Author's Note: I have been debating ending this story after the current arc (which ends at chapter 63) as I have not gotten any reviews since chapter 11. There is one more arc that was written that takes place between this one and the start of A Rei of Light. But that arc mostly is filler as the majority of what's seen or mentioned in A Rei of Light, such as Savannah being a Slayer and Dawn's children takes is revealed during this arc of the story. Now that said that arc like this one is complete and if I start seeing reviews again I will consider uploading it but as it sits right now I am just going to mark this complete when I upload chapter 63.

Chapter 46: Victoriana

Jeremy had wanted to head straight to the hotel, but Dawn convinced him she wasn't ready to turn in yet by claiming restlessness and dehydration, circumstances that would prevent her from getting the good night's rest she needed. The cure? A warm milky drink and a long walk. Since they hoped to turn that walk into a city run, Dawn asked if they could grab that drink at a popular late-night coffee bar close to downtown. Then they headed into the quiet residential Cabbagetown area for their walk. The real problem of a city run was Savannah. One of them would have to remain behind with Savannah or they would have to keep to a lope so Savannah could stay caught up with them.

They strolled down the narrow street, listening to Clay talk about some article on bear cults he'd read last week. Jeremy, Buffy and Dawn nodded at appropriate junctures and sipped our coffees. Only Savannah seemed to be really paying attention. She always listened to Clay's stories and he enjoyed telling them too her. Though he generally didn't tell her anything that would scare her, for fear that Buffy would tear him limb from limb should Savannah wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares.

As the midnight hour passed, the heat lifted and a cool night breeze found its way through the armor of skyscrapers into the narrow residential streets. The narrow street was lined with small, two-story, multihued houses, the tiny front yards jealously guarded by fences of every description, from stone to wrought-iron to white-picket. The era was Victorian, and every architectural detail I associated with the period was evident in a single sweep—gingerbread, gables, wraparound porches, balconies, cupolas, spires, stained glass.

To their right was a line of parked cars. The houses predated driveways and didn't have enough room between to add them. Most of the cars were midpriced imports, with few minivans or SUVs. This was a neighborhood for seniors and couples, not families.

Jeremy drained the last of his coffee and looked around, but of course there was no place to toss the cup.

"Here," Dawn said, and opened her bag.

Dawn had never been a fan of purses, and certainly not big ones, but tonight she was carrying a small knapsack-style bag for the From Hell letter. Jeremy had decided this was the safest way to transport it. They hadn't wanted to leave it in the hotel or the Explorer, so they'd brought it along.

Jeremy took a tissue from his pocket and wiped out the inside of the cup before crushing it and tucking it into her knapsack. The letter was still in its plastic bag, but Dawn guessed he wasn't taking any chances with stray coffee droplets. Dawn started to zip up the knapsack, then stopped and took out the letter.

"Are we going to…? I mean, can I take a look? Before we drop it off?" Dawn said.

Both Buffy and Jeremy hesitated for differing reasons.

"I'll be careful," Dawn said. "I've got these." She tugged the latex gloves from her pocket.

They still hesitated, but Dawn could tell Jeremy at least was as curious as she was, so after a moment he nodded.

"Alright," Buffy said as she nodded toward Savannah who rolled her eyes. "No reading it aloud. And Savannah, no reading it period."

"I know, mom," Savannah said.

They moved to the side of the road, under a streetlamp. Dawn set down her latte on the curb, then put on the gloves, opened the bag, reached in and took out the letter. She unrolled it. The paper was brownish, the color uneven. The writing was a near-indecipherable scrawl, with a quarter of the words mangled.

"Looks deliberately misspelled," Dawn said.

"That's the general consensus with the other Ripper letters as well," Jeremy said. "The spelling is erratic, with some words spelled correctly once, then misspelled—"

Buffy slapped Dawn's upper arm. "Mosquito," she said.

Dawn glared at her sister.

"They have West Nile here, don't they?" Clay added.

"Just like at home," Dawn said through her teeth.

"But at home you've been wearing that special stuff Uncle Jeremy got for you, Aunt Dawn," Savannah said. Savannah considered the entire Pack her Uncles. But she knew only Dawn was related to Buffy. And only Clay was in reality her Uncle since he was Dawn's mate. But it didn't matter to her one bit.

"You didn't bring it, did you?" Clay added.

