"Stubborn Souls", BtVS/Dead Like Me, R, part 2
Dawn rested her head against the window and watched the streets of Seattle flash by. She was feeling more than a little freaked out, though she was trying to stay calm, since she knew there were more important things happening than her ongoing existential problems. All the same, it was all she could do not to brood worse than Angel ever had about Mason and George, trying to see what made them able to tell she was the Key.
Not that they'd called her that, so she suspected they didn't know exactly what she was. But they knew she wasn't a normal girl, and that was bad enough. She also knew that they were taking them to someone who might know the answers to her questions...she just wasn't sure she wanted to ask.
She needed to talk to Xander. Faith, too, if that was unavoidable, but she still didn't feel quite comfortable with Faith. If she was being honest with herself, and she did try to do that, she had to admit that she was intimidated by Faith. She suspected that was why Buffy had sent her here - her sister had insisted that she spend some time with an active Slayer and Watcher combination in the field before making her final decision to attend the newly reformulated Watcher's Academy, and she'd almost pushed her into choosing Seattle as the place to visit. Dawn hadn't complained, because Seattle meant Xander, but she had a feeling Buffy had been thinking more about Faith.
And Dawn could see what Buffy meant. Xander had almost no control over Faith, at least not when he tried to control her. It was when he worked with her that they got the most done. Dawn wasn't sure if that was the lesson Buffy had wanted her to learn or not, but she thought it was a good one. And they were both freaked over these werewolf attacks, so Dawn was able to see a top Slayer/Watcher team at work in a crisis, which made her more convinced than ever that this was what she wanted to do with her life.
Unless her life wasn't her own, and if random people were seeing her as a ball of green light, it might not be.
"What's up, Dawnie?" Xander said. "That's some mighty big sighing you've got going there."
Dawn looked away from the window to see him turned around and looking at her. Faith was still muttering away as she drove, even though they'd stopped at two cemetaries so she could get her Slay on. Dawn knew that Faith didn't really consider killing fledglings Slaying, but one of the fledges had a welcoming committee of older vamps, so she'd hoped that would be enough. It certainly didn't seem like it had, but Xander was ignoring Faith's ongoing commentary, so she tried to, too. George and Mason were up ahead in George's car, and Faith didn't seem to like George's driving any more than Dawn liked Faith's. Xander looked slightly green around the gills, so Dawn suspected he felt the same way she did. He could probably use a distraction, and she could provide.
"George and Mason could see me," she said.
"Uh, huh," Xander said. "Did you turn invisible when I wasn't watching again? I've told you and told you -"
"No," Dawn said, understanding what he was trying to do, but not really in the mood for jokes right now. "I mean, they saw me as the Key."
Xander blinked, and Faith looked at her in the rearview mirror.
"Funny," Xander said. "They didn't seem insane. Well, maybe Mason..." He was obviously thinking hard.
"They're not normal," Faith said, then, "Shit!" as George cut across two lanes of traffic and exited the highway. "She's sure as fuck not normal," she added as she followed, flipping off the car behind her when the driver honked.
Xander gulped, but then said, "She's right, Dawn. Maybe Grip Reapers can see you just because of what they are. Whatever that is, and believe me, Giles is going to be getting a phone call. Can you believe we've never heard of these guys before?"
"I know," Dawn said. "I suppose I'm not too surprised...it's just...I thought I was just a normal girl now, you know? I thought me being the Key had gone away once Glory was gone."
"Why would it go away?" Faith asked.
Dawn shrugged, even though Faith wouldn't be able to see it. "I'm not saying it was logical, but that's what I thought. Nothing had happened from then until now, and with all the craziness we've got going around us, you'd think it would." She sighed again. "I guess it has."
"We still don't know if it has," Xander said. "And Faith's right - there's no reason to suppose that you'd stop being the Key just because Glory is gone. The Key existed long before you were...before the monks created the Dawn we know. So it makes sense it still exists. But Dawn still exists, too. Nothing's changed, Dawnie."
"I know," Dawn said. "I know, I know. I'm just having an existential crisis. I'll get over it."
"No one is more entitled to an existential crisis," Xander said, reaching back and patting her hand.
"And just think," Faith said. "It could be so much worse. You could be a Grim Reaper and have to take souls all the time. And drive like a fucking maniac."
"Wouldn't want that," Dawn said.
******************
"You okay, Mason?" George asked. They'd been driving for several minutes, and Mason hadn't said anything, which had her worried.
"That shit was fucking insane," Mason said.
"Oh-kay," George said, taking quick glances at him as she drove. "Which shit, exactly?"
"She fucking stabbed him in the chest, and he fucking disappeared in a fucking puff of smoke," Mason said.
"That's the weirdest thing?" George said. "After seeing me take a graveling's soul, seeing a vampire turn into dust is what's made you incoherent?" Not that he was really any more incoherent than normal.
