Stevenson Hall, 1930 hours.
The thing with having one of the most powerful witches as a friend and lover was the magical training that would be useful in surviving the coming of the End on Earth. Dawn learned a lot from Willow on glamour spells, self-defensive shields, offensive bolts of lightning, and magic that would temporarily alter the perception of a target. All of these spells were useful on their journey to, and around, the decimated city of London in their quest for the Time Travel spell.
And now, it was thanks to that spell that Dawn travelled back in time to an alternate timeline.
It was after a few minutes of exiting the graveyard following her 'visit' with Spike and entering the main road that Dawn came upon, and hailed a bus. She asked the older grey-haired driver to take her to the U.C. Sunnydale campus as she stepped into the seat right behind the older man. As she sat down, Dawn was aware she was the only one on the bus. Taking her seat, Dawn then looked at herself in the rear-view mirror before looking out the windshield as the driver stepped on the accelerator. She turned her head to the left and watched as the headstones and trees rushed by her window before she looked straight ahead and leaned her back on the seat.
She glanced at the driver looking at her through the rear-view mirror before shifting his eyes back to the road.
"That's a nasty injury there," he said glancing back at the rear-view mirror again, his eyes on the patch covering Dawn's left eye, before shifting focus back to the road.
"Yeah," Dawn whispered looking back out the window to her left. And that's all she said as the driver looked back at her through the rear-view mirror once again. All he saw was Dawn leaning back on the seat with her eye glued to the window behind him. He saw the faraway look in her eyes before shifting his focus back onto the road. He thought that his passenger didn't want to discuss whatever happened to her eye, and he understood… so the driver just kept quiet and continued to drive the bus towards the U.C Sunnydale Campus.
Unknown to the driver, Dawn's faraway look was herself remembering the moment when Willow pulled her back into the real world after four months of being in a catatonic state. Dawn remembered hugging Willow tight as she opened her eye, and immediately started to sob while using her left arm to cover both eyes.
She remembered the attack on the base and the look on Buffy's face before she was torn apart. Dawn remembered everything as she sobbed while Willow hugged her tight; and Riley, who was standing to one side, placed a hand gently on Dawn's shoulder.
"Shhh… shhh," Dawn recalled Willow cooing while she stroked the back of Dawn's head.
Back in the bus, tears welled up in Dawn's eye as she remembered pulling back from Willow after sobbing for several minutes and then looking up at her through tear stained eyes. She saw that both Willow and Riley were crying as well, and that made Dawn sob even more as she closed her eye while feeling Willow hugging her again.
'Willow and Riley,' Dawn thought to herself as the bus took another turn, passed a sign that said 'U.C. Sunnydale, five miles.
'The only family I had left. The only ones.' Dawn closed her eyes as her mind travelled back to her own timeline and the first kiss she shared with Willow. The kiss was a surprise to herself and Willow- it was out of a sense of loss- Willow was about to be courted by one of the female civilians, and Dawn didn't want to lose her. It was after that kiss that Willow and Dawn went to a room and talked. The redhead told Dawn that she didn't know if Buffy would be okay with the both of them being in a relationship.
"And," Dawn remembered Willow shaking her head and waving her arms before the redhead continued speaking, "you never showed any interest in other girls and… I mean… you dated guys. You know? And…"
"I was afraid," Dawn admitted as she sat down on one of the four cots in the room, her fingers gripping the metallic edges of the cot, "I was afraid that I'd lose you to that Carol woman."
"I…" Willow said confused, "huh? What? Who's Carol?"
"The blonde?" Dawn waved her hand at the closed door to her left while her head was looking away from Willow.
"There's a lot of blondes," Willow pointed out as she sat next to Dawn, who looked up at the smiling face looking back at her.
"The one who…" Dawn stopped, sighed, and then shook her head before looking away from Willow again. "She knew that you and I are close. So she asked if you were seeing anyone and… and I…" Dawn then sighed again, shrugged her shoulders, and then continued, "I said I didn't know if you were seeing anyone and… and I don't know why I said that, and…." Dawn sighed, and then looked back up at Willow, who had her left eye-brow arched upwards, before continuing, "you and Riley are the people I'm closest to. He's with his wife so… I mean… I didn't want to lose you to her."