"Savannah and Clayton's right," Jeremy said softly. "I know the risk is minimal, but if you've forgotten the repellent, you really should be wearing long sleeves after dark. If you contract the virus, it can be passed on—"

"To my baby, I know. But considering what else I'm already passing on to my baby, West Nile virus seems the least of my concerns." Dawn shook her head, then leaned toward Buffy. "Smack me again, and I smack you back. Maybe you can smack harder, but I dare to smack harder."

Buffy smiled. "You sure about that?"

"You wanna test me?" Dawn said as Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Uh-uh," Jeremy said. "No smacking challenges. At least, not while you're holding that letter. Here, better put it away. Looks like it's already creased."

Dawn looked down. When Buffy swatted the mosquito on her arm, her hand had automatically clenched on the letter.

"Shit!" Dawn quickly straightened it. "There. No harm—"

The mosquito was still on the paper, now a squashed dark splotch. It must have bounced onto the paper before Dawn had clenched it.

Jeremy shook his head. "No matter. It's dirty enough. I'll take a closer look before we drop it off. Now roll it up. Quickly."

"Before I drop it in the gutter and trample it," Dawn muttered. "I can't believe I did that."

"Wasn't your fault, Aunt Dawn," Savannah said.

"That's right. It wasn't." Dawn turned a mock scowl on Buffy. "Bug killer."

"Yeah, but I only killed it. You squashed it," Buffy said.

"You didn't squash it when you killed it?" Dawn asked.

Jeremy sighed.

Dawn looked at him. "And you thought Clay and I were ready for kids?"

"No, I just thought one more wouldn't make much difference. Now, if I could have the bag please?"

Dawn put it into her knapsack and handed it to him. He looked down at the knapsack—lime green with a daisy on the front.

"Hey, I didn't pick it out," Dawn said. "You bought it; you can carry it."

"If Uncle Jeremy wants, I'll carry it," Savannah said. "I think it looks pretty."

"Thanks for the offer, Savannah. But I'll carry it." He looked to Buffy, Dawn and Clay. "Let's get this back to a hotel, examine it for damage and send it off to Xavier."

Clay and Dawn looked at each other, seeing their opportunity for a city run vanishing.

"Uh, Jer," Clay said. "Dawn and I were wondering…"

Jeremy stopped, eyes narrowing as he stared at something over Dawn's shoulder. Buffy followed his gaze to a curtain of smoke rising from the road. It looked like sewer steam…only there wasn't a sewer grate or manhole cover in sight. Buffy and Dawn walked over and looked down to see a hairline crack in the asphalt.

Clay grabbed Dawn's arm and yanked her away. "Don't give me that look," he said as Dawn caught her balance. "You don't know what that is."

"An underground volcano ready to bury us all under a mountain of spewing lava?" Savannah joked. Only person to laugh was Dawn.

The smoke wafted up, a thin, slow moving line that dispersed before it hit waist level. Buffy crouched for a closer look.

"Probably some kind of trapped steam," Jeremy said.

Clay rocked on the balls of his feet, fighting to keep from yanking Buffy out of the way too.

"I don't think it's West-Nile-carrying steam," Dawn said.

When Clay didn't move, Dawn laid her fingers on his arm. He nodded, but she could feel the tension strumming from him as he watched Buffy.

"Jer?" Dawn said. "Buffy? We should probably get going."

"Mm-hmm," Jeremy and Buffy said.

Buffy waved her fingertips through the smoke. Clay let out a strangled sound.

Dawn tapped and tapped her sister's shoulders. "We really should go. Before one of the residents notices the smoke. And us."

"Yes, right," Jeremy said. "Buffy?"

Buffy didn't move though as she just stared at the smoke, her Slayer senses were going off. "Clay!" she shouted as she dove towards Jeremy.

Clay's hands grabbed Dawn and Savannah's arms and they flew backward, stumbling, then lifted, feet flying off the pavement, fingers tight around their upper arms, half shoving them out of the way, half carrying them. Dawn and Savannah's backs hit the low wall of a fence. A flash illuminated the night sky as a transformer overhead exploded in a shower of sparks. All went dark as Dawn and Savannah were shielded by their rescuer from the falling cascade.

"Jer! Buffy!" A voice came from above Dawn and Savannah.

"Over here," came Buffy's. "Where are Dawn and Savannah?"

"They're here." Clay looked at Dawn and Savannah. "Are you two all right?"

"Still seeing sparks," Dawn said as she realized she was still seeing sparks because there were still sparks, on the ground, coming from a power line that had fallen from the exploding transformer … and landed right about where they'd been standing.

