Old Stories Chapter 2
Title:Old Stories (Chapter 2)
Author: Rokwynd
Rating: T
Pairings: Canon Pairings for both Glee/Buffy
Fandoms:Glee/Buffy
Summary: Dawn Summers, Watcher is assigned to Lima, Ohio.
Notes: Spoilers for all 7 seasons of Buffy and up to Sectionals of Glee at the moment.
My first work of fanfiction in a long time, comments are welcomed.
Dawn drove her rental car down the busy streets of Cleveland. She kept looking back and forth from the GPS unit and the street addresses trying to make them match. The GPS unit in her rental had given up twenty minutes ago; foiled either by user error, or Willow's protective wards(naturally, Dawn decided it had to be the wards). She could read ancient Etruscan but she couldn't find an address. Somewhere a Power was laughing at her. Buffy couldn't drive to save her life and apparently Dawn had no sense of direction. Just more proof that life wasn't fair on so many levels.
She would tell the others she found the school by herself, and she was just testing the all seeing charm Willow had taught her. In reality of course, she was jet-lagged, hungry, and in desperate need of a shower so pride had became the temporary loser. Pulling over to the side of the road she opened the packet Giles had given her in London. The info packet was much thicker now, bulked up by all the necessary extra information, like her travel arrangements, how her weapons and supplies would arrive, you know, the basics.
On a actual hemp notebook page Dawn found the revealing charm. Giving it a quick once over she closed her eyes and concentrated feeling the slight pressure of magical sitting behind her eyes she opened them. Pride came up and gave her a good kick in the ass; she was parked right across from her destination. Once again turning the ignition she signaled and pulled into traffic made her way across the street, almost getting clipped by a SUV. It had to be the wards' fault, right?
The Jenny Calendar Academy for Gifted Girls, or as Dawn and most of the other Watchers/Scoobies called it, Cleveland Hellmouth Branch. Looked like nothing more than a refurbished section of houses and properties, rumor had it that that the property had belonged to the late unlamented Quentin Travers. Now instead of being a vacation manor for the former head watcher it served as the center of American operations for the Watcher's Council.
Stopping in front of the the wrought iron gates she swiped her Council identity card and entered the pass-code she had been given. Almost at once she could hear the whirr of cameras locking onto her car. Reading not only her plate and VIN number but also checking for concealed weapons. Apparently she passed all scans since the gates opened and she could just make out several human shapes going back into hiding.
The approach to the Cleveland Branch main building looked like something out of a college brochure; groups of female students spread out on the grounds studying, or just generally hanging out. As she drove by Dawn caught glimpses of other scenes as the true seeing charm faded away The studying students were really working out, doing Katas, or sparring with each other. While some on the Council disagreed with concealment magic anyone would admit Willow did excellent work.
She parked in front of the school, nearly missing the stone fountain. She rolled back slightly off the raised bumps which when triggered would unleash spiked tire strips every five feet or so. For an ordinary girls school this was overkill, but The Branch was designed to train Slayers. Part of that involved giving them a place to live and train, but it also required them to be able to protect themselves.
She still remembered the arguments about plans for the building on the bus out of Sunnydale. Buffy had been against it saying the Slayers deserved normal lives. Xander agreed with her in principal but argued that by existing the Slayers would be targets. Xander ended up winning the fight so every Slayer compound was the equivalent of an armed camp.
Within the first two years Xander was proven right, but despite his foresight and plans a lot of Slayers died when the demons realized that the slayers were grouped in place. The Coven and Willow had stepped near the end. They had expended a great deal of power creating the concealment charms; Dawn herself was involved in a minor way, something about using some of her essence to protect the camps on a dimensional level.
Taking a moment to back away from the fountain and the memories Dawn put her rental in a better space in the driveway. She started to ease out of the car; her muscles stiff from the drive when someone shouted a greeting that made Dawn bang her head on the roof of her car.
"Well, damn, look who decided to finally get herself graduated!" said the voice with a trace of a Boston accent.
"Ow Son of a.." Dawn eased out gently while rubbing the top of her head, "Faith, long time no yell."
Faith, the Slayer gave a low throaty laugh, She still wore her brunette hair long and she still went in for tight clothes but Faith seemed a little more relaxed than she had been in the hectic last days of Sunnydale.