"Gravelings I know," Mason said. "Vampires, werewolves, Slayers...and whatever that bloody green thing is that's walking and talking like a pretty girl...Rube sure as shit better be able to explain all this."
George sighed. "I just want to know where my Reap is. I'm not used to screwing up by accident. I like to mean it when I screw up." She suddenly realized that she'd almost missed the exit and swerved over two lanes of traffic.
"Fuck!" Mason said, bracing himself against the dashboard.
"Sorry," George said. "You didn't think it was cool, though?"
"Almost being thrown out of the bloody car?" Mason said. "Not so much."
"No, dumbass," George said. "The way Faith fought those vampires - I mean, she took on four at once and at the end, they were all dust and she was still standing. That's pretty fucking cool."
"I suppose," Mason said. "She's a little scary, though, isn't she?"
George pulled into a parking space in front of Der Waffle House, then took a deep breath. "Not as scary as Rube," she said. "You'll back me up, right? I didn't do anything wrong this time."
Mason laughed. "Yeah, I'll back you up, for what it's worth. Rube never fucking believes me, anyway."
"Point," George muttered and got out of the car. She reassessed her scariness meter when she saw Faith approaching. She had no idea why the Slayer was so angry with her, but what she saw in her face made her duck quickly into the restaurant, looking for Rube. He was sitting in a booth in the corner - not their usual one - hunched over a cup of coffee.
"This had better be good, Peanut," he said as she approached. "Though I must say I'm impressed that you're asking for help."
George slid into the booth across from him. She knew she wasn't going to be able to hide anything from him this time, so she decided not to try. "I don't know what happened," she said. "And there are these weird people..." She trailed off and waved a hand at Faith, Xander, and Dawn, who were walking towards them. Mason trailed behind them, trying to look like he wasn't even there. That never worked with Rube, but Mason still always tried.
Rube looked up, said, "Huh," when he saw Faith, and then, "Huh," again when he saw Dawn. The second one sounded a lot more surprised than the first. He gave an odd little nod toward Faith and said, "Slayer."
"Yeah," Faith said. She slid into the booth next to George, making George budge over. Dawn plopped down next to Rube, flinching when he did. Xander looked around, then shrugged and sat down next to Faith.
"Don't mind me," George said. Xander grinned around Faith at her.
"We never do, Peanut," Rube said. "So, what did you do this time, and what does a Slayer have to do with it?" He was completely ignoring Dawn, though George wasn't sure the glowing green girl could tell. She hoped not.
"I didn't do anything," George said without thinking about it. "Well, I mean, I did everything right."
Rube sighed.
"No, really. Mason and I went down to Carkeek Park, and when my Reap went running by me, I took her soul. But..."
Rube raised his eyebrows at her, and George gulped.
"But the thing that was chasing her was a werewolf. I swear, Rube! A fucking werewolf. And then when I got to where she actually died, she was nowhere around. I mean, her body was there, but her soul wasn't. And Faith thinks she knows why. Why the fuck have you never told us about Slayers?"
Rube had looked down at his coffee cup midway through her story, but he looked up at her at that. He didn't say anything, just looked at her, and George swallowed her anger at being left out of the loop. Rube was Rube; he wouldn't tell her the sky was blue if she couldn't see it for herself. After he stared at George for a few moments, Rube turned to Faith, who shrugged.
"George said that sometimes the souls don't realize they're dead right away and need to be reminded," she said, somehow making it sound like she talked about dead people and souls all the time. "Sure as shit, there's no one more stubborn than a Slayer. If anyone would need to be dragged kicking and screaming towards realizing they're dead, it would be one of us."
"She's not wrong," Xander said. "And sometimes they don't even stay dead." Dawn giggled.
"This one damn well better stay dead," George said. "That's my Reap."
Rube took a deep breath. "All right," he said. "Obviously, someone seriously fucked up, and it wasn't even you this time, George. I need to consult with a colleague, but he's busy in the evenings, so it might take awhile. Everyone go home and get some sleep." He looked like he wanted to stand up, but didn't want to look at Dawn.
"But what about my Reap?" George said. "She's still out there, and I need to find her."
"Huh," Rube said, giving her a look she'd never seen on him before, and she didn't know what it meant. "I suppose..."
"We might be able to help," Xander said. Faith looked at him, but he just smiled at her. "We could stand to find her, too...we didn't think we'd be able to ask her any questions, since we got to her too late. But you can talk to the souls, can't you?" At Rube's nod, he went on, "So, if we help George find our Slayer, she can ask her our questions, and everyone benefits."
"Except Lauren," Dawn said, looking sad.
"She might get some revenge for her death," Faith said. "And that's not nothing.