"No, I don't think so," said Savannah, "Mom, where are you?"

Buffy looked at Jeremy as he knelt down next to Savannah and looked at her eyes. Which had gone white. He looked from Savannah to Buffy. He didn't need to say it. Buffy knew, she seen it before. Once, before. Her first year at Sunnydale. Savannah was blind.

"What's wrong with Savannah?" Dawn said noting her sister's and Jeremy's faces as the line sputtered, then went dark … as did everything around it.

"Dawn, close off the link to Savannah," Buffy said she didn't want this relayed to Savannah. She didn't want to frighten her daughter.

"Done? What's going on? Why did you want the link closed?" Dawn said.

"Dawn, Clay, Savannah's blind," Jeremy said.

"I'm thinking possibly mystical," Buffy said. "Dawn, remember Amy?"

"Oh, my goddess," Dawn said. "You think another witch blinded her?"

"Giles did say it was a common tactic if I remember right. Blinding one's opponents," Buffy said.

"It's either that or Savannah did it to herself to protect her eyes."

"Could she do that to herself?" Jeremy asked.

"It's a possibility," Dawn said. "My granddaughter, Willow. Did a spell once like that. She didn't blind herself. But she made it so that Buffy, Xander and I couldn't see her. She didn't even realize she'd done it till much later. Savannah could have blinded herself to protect her eyes. I'll try and see if that's the case when we get home."

"Jeremy," Clay said alerting them to something he'd spotted.

Twenty or so feet away, a shadow moved. Dawn, Buffy and Clay squinted, and could make out a dim figure crouched in the middle of the street.

"Mom?" Savannah said.

"Be quiet, sweetie," Buffy whispered.

Dawn tried to move forward, but Jeremy's hand clamped around her arm. Dawn caught a whiff of something—the smell was downwind, but strong enough to carry. It was the stench of an unwashed body, mingled with the faint "off" smell of sickness.

When Dawn looked back at Jeremy and Buffy, their eyes were trained on the shape. Buffy glanced at Jeremy who nodded. She shifted into a stooped hunch and started forward.

Clay was already moving toward Buffy, but Jeremy shook his head. When Clay hesitated, Jeremy lifted his hand and firmly waved him down. A soft growl rippled through the air, cut short as Clay swallowed his protest.

Buffy didn't head straight for the figure, but circled to the left, trying to get downwind. To Buffy the figured looked like a man, with an oddly shaped head, crouched on the road. His head moved; Buffy realized he was wearing a hat—a black bowler. "Whistler?" she whispered. But she quickly dismissed that it was the half-demon as he would have already approached her already if it had been.

The man grunted. Then he pushed to his feet. A sharp grating sound, then the flare of a lit match. The light illuminated the bottom half of a man's swarthy face. Thick lips, dark whiskers, a missing front tooth. The match sputtered out. Another strike of a match, then a snap as it broke and a tap-tap as the broken end hit and rebounded off the asphalt. Another grunt. Then the sound of hands rustling over fabric. Searching his pockets for more matches.

"Bloody 'ell," he muttered in a thick English accent.

Definitely not Whistler. Whistler didn't speak in an English accent and Buffy had never seen him smoke.

"Huh," he grunted.

A screen door slapped shut and a beam of light ping-ponged around them. The man in the street froze.

"You there!" someone shouted.

The man wheeled and ran.

"Buffy?" Clay hissed.

"Go," Buffy said as she turned and ran toward the others. She watched as her sister and Clay took off after the man.

"Buffy," Jeremy said. "Would it be better if I?" he motioned toward Savannah.

"No," Buffy said. "I've got her. I'll follow your scent, go."

Jeremy nodded and took off after Dawn and Clay.

When Dawn caught up to Clay, he just glanced over at her and nodded, then turned his attention back to his prey. The man was heading north, moving at a slow jog. He veered out to cross the road … and ran smack into the side of a parked minivan.

The man stumbled and swore. A quick look around, to see whether he'd been heard. Clay and Dawn stopped, frozen in place. They were both dressed in jeans and dark shirts, and the man's gaze passed right over them.

He turned back to the minivan and put both hands out, palms first. He touched the side of the van and jerked back with a grunt, as if expecting to touch a wall of brick or wood, not steel. He looked up and down the street, his body tense, eager to be off, and yet…

He reached out and pressed his fingertips to the minivan door. His hands moved across the panel, hit the handle and stopped. His fingers traced the outline of the door handle, and he bent for a closer look but only grunted, making no move to open it. Then he straightened. His hands resumed their exploration of the door. When they reached the window, he looked closer, peering through it. Then he backpedaled, sending up another too-loud oath.