“Nice to see you too D, what do you say we head inside grab a beer? I'll get you up to speed on the local situation and you can tell me the latest gossip from Jolly Old England.”
Dawn popped the trunk with the little key fob, and Faith reached in and grunted as she lifted Dawn's bags out of the trunk. Dawn winced a little in sympathy the bags had all the books and things she couldn't trust to Fed-ex and had barely been able to get through customs. The charms she had used were big magic, but considering where she was going she might as well get it out of her system. Despite the weight of the bags Faith shouldered them like they were filled with feathers instead of ancient books on demonology.
Dawn just shook her head letting Faith lead the way inside. With a half kick the doors slammed open, she couldn't help wincing as she saw the dents on the walls by the door, apparently this was still Faith's favorite way to open doors. The front desk was manned by a Slayer who seemed more interested in texting; Dawn didn't even see her look up when the doors slammed.
Faith looked at the girl and cleared her throat. When the girl still didn't respond Faith tried one more time. Having failed to get her attention politely Faith arms, still weighted down by Dawn's luggage reached in and snatched the phone out of the other Slayer's hand as quick as a snakebite. The now phone less slayer had just enough time to shout a feeble protest before Faith was staring her in the eyes. Her voice dropped to the low predatory purr Dawn technically remembered from her youth.
“Wanna explain to me how I was able to barge in, arms full of bags, someone with me and you didn't look up? Nah, trust me right now you really don't want to, and I don't want to hear it. I think you need a little time off desk duty, it's making you soft.”
Faith tapped her finger against her chin in a pose that screamed mock pondering. The girl's eyes kept flicking between the finger and Faith's hard eyes not sure where she could look safely. Faith kept this up for two minutes. The girl started to be lulled by the silence and as she subtly leaned back in her chain Faith slammed her hand on the counter making everything on its surface rattle. Unfortunately the cellphone was also in that hand; Dawn thought she could see bits of plastic fly in the air.
Faith smiled lazily and gave a very insincere “Oops.”
Faith went on her voice getting harder “Here's what's going to happen, you are on disposal duty for the next two weeks, lots of demon bodies to get rid of. It will give you some time to toughen up again; plus I want you attending remedial sweep classes since you have issues paying attention.”
Faith backed away slightly reading the other Slayers body language, ready for a lunge or some other cheap hit. When the other slayer just sat there gripping and cracking the arms of her chair Faith nodded to herself.
“Talk to Rona after dinner, she'll reassign you, tell her I sent you. For now ring your relief and get the hell out of my office.”
The Slayer hit a button that buzzed and another Slayer appeared in a minute. The new Slayer, a young Asian girl, took in the desk and Faiths body language with a single glance. Moving quickly and quietly, she took a seat straightening the stuff that had been knocked out of place. Apparently satisfied Faith jerked her head towards Dawn and the two moved further into The Branch.
They walked the hallways past the student dining hall and took a hard left towards the staff room. Once she had kicked the door shut behind them Faith hopped over to the mini-bar. Dawn remembered it being labeled Staff Stress Relief on the blueprints when Xander had been working on the remodel. Faith popped two beers passed Dawn one and motioned to a well padded chair around a simple table. Leaning back in her chair she put her feet up on the table and began tapping the two bottle caps between her fingers.
“You came at a good time kiddo,” Faith began, somehow managing to sound businesslike despite the fact she was dancing the beer caps across her knuckles.
“The apocalypse this year was fairly mini, some Herzog demons, a lot of pus and dead trees and gardens, but other than that not too bad.” She took a pull of her bottle and went on.
“So the downside is some of the girls think its the best time to slack off, half my time is spent whipping them back into shape."
Faith gave an almost too casual shrug, "But hey, that's my problem not yours, lets talk turkey. What do you know about this town of yours.
Dawn took a decent pull off her bottle relishing the hoppy taste, glad it was lighter than the 'proper English ales' she had been drinking for the past month. As soon as the cool liquid went down she realized that as tired as she was the beer might have been a bad idea. Her head was swimming a little but the buzz was nice.
“I have all the basics of course,” Dawn said, “Population, Industry, anything a half-assed Wikipedia search could get me. What I really need is an inside scoop on the town, I hate going in blind.”