**********************
For some reason, Faith insisted on George riding with them back to their place, so she ended up in the back of an SUV, one seatback away from a tied-up, snoring werewolf. Dawn sat next to her, not even seeming to notice the werewolf, so George pretended not to be freaked out, too. It was hard, though, so she was glad when they reached a row of houses where Faith pulled into a garage. Xander turned around to smile at her.
"Welcome to Slayer Central, Seattle branch," he said.
"Slayer Central?" George said, but then what seemed like a gaggle of girls tumbled out of the door leading to the house, all talking at once. It was really only four girls, but they talked so much and moved so fast, it was only once they were all inside, the werewolf securely chained to a chair and the rest of them sitting on couches, chairs, or the floor of the living room, that she realized it. And seriously, who has that many chains just lying about? Two of the girls were about her age, or what her age would have been if she hadn't died. The other two were younger, maybe about fifteen. They all were sitting, eyes turned attentively towards Xander, but they still looked like they were about to leap up and run laps around the building or something. It was fucking weird.
"Everybody," Xander said. "This is George. She's something called a Grim Reaper."
George put her hand up to stop him from telling these young girls everything, but when he looked at her, she waved him off. They weren't normal, either, these Slayers, and Rube hadn't seemed to mind Faith knowing about them. Besides, she needed these people's help, and how could they help her find her missing Reap if they didn't know what one was?
"Grim Reapers collect people's souls before they die," Xander said. "George's most recent soul to be collected was the Slayer we were trying to save tonight."
"So -" said one of the older Slayers, a redhead.
"So, what, Bree?" Xander said, smiling at her.
"So, there wasn't anything we could have done to save her," Bree said. "She was fated to die."
"Don't believe in fate," Faith almost growled.
"It's not really fate," George said. "It's...it's just that...something knows when everyone's going to die."
"How is that not fate?" Bree said.
"It's just not, okay?" George said.
"And it's not important right now," Xander said. "The point is, sometimes souls that have been taken don't realize they're dead. And who do we know who is more stubborn than anyone about not admitting they're defeated?"
"Hey!" all of the young Slayers said.
"That's right," Xander said, grinning at them. "Slayers. So, George has lost her soul -"
"My Reap," George said. "My soul's right here."
"Right," Xander said. "She's lost her Reap, and we're going to help her find it. Her. Lauren. As a bonus, when we find her, George will be able to ask her some questions that we need answered. Now, does anyone have any ideas as to how we can find her?"
"You said that souls sometimes don't realize they're dead," the other Slayer George's age said. At first, George thought it was Dawn who spoke, but it was just that this Slayer also had long brown hair. Dawn was sitting on the floor against the wall, and she was actually taking notes on everything that was said. These people were really strange. "What happens then?" the brown-haired Slayer said.
George tore her eyes away from Dawn's weirdness and said, "It seems to be different every time. Daisy had one follow her around for awhile, and I had one who wouldn't leave until she knew her money was going to be taken care of. Sometimes they go home, but I don't know where this Lauren lived."
"We can help you with that," Xander said.
"But she's a Slayer," one of the younger Slayers said, sitting up straight and glaring at George for some reason. "Wouldn't she try to fight back?"
"Remember that she doesn't know she's a Slayer, Liz," Xander said. "She probably didn't even realize she was running faster than she should have been, or that she could have fought back."
"And she can't touch anything now," George said. "It's got to be scary for her."
"Slayers don't get scared," Liz said.
"Yeah, we do," Faith said. "Don't mistake courage for not having any fear. The one is good, the other...isn't."
"Speaking of scared," George said, "you don't think any more werewolves will be hanging around Lauren's house, do you?"
Faith and Xander exchanged a look, then Xander shrugged.
"I wouldn't think so," he said, though he didn't sound too sure. "Werewolves don't tend to think too much when they're transformed - it's more just kill, kill, kill. They don't usually care who. Lauren was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Plus, a werewolf wouldn't bite you, would it?" Faith said. "I mean..."
"Yeah, I don't know," George said. "But it's not something I really want to test out."
"It ran right by you and Mason earlier," Dawn said, looking up from her notebook.
"Well, yeah," George said. "But it was already chasing Lauren, so why would it give up and go for us?"
"Actually, it usually would," Faith said. "You were just standing there, much easier prey...huh. I wonder..."
"Still not a risk I want to run," George said.
"Understandable," Xander said. "We'll send -"
He stopped, because there was a knock on the front door. George wasn’t quite sure how she could tell, because none of them moved, but it felt like everyone on the room was suddenly on high alert. Faith uncurled herself from her seat in a cushy armchair and opened the door. A short guy with blond hair tinged with blue stood on the doorstep.
"Faith," he said. "Hey."
Faith stood aside to let him enter without saying anything. George didn't know what that was about, but maybe they had a history. Once the guy was inside, he was hit by a Dawn-shaped missile, though she almost smothered him, she was so much taller than he was.
"Oz!"