Breath tickled the top of Dawn's head and she wheeled to see Jeremy behind her.

"What should we do?" Dawn whispered.

Jeremy hesitated, eyes on the figure, about twenty feet from them. "Clay? Take him. Carefully, and before he reaches the main road. Dawn?" He paused, and then said, "Help Clay. Make sure you stay back—"

The screech of tires cut him short as a car ripped around the corner. Headlights flooded the darkened street. The man let out a wail of absolute terror and threw himself to the ground—in the middle of the road. At the last moment, the car veered around him. Someone shouted from the open passenger window.

"Go," Jeremy hissed. "Now. Quickly."

Clay bolted for the man, with Dawn jogging behind. The man was still on the road, his face pressed against the asphalt. They made it halfway to him, and then a second carful of teens careened around the corner. This time, the man didn't cower in the street and wait to be mowed down. He leapt to his feet and raced for the side of the road.

From there he had two directions to choose from. One would've brought him straight into their arms.

He hit the sidewalk and ran in the other direction, heading north again.

Still jogging, Dawn glanced over her shoulder at Jeremy. He hesitated, gaze meeting her, and she was sure he was going to call her back. After a moment, he motioned for them to keep going, in silent pursuit, and head the man off someplace safe. Dawn noticed something before she turned to follow Clay. Where was Buffy and Savannah?

"Jeremy, where's Buffy and Savannah?" Dawn thought.

"Don't worry their coming, slowly. Buffy's tracking my scent. I can smell her and Savannah. They're just a little way behind. Buffy didn't want to risk going to fast with Savannah blinded." Jeremy's reply came as Dawn let out a sigh of relief.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Clay and Dawn reach an auto repair shop on the corner just as the man crossed the road. He paused and stared up at the replica gaslight streetlamps, then squinted down the street. Clay glanced at Dawn, but she shook her head. Too public.

Seconds later, the man took off again, darting down a narrow road between two yellow brick houses. Before they could sprint across, a short line of cars, released from the stoplight, reached the corner. Dawn bounced on the balls of her feet, leaning and ducking, trying to track the man's figure as he disappeared down the dark road. The moment the last car passed, they dashed off the curb and to the other side.

He was gone. As Clay raced down the narrow road, Dawn slowed and took a deep breath, getting the scent. Then she followed. When she hit an alley between two tall buildings, the trail ended. She whistled and veered without waiting to make sure Clay understood.

The alley was clogged with garbage bags, stinking in the summer heat. Dawn skirted around them, and the rows of gray and blue recycling bins, and came out on the east side of Sherbourne. As Dawn paused to find the man's scent under the stench of the busy street and the garbage, Clay tapped her back, grunted "there," pointed across the road and strode past her. At this hour, the four-lane road was quiet, and they crossed easily, earning only one polite warning honk from an oncoming driver.

Dawn looked over her shoulder and thought of telepathically telling Buffy to wait. It would be dangerous to try and get Savannah across the road. But she didn't. Once Buffy reached the road, she would make that decision herself.

On the other side of the road was a block-sized park surrounding the square-domed Allan Gardens Conservatory. That's where our target was heading, straight down the rose-lined walkway to the glass building.

Clay glanced at Dawn for instructions. The choice now was: split up or stay together. Still moving, Dawn scoped out the park and their target's path, and made her decision. She telepathically told Clay the plan.

Clay nodded, and they broke into a slow jog. They ran along the gauntlet of trees, old-fashioned benches and lampposts that lined the main path. As they neared the conservatory, they slowed, and Dawn motioned Clay into the shadows with her. The man had stopped in front of the historic site marker. His lips moved as he read it, brows furrowing in confusion.

Dawn glanced at Clay. He stood motionless, tensed and waiting, blue eyes glittering as he watched his prey. Without looking away from the man, he leaned sideways toward Dawn, his hand brushing her hip, lips curving.

"Even better than a city run, huh?" Clay thought.

Dawn grinned back.

The man finished reading the plaque and walked to the window. As he stared at the huge tropical trees inside, Dawn nodded and Clay slipped away, looping around to the other side. She crept to the stairs and made it halfway up before the man turned. He saw her. She kept climbing, gaze fixed on a spot to his side, just another nighttime visitor, a pregnant woman, nonthreatening and—

He bolted and ran for the north staircase.