Faith sighed and popped a cap towards a nearby trashcan,
“Sorry D, I got nada, I can't afford to send any of my people in. It's gets tried every so often, we send a troublemaker or two down there tell them to scout the place out. We figured it was a good way to show the wild Slayers a little humility."
Faith took a slower sip now her voice serious, "I can't do it anymore of course, it's such a damn waste. We send the girls in and no matter how good they are if they spend more than two days in town its like they went under the Cruciamentum. Except it doesn't wear off quick, one girl I sent it took her like two years to get back up to full strength."
Dawn gave a wince as she swallowed off a bigger pull of beer than she had meant to.
“Thanks Faith, bad news aside its good to know that much. Is everything else all taken care of?"
Faith waved her hand negligently and tossed the other cap in,
"Yup, you got access to the accounts and all the utilities and rent is being covered by the council. We'll pull it out when you get paid to keep appearances up. Xander even sent up some stuff to decorate the place. He pretty much set the place up before he took off for South America again. So in my opinion as your superior, Watcher Junior is all set."
Dawn grinned and polished off the rest of the beer as they set to the serious business of gossip, a few hours and many beers later Faith looked at her watch and gave a small snort of disbelief.
'Holy shit, when did I get so talkative?" Faith stretched and got out of the chair snagging empties and tossing them at the recycling bin.
"Hate to do this to you D, but I gotta crash, tomorrow i take the newbies on a run and i need my beauty sleep."
Dawn just grinned at Faith, the Summers curse of being a lightweight in full swing.
"Not a problem, my clock is still all screwed up from jetlag, mind if I poke around the library until I crash?"
Faith just said with a smile, “No worries, Mi Casa es Su Casa, just be careful with some of the library computers. Vi has got some of them blocked off with some game her and Andrew keep getting into. It's a little geeky for me. But if the closest I have to be to that kid is him networking with our computers I'm a happy Slayer. Oh, before I forget, let me have your car keys I'll get one of the girls to pull it around someplace a little less open.”
Dawn reached into her pockets and lobbed the keys to Faith, who even after a full six-pack managed to snag them out of the air with a casual snatch. With a slight wave Faith vanished inside the facility and Dawn moved on to the library. Dawn poked around The Branch library until about three in the morning. She managed to not do any serious research, just hunt and peg articles to look at later. Before she crashed she sent an email to Buffy letting her know she had arrived safely in Cleveland.
Finally the combination of the alcohol and the flight caught up with her. She asked the Slayer on duty where her room was; the Slayer was nice enough to show Dawn her room and left without saying more than a quiet goodnight. The next morning about nine Dawn woke up grabbed a quick shower to walk downstairs to find the texting slayer from yesterday holding onto her bags.
“Miss Summers,” she said in a quiet voice, “Ms. Lehane wanted me to help you with these and to give you this.”
She handed Dawn a set of Car keys she didn't recognize, and a note.
"D,
Big Sis told me you might need some decent wheels, inside is all the crap you need to get in your apartment, plus some extra goodies. We even programmed the GPS for you, make sure you check the spare tire the usual stuff is inside.
F"
Dawn walked outside followed by the Slayer on duty to find a silver 2009 Prius. If she had been alone she might have given a dance of joy, instead she settled for a earsplitting smile. All in all she felt pretty good about her reaction. The car was pretty well tricked out from what Dawn could tell all the normal goodies and the spare tire as promised held the usual emergency kit: stakes, holy water, a crossbow, a small ax and a first aid kit. Dawn would have to shift some of that stuff around in case she ever needed a mechanic.
She opened the door and slipped into the seat. Once she had it adjusted she checked the GPS unit. A quick browse confirmed it was programmed with directions to Lima and a list of other locations. For now she decided to pick the destination labeled 'Home' and roll out. The GPS was right about the trip taking three hours, the one thing it had left out was how absurdly boring a three hour drive it would be.
Driving south on I-75 she missed the quaint sights of English country roads. American roads had their own sights of course; cars, trucks, billboards and roadkill. Thirty minutes outside of Lima she was passing through Beaverdam. She never knew what made her inner six year old stop and take a picture of the Beaverdam town sign. Probably a combination of a long drive and her iPod dying on her an hour into the drive.
