might be able to help.
It was all very slow and questionable progress.
She let her head fall forward onto the book with a dull thump and wondered if they'd ever find their way home. Somehow the idea that they were here for good didn't register properly; if they managed to get here then they had to be able to get back right?
She stood up to peek at where Willow and Bobby were standing with their backs to her, before making her way over to the door. Sometimes being the person no one noticed was handy. Of course, most of the time it was pretty darn annoying, but it had it's moments of usefulness.
They didn't even turn around as the door clicked back into place behind her.
She breathed in the fresh air in relief. Being cooped up indoors for so long had left her feeling itchy and restless, and the cool air on her skin and blowing gently through her hair. She spared another glance at the house, still waiting for them to notice her absence and demand that she came back inside, before walking off into the piles of discarded vehicles and scrap metal.
It felt different walking through it than it looked on screen, the damp smell of moss and mould filling the air with just an undercurrent of rust and oil. It smelt like a metal forest. The sunlight bounced off metal and glass to fill the space around her with bright spots she could barely look at, and apart from the distant sound of flapping fabric, the only noises were birds and far off traffic.
She leaned back against one of the more sturdy looking piles and closed her eyes, enjoying the magnified warmth of the sun through a slightly grimy car window.
A small crunch sounded and her eyes shot open before she was even sure she'd heard it.
"So you're the Winchester boys' new damsel, huh?" An overly confident voice asked before her searching gaze brought her to a tall-ish brunette with a malicious smirk plastered over her face.
Dawn stood up straight, trying not to make her search for easy escape too obvious. She knew who this was, and the knowledge that she was currently a Winchester 'ally' did nothing to reassure her.
The woman, Ruby, laughed. "I could be on you in a second. But I think you know that, don't you?"
Dawn jutted her chin up. "I don't think Sam would be too happy if you attacked someone he was trying to help."
"And what makes you think what makes Sam happy has any influence over me?" Her gaze was penetrating, evaluating.
"You're Ruby, right?" Dawn tried to sound like she was just guessing.
Brown eyes never left Dawn's face as Ruby nodded slowly, still staring at Dawn as though she wanted to cut her open and see what was inside.
"Sam talked about you." She tried not to think about all the people Ruby probably had cut open and moved tentatively in the direction of the house.
"Oh, I highly doubt that." Ruby moved to intercept and folded her arms.
"How else would I know who you were?" Dawn swallowed and shot a glance towards where Bobby and Willow were probably still unaware of her absence.
"That's an interesting question. How do you know who I am?" The smirk was almost gone now, just a slight, dangerous curl at one corner of that pretty pink mouth.
Dawn said nothing.
"And more importantly; just what were you going to warn my little Sammy about?" Ruby stepped forward, making Dawn involuntarily back up against the hard metal behind her. The thought ran through Dawn's mind that it was Ruby at the top of the stairs when she was talking to Willow. "Because, you should know anything that concerns my wonder boy concerns me." She waited for a moment for a reply. "What, don't trust me? If Sam did tell you about me, then he would have told you I'm a good guy!" She took in Dawn's raised eyebrows. "Well, as good as a girl like me can be. I work with the good guys."
"I-I should be getting back, the others will be wondering where I am." Dawn tried, hoping that if Ruby was bothering sweet talking her, then she wasn't going to try anything nasty. Not yet anyway.
"Oh, come on cookie, I'm not finished talking to you. You wouldn't want to be rude." And suddenly Ruby was in Dawn's face, so close she could smell the demon's shampoo blown by the slight breeze. Something sweet and artificial. "Now, what were you going to warn Sam about?"
"L-Lilith? She's... She's..." Dawn's brain, which had supplied an easy answer only two seconds ago, changed it's mind and blanked.
"She's what?" Ruby's face held no trace of humour or amusement now. Dawn knew that look; it was the one the bad guy gave someone just before they broke their arm to get them to talk. Ruby wasn't playing nice anymore.
"She's been getting information from an angel; she knows what seals they're protecting so she can break the others." Dawn suppressed a cringe at the half truth.
"How would you know that?" Ruby narrowed her eyes.
Dawn shrugged. "Long story?" She tried, unable to stop the questioning tone. At Ruby's raised eyebrows she stuttered out an explanation. Something to do with Carver Edlund; beyond that she wasn't really sure what she'd said. At least with his guardian archangel she wasn't putting him in any danger by implicating him... She hoped.
Ruby's smile was back. Dawn had liked it better when she was glaring. "That wasn't so hard, was it? We didn't even have to be mean." She ruffled Dawn's hair. "Now, how about you tell me all about the juicy gossip you've heard from good ol' Chuck?"
"I just told you. And that's all I know." Dawn tried to slide out from in-between Ruby and the car behind her.
Ruby stepped back but still stood in the path to the house. "Somehow I don't believe you." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm thinking I should probably make sure before I let you talk to my boy, or god knows what horrible things you might tell him. But who knows? Maybe you can change some things for the better anyway, huh? We can have a nice long chat somewhere we won't be interrupted, and we'll see if some of what you say can be put to good use."