"Dawn, I…"
"And Buffy would say, 'yay'," Dawn exclaimed waving her hands up into the air, "she'd be happy that you and I… you know… I mean…"
"Or she'd look at me and say 'what the hell are you doing? Stop thinking about my sister', 'stop it… stop it'," Willow interjected as she performed a mangled impression of Buffy's voice that made Dawn chuckle. Willow stopped talking and stared at the laughing Dawn before reaching down and gently grabbing the brunette's hands. Dawn then stopped her laughter and looked down at Willow's hands, and then back up into her eyes, "Dawnie, we all feel Buffy's loss. Especially you, me, and Riley, since we've known her the longest. And… you feel her loss the most. I can feel how alone you feel… how sad you feel… I… I can't take advantage of that vulnerability."
"I…"
"You're afraid you'll lose me," Willow said as she gently squeezed Dawn's hands, "but you're not losing me. I'm not interested in this Carol person, or anyone else. And even if I were, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be close to you." Willow gave Dawn a smile before the younger woman looked away, "you're just coming to terms with Buffy's loss, Dawnie." Dawn looked back up at Willow, the younger woman seeing the look of sadness in the redhead's eyes as she continued, "I can hear Buffy telling me that I'll be making a mistake if I allow something to start between us while you're still coming to grips with her death."
Dawn then looked away while Willow looked down at her own thumbs rubbing circles on the top of Dawn's hands.
"Then we mourn her together," Dawn whispered.
The both of them then got closer to each other and hugged. Willow held on tight to Dawn, and vice-versa. It would be a few days later that the woman known as Carol made her feelings known to Willow, but the redhead turned her down gently.
And it would be two months later that Dawn and Willow shared their first kiss. Their first real kiss, a kiss that wasn't borne out of desperation or a sense of impending loss
Five minutes later, the cab stopped moving and Dawn was brought out of her thoughts… thoughts of sharing that very first nervous kiss with Willow, by the driver who looked at the rear-view mirror and told her that they reached the U.C. Sunnydale Campus. Dawn nodded her head before getting off the seat, waving at the man, and then stepping down the stairs as the bus doors opened. She stepped onto the sidewalk next to the 'Welcome to U.C. Sunnydale' sign.
As the driver closed the doors to the bus, Dawn put her hands into the pockets of the jacket she was wearing before the bus drove off. She then walked past the sign and into the campus. The campus was still teeming with students as far as Dawn knew as she walked through the breezy campus. She saw the trees sway while the leaves rustled as she headed for Stevenson Hall. Dawn knew, or at least she hoped that Willow and Tara already left for the Magic Box where they were due to meet for a more detailed briefing on the alternate timeline, 'and Pizza.' Dawn thought while licking her lips, 'Oh God, how long has it been since just canned food we raided from run down malls and food depots?' Dawn shook her head as she hurried her stride. She wanted to get her next task over with as quickly as possible.
It was only thirty minutes ago that Dawn left the Summers house, "I'm just gonna take a walk around, Buffy," the older Dawn said as she opened the front door. Before she stepped out onto the porch, Dawn turned and faced her sister and her younger self, "it's been years… well, for me anyway, since Sunnydale fell into the crater. And, I just wanna see the city again."
"It's about to go dark, Dawnie," Buffy reminded her.
"I'll see you in the Magic Box, Buffy," Dawn said after she kissed Buffy's cheeks and then patted her younger self's shoulder. And then she walked out the door and onto the porch, and then she went down the stairs and to the sidewalk. At the main road outside the neighbourhood, Dawn caught a bus to the graveyard.
And now, she just took another bus that stopped outside the U.C. Sunnydale where she was now walking towards Stevenson Hall.
The Magic Box, at that same time.
"All I'm saying is that I'm worried, Will," Tara whispered as she opened the door to the Magic Box and strode in with Willow next to her. The both of them had finished their classes before heading back to their dorm rooms, putting away their book bags, and then left for the Magic Box where they were supposed to meet up with the older Dawn. Tara frowned at her girlfriend who gently squeezed her hand as the others- the younger Dawn who was at the table with two books piled one on top of another and reading another one before she looked up; Xander, who was next to Buffy and Dawn while Anya, at the counter cashing out a customer, looked up at them as well. Hearing the chime, Giles walked out of the back office and nodded at Willow and Tara before he walked around the counter and to the table.
"What's up?" asked Buffy as Willow walked up to the chair next to her while Tara sat down next to Willow. "What got you so worried, Tara?"
Dawn waved at Tara and Willow, who returned the wave, before the latter turned to Buffy with a chuckle and said, "Tara's worried about the older Dawn."
Buffy and the younger Dawn looked at each other, and then at Tara while Giles was fixing his glasses. The older man asked, in a whisper since there were customers within earshot at the counter, what had Tara worried. He knew that Tara had a unique ability to sense feelings and emotions, and if there was something that she was worried about… then it was likely the Scoobies needed to worry about it as well.