The drive of infamy took a turn as Dawn drove over US-30. According to the GPS she only had about twenty of driving before she reached Lima. So naturally that was when she finally found a decent radio station. Granted it was classic rock , but it was still better than country or American Conservative political talk. Along with the music Dawn experienced the Lima effect for the first time.
One of the bracelets she wore had been a gift from Willow when she graduated high school. It was woven wire gold and silver, that looked Celtic in design. Besides being pretty it had been enchanted to detect vampires and demons. The charm felt very subtle considering what it could do. When she was around something Wiggins-worthy the bracelet would get steadily warmer.
It also had an extra feature which Dawn never told Buffy about; that the bracelet also allowed her to pop off a quick burst of flame if it got too warm. It had never been meant as a weapon according to Willow, but as a quick distraction so she could run. She never owned up to using it to dust a few vamps on purpose, but what her sister didn't know would save Dawn an earful.
Dawn could feel that the bracelet began to change before she realized what had happened. Before it has always felt slightly alive with the magic inside, now it was just a pretty accessory. Once the bracelet went Dawn felt the pull inside herself. The closest thing she could compare it to was when her appendix burst. In the memories created by the Monks this had happened, but in her logical mind this had never taken place. This mind accessed a stronger memory in it's nine years of life, what she had felt on top of Glory's tower during the ritual before Buffy had....
"NO!" She snarled to herself as she pulled the car into the breakdown lane,
It was her bloody appendix bursting, that was the pain she felt. Of course she knew better, it didn't matter though, what was important was making the pain stop, not dwelling on the past. She closed her eyes and began the meditation that Willow and the Coven had drilled into her before she had left. She didn't know how long it took but eventually she found what could be called the leak.
Something was wrong, the power flowing out wasn't just her accumulated magic, but the spell that secured her past. Her head rapidly filled with a welter of confusing memories, being a toddler became being kidnapped by Harmony. Memories of her father, already vague, melted to become a twisted mix of Spike and Giles. A thousand other childhood memories threatened to burst like soap bubbles before she found the part of her that was The Key.
She actively hated this part of herself, this core of almost infinite energy that could break walls between dimensions. She found it hidden deep within, like bait in a trap. Dawn gritted her mental teeth and took hold of the power. If the Key could open things it could close them. This reasoning led Dawn to actively wrap the essence of the Key around her personal magics, which compared to the otherworldly green of the Key felt gray and muted.
When Dawn reopened her eyes a glance at her wristwatch told her she had lost two hours getting herself back in order. She felt like she had run five miles; after sparring with Faith and Buffy when they were both pissed at each other. At this point Dawn could only hope the effect was permanent; but a dark part of herself was laughing in the back of her pounding skull.
Getting to her apartment had taken longer than she had thought it would. One reason of course was driving carefully bracing herself for another attack. The other was the GPS; for what it was worth the little gadget was accurate; unfortunately every listing marked home lead either to a greasy diner, rundown bar, or sex shop. It took her 2 hours to eliminate all the false bookmarks. Faith would have justified them as useful spots to find demons. Of course since Lima had no demons it just gave Faith a chance to play one of her pranks. Later she would admit it was funny, but for now she focused on revenge, as she worked out an elaborate plan involving paintballs, glitter and tinsel she found her apartment.
The apartments were simple, low-budget housing priced to be affordable to educators. The complex held lots of single units and two story townhouses. The council had arranged for Dawn to get a townhouse, which only made sense considering all the weapons and the like she would be securing.
Signing in and getting her keys went by fairly quickly. The blue-haired secretary barely blinked, she just had Dawn sign some forms and gave her all the various forms concerning security deposits. All these forms ended up in the bottom of her bag to be taken care of at a much later date.
The unit was nondescript and was wedged in between two other units, the better to stop flanking assaults. A small brown postage stamp lawn formed the outside garden. The building itself was badly in need of paint. When she had first seen a picture of the apartment she had thought to complain until Giles reminded her about his place in Sunnydale. Compared to that place this was a dream. Though the interior paint was all done in shades of blue and green that was a bit too close to Key green for Dawn's tastes.
She made a quick sweep of the apartment, cabinets and furniture custom designed by Xander was in evidence. All the pieces looked scruffy enough