Dawn's eyes widened and she glanced around quickly, wondering how far she could make it, how loud she could scream before Ruby caught her. Not far, but it was worth a shot. She turned and ran, barely getting ten feet before Ruby's hand on her arm halted her. She took the chance to scream before Ruby's other hand landed on her mouth. She struggled, using all the techniques she'd learned, throwing her weight around, using her free arm and her legs, but Ruby was way stronger, and any damage Dawn caused just ended in the demon laughing and twisting Dawn's arm painfully. She cursed her decision to run so quickly, wishing she'd looked for a nice big chunk of metal to throw before she made her attempted mistake. Or maybe if she'd screamed to start with it would have been heard and the others would be running to her rescue. Too late now for any of that.
Ruby half dragged her through the junk towers and to a car, Dawn was too preoccupied to even notice the colour before she was thrown into the trunk, Ruby's hands batting her legs back down so she could close it. She stopped with a sigh. "Keep your damn legs in the trunk or I'll break 'em."
Dawn did no such thing, but reflexively pulled them back in when Ruby threw down the lid with force. She hadn't stopped screaming, or trying to whenever Ruby's hand obscured the sound, but she had a feeling they were too far from the house to be heard.
She shifted, trying to get comfortable, feeling around for the catch a lot of cars supposedly had now that would open the trunk from the inside. Ruby didn't seem dumb enough to miss that, but if there was one thing Dawn had learned from the countless times she'd been kidnapped, it was that demonic kidnappers often didn't know about the more human safeguards.
She sighed in defeat and reached into her bra for the small emergency cell phone she'd started keeping there once the various demons she'd encountered had started confiscating her normal phone. The network didn't work here (she supposed her number either didn't exist or was already being used by someone else) but the light was handy, and she wasn't past playing some of the games to pass the time if that was all the use she could get from it.
She was really sick of being kidnapped. What, did she have a neon sign on her head proclaiming 'prime kidnapping material' to the demonic world?
The car pulled off, crunching gravel under the wheels, while Dawn started a game of tetris and hoped she'd have better luck escaping on the other end.
Willow nodded. "That sounds like a good place to start; if I could get a look at some of the magic books here I could-"
"Hell no, I'll be looking at the books, you can sift through the stuff I pass on to you." Bobby cut in. "But I'll give 'em a call once the boys get back. See if they'd be willin' to lend me a tome or two."
Willow nodded again, a little annoyed but understanding his caution. They were doing incredibly well just getting the guys help considering. "Anyway, I'm going to make some lunch, you want any?" She'd sent the Winchesters out for some groceries before they left, so there should be something half decent in the cupboards.
"Sure." Bobby agreed absently, turning a page in his contacts book. Well, one of them.
"Dawn, you want anyth..." She trailed off mid word as she looked around. "Dawn?" She stepped into the living room and then through to the bathroom, the door still open and clearly unoccupied. "Dawn!" She yelled through the house, putting on speed as she searched the house, finding each room empty.
Bobby was waiting for her when she finished her pointless and fruitless search. "She's gone?" He questioned, not really expecting a denial.
Willow nodded and headed for the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked casually, hand resting on the shotgun he had on the counter next to him.
"To look for her." She didn't have time for this. Dawn wouldn't have run away, not in a world she knew barely anything about. That meant she was either outside and needed to come in before Willow decided to kick her ass for scaring her like that, or had been taken. Again. With Dawn's track record, the fact that no one in this world knew about her hardly signified. If Castiel had sensed them who knew what else had.
"I'm sure she's just getting some fresh air. Now how about you siddown and let me go look for her?" He wasn't really asking.
Willow suppressed a laugh. "I don't think so." She barely had to think about it before the gun was across the floor and she was out of the door, jamming it shut behind her with a few words. So magic did work here, if anything a little more fluidly. Good to know.
Bobby managed to get out of the house in a minute, but by then Willow was well ahead, already searching the yard. He sighed; shame it had come to this, the girls seemed sweet. Still, they were witches after all.
He'd called the boys as he went, letting them know he needed them back ASAP, and set after the girls with a gun.
He raised the gun as Willow appeared around the corner, walking back towards him.
"She's not here." The redhead had a cell phone in her hand, expensive looking with one of those rubber cases over it.
"That hers?" He didn't lower the gun.
"Yeah, she has another but I don't think they work here. Means the GPS probably won't either." She didn't seem to have noticed that he was armed, nor that that he was aiming at her. "Who else knows about us? You must have told someone."
He shook his head slightly. "Nobody, I haven't told a soul. Now how about we go back inside and you go downstairs."
"Well, you must have told someone. Or something could have sensed us like Cas did I guess, but wouldn't they have shown up before now?" She lapsed into silence for a moment. Bobby opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off. "Ooh, what about Ruby? Sam might have told her about us."
"She may be a demon, but far as I know she's working with the boys, and besides, what would she want with Dawn?" He was beginning to wonder if they had guns in Willow's world, her complete obliviousness to his threats was a little unnerving. He probably wouldn't want to know that with the added security of her magic, she viewed him more as a slightly scruffy teddy-bear than a hardened, gun wielding hunter.
She hesitated. "There are things Dawn knows that might... That Ruby might want to take advantage of."
"Like what?" Bobby asked suspiciously.
She avoided his gaze. "I can't tell you. But believe me, you don't want Ruby to find out."
He nodded briefly. "Okay, so what do you want to do about it?"
"We need to talk to Sam." Willow said, after a seconds consideration. She walked back towards the house. "Don't worry, I'll work from the panic room until they get back. You won't have to hold me at gunpoint the whole time."