"She's… I mean when she came over to our place… when she saw Amy in the cage, she was angry," Tara whispered looking at the others all looking back at her, "and I mean really angry."
"And I told Tara that's probably because…" Willow glanced at the customers who were given a bag containing their purchases. She glanced away as the customers turned and began walking away towards the entrance. As Anya closed the register and then walked around the counter to hear what was being said at the table, the door chimes jingled as the door opened, and the two customers walked out. Willow then looked back at the others and said, in a normal tone, "because she travelled back in time from a war. A war that destroyed the world."
"There's no way to know what that kind of a situation would do to someone," Giles spoke agreeing with Tara that there could be something to worry about, "Luckily she had Buffy, Willow, and… well…. Whoever remained to look out for her."
"At least until Buffy died," Dawn said as she turned her head to look at Buffy, who then placed her arm around Dawn's shoulders and pulled her protectively close.
"Well, I was there after she died," Willow said and the younger Dawn grinned.
"But this anger was directed at Amy," Tara reiterated, "her anger… her hate… I mean…" Tara turned to Willow who looked back at her, and said, "when she and Buffy came to our room, I felt it, Will. Dawn was so angry at her."
"Amy was close to the person who killed the other you, Tara," Anya pointed out.
"And she knows that everything's going to be alright now," Buffy reminded them, "there's no war now. Heck, that war won't happen."
"But…" Tara was about to remind them about Dawn saying she would take care of the people who killed her. But she was interrupted by Giles.
"I do believe we need to have another sit down with the older Dawn," Giles said, "true, there is no war against Twilight in this timeline, but she experienced it. She lived it. We need to counsel her so that she could deal with the after-effects of participating in that war."
"Can you, I mean, counsel her?" the younger Dawn asked.
"I… I know some people…" Giles then noticed the worried look on Buffy's face before shaking his head, "no, Buffy, this isn't the Council. I know some people who belong to the Devon Coven. I'll call them when I ask them to begin training Willow."
"Okay," Buffy sighed with relief. There was no way she was putting the sister she got from another timeline in the hands of the Watcher's Council.
"I agree that we should help Dawn," Tara said gently, "but I have this bad feeling that… that she'll do something.. something bad. I… I… think we should get Amy out of our dorm room and into Buffy's house."
"Tara, you think Dawn... I mean the older Dawn could somehow break into our room and kill Amy?" Willow asked with a look of expectation on her face. She then leaned forward to Tara and jokingly said, "you think the older Dawn's going to come into the room when we're all there and kill Amy?"
"If.. if I had to face everything that she had to face," Dawn spoke after spending time deep in thought while the others talked around her. She saw everyone turning towards her, and a part of her started to get nervous about saying what she was thinking. Dawn then sighed, pushed aside her doubts, and continued to speak her mind, "she saw Tara's body. She knows who killed her. And if Amy helped him or her in any way, I would want revenge."
"No, you wouldn't," Buffy said.
"I would if it would protect the people I love," Dawn whispered as she looked at Buffy. "When Tara had her mind sucked by Glory, Willow wanted revenge. And she went to Glory's apartment alone, Buffy. She was nearly killed because she wanted revenge on the person who harmed her love; but Willow still did it.. If anyone harmed you… If I had the chance to take vengeance on the one who killed Tara, or on the one who killed you? Then I would. No matter what the consequences were."
Buffy looked into Dawn's eyes hoping that her younger sister was just joking. But she knew deep in her heart that Dawn wasn't joking, Buffy knew that her sister would do what she had to do if the situation was just right. There was a part of her that didn't want to believe it, a part that didn't want to believe that Dawn was a killer. But they were talking about a Dawn Buffy realized she didn't really know, a Dawn from another timeline who had to go to war.
'I keep telling myself that this is a war we're fighting,' Buffy thought to herself as she placed her hand on Dawn's left cheek, 'Giles tells me that this is a war, a war to protect everyone. In the other timeline, I failed. The world fell and we had to fight harder and… did we fight ruthlessly? What did the other me teach Dawn? What did…' Buffy shook her head and tried not to think too much about what could have happened immediately after the Fall. She instead turned to Tara and asked her to perform a location spell.
"Are you sure?" Xander asked.
"It'll make me feel better knowing that she's not near the university, or Tara's dorm room," Buffy said before turning to the younger Dawn, "I still have to believe that you, or her, won't murder. I know you'll want vengeance if anything happened to me. I know you want to kill whoever, or whatever it is that kills me, and I'm telling you not to."