Dawn raced up hers as Clay flew from the south. He looked Dawn's way. She waved him back and he nodded, wheeling to head around the building and cut the man off. While Dawn scrambled down the north steps, the man raced between the garden beds and toward the greenhouse. She ran after him, rounded the corner and nearly bowled over two police officers.

Dawn slowed down to a jog, flashed a tight smile and prayed they wouldn't try to stop her. She made it three strides.

"Miss!"

Play dumb. No, deaf. Just keep—

"Miss!"

A hand touched Dawn's arm as one of the officers ran up behind her. Couldn't ignore that.

Dawn forced herself to stop, turn and smiled.

"Are you, all right?" the first officer, a beefy graying man, asked.

"Sure, I was just—" Dawn stopped before she said jogging. Her outfit might pass from a distance, but not this close. She caught sight of a terrier across the park and remembered this was an off-leash area.

"Walking my dog," Dawn said. "Chasing him, actually. He took off on me and—"

"It looked like someone was chasing you."

"Me?" Dawn asked.

"There was a man running behind you. We noticed from the other side of—"

"There you are," said a voice to my right.

Jeremy walked out from the shadows. "I caught the dog. He's back at the car now. Sorry for the inconvenience, officers." A small smile. "It seems he's not ready for off-leash walks quite yet."

"There was a man following your—"

"Wife," Jeremy said, his arm going around Dawn's waist. His face gathered with concern. "A man was following her?"

Dawn's eyes rolled. She knew Buffy would be laughing her head off when she heard about this.

"A blond man."

Jeremy looked at Dawn. "Did you notice…?"

"No, but I was looking for the dog."

Jeremy did the right thing, trying quickly but patiently to bring the encounter to a close. He confessed to the officer that maybe these nighttime dog walks weren't such a wise idea, but Dawn had been having trouble sleeping lately, with the baby kicking and all…

"Ready to go, hon?" Jeremy said as he smiled at Dawn. "Getting tired finally, I see."

He turned back to the officers, thanked them again, then led Dawn away. She counted ten steps, then started to look over her shoulder.

"Not yet," Jeremy whispered.

"But Clay—" Dawn said.

"I know."

"But—" Dawn said.

"I know."

Dawn bit back a growl and counted off ten more steps.

"No," Jeremy said, before she even started to turn. She spotted Buffy and Savannah just ahead, coming toward them.

"But—" Dawn said.

"He lost him."

"How—?" Dawn said.

"Look right. Along the sidewalk."

There was Clay, walking along the north sidewalk on Gerrard, his path set to intersect with theirs about the same time Buffy and Savannah's did. Jeremy gestured—the slightest flutter of his right hand—and Clay, Buffy and Savannah paused, then they turned and walked across the road. Jeremy and Dawn crossed at the lights, and found Clay, Buffy and Savannah around the corner.

"Lost him," Clay said.

"I got waylaid by—" Dawn said.

"The cops. I saw." He pulled his hands from his pockets and stepped toward Dawn, hand brushing hers, reassuring her that he didn't blame her, wasn't angry about that.

"By the time I got around the building, he was gone," Clay said. "I think he went north, but I couldn't pick up the trail. We should circle back and maybe Dawn—"

Jeremy shook his head. "The police saw you following Dawn. I don't want either of you back in that park. And we need to get Savannah back to the hotel."

"What if we weren't recognizable?" Dawn asked. "If one of us Changed, we could find the trail for sure. And it is a popular park with dogs."

Jeremy wouldn't even dignify that with an answer.

"Okay," Dawn said. "Then we'll wait. Those officers will move on, then I'll go back—"

"No, Dawn," Buffy said.

"But—"

"One, he'll be long gone. Two, it's not worth our time simply to satisfy our curiosity. Three we need to worry about Savannah right now."

Dawn knew her sister was right. But she was torn. Help her niece or track down the man. Finally, she relented, her niece came first.

Jeremy had picked a hotel from a cluster near the QEW, the highway that would take them back toward Buffalo. The hotel was nothing fancy. Once they were in their rooms. Dawn spent two hours trying to figure out how to reverse Savannah's blindness. She came to two conclusions. If it was self-inflicted to protect Savannah's eyes, Savannah was the only one able to reverse it. And her eyesight would only come back when Savannah was ready for it to come back. If it had been done by someone else then it would take some research on Dawn's part to figure out how to reverse the spell and before she could do that, she had to find out what spell was cast.