"Buff…"
"If I was the one who jumped," Buffy said as she placed another hand on Dawn's cheek, "I would have told you to live for me. To live your life and look forward."
"How could I?" Dawn asked as tears welled in her eyes in disbelief at what Buffy was saying.
"Because you'd have Giles, Xander, Willow, Tara, and Anya," Buffy whispered before kissing her forehead. She then turned her head and looked at her friends, and then at Dawn again, "they would keep you safe." Dawn closed her eyes as Buffy kissed her forehead again. The Slayer then turned to Tara while pulling Dawn closer, "Tara, can you get a location spell going?"
"Yea," Tara said before she and Willow rushed to gather the ingredients. They were followed by Anya who grabbed a notepad so that she could write down the charges for the ingredients they needed.
Stevenson Hall, at that same time.
The older Dawn approached the stairs that led up to the Stevenson Hall entrance. She mumbled a spell that projected the glamour of one of the dead Slayers in her future to protect her identity. Dawn walked then continued to walk up the steps while glancing up at the security cameras and smiled. She knew that the cameras would see the glamour and not her real self. Dawn then grabbed the handles on the glass door after walking up the stairs and moved into the lobby.
Fully aware that the others may want to check up on her via a location spell, Dawn was thankful to Willow, her Willow, for showing her a deception spell. It was on the way to London that Dawn learned the spell since it was routinely patrolled by Twilight's demonic horde. The horde had killed most of the humans but kept a few as their pets; while others were kept as livestock to breed, and as food. The spell was so that the demons, which could sense life, would be scattered by electrical charges infused with life force; charges that would run through the city and serve as a distraction for Willow and Dawn to move unseen in their cloaking spell.
'We didn't know if the cloaking spell would work against the horde's in London,' Dawn thought to herself as she walked up the stairs next to the front desk, 'they worked in St. Louis and in New Orleans, but rumour was that the hordes in London were infused with the magic in the area. Luckily they didn't pick us up, but it was funny watching them run around looking for the two newly arrived life signs.'
Dawn had the electrical charge she released in the graveyard after talking to Spike move around the city. It was imbued with some of her life force while she kept herself cloaked from the magic of any location spell, 'that way they don't get suspicious when they don't see the real me.' And Dawn was right. When Tara and Willow performed the Location spell, everyone saw that the red dot marking the two Dawn's on the map laid on the floor had indicated the older Dawn was walking past a church.
Truthfully, the older Dawn wasn't sure when they would check in on her, or if they would. But she knew that if they did decide to check in on her, then it was most likely after Willow and Tara finished their classes and met up with the others at the Magic Box.
And Dawn didn't see the look of relief on Tara's face as she placed a hand on her chest before saying that she was glad to be wrong. While Giles recommended that they give Dawn her privacy, the older Dawn was standing outside Tara and Willow's door. She raised her arm and placed her hand above the electronic door lock before whispering, "resero".
Dawn then took off her jacket while the mechanism in the door panel, the same panel where the residents would slide their key cards in and out, hummed. And then there was a click. Dawn then used her jacket to grab the handle and then pushed it down to open the now unlocked door so that she would leave no fingerprints. She pushed the door open as the lock re-engaged with a humming sound, walked into the room, and then closed the door behind her. Inside the room, Dawn then dropped her jacket onto the carpeted floor before she walked towards the cage at the left corner of Tara's bed.
And it was then Dawn heard the rat squeaking in panic.
"Guess rats do sense when they're in trouble, huh, Amy?" the older Dawn mocked as she crouched down and aimed a finger at the rat who was running around in the case, squeaking all the while.
"Goodbye, Amy," Dawn said as she pointed a finger before whispering, "Fulmen."
A small burst of lightning hit Amy and, as the electrical energy crackled around the rat's body, she collapsed sideways… her body convulsing. Dawn was breathing calmly as a smile formed on her face, while she coldly stared at the panicked rat which convulsed for a few more seconds before lying still on the newspapers covering the bottom of the cage. The rat's heart stopped thanks to the electrical charge.
Dawn stood up before turning around. She grabbed her jacket off the floor, and then used it to open the door once again before closing it shut once back in the hallway. Taking a deep breath while her glamour stayed over her real body, Dawn proceeding to walk away from Tara's room.
"One down," she whispered while mentally striking Amy off her list, 'now, I go to the Magic Box. Tomorrow? Well, Warren, tomorrow it's your turn.' Reaching the top of the stairs, Dawn smiled to herself, "I'm hungry."
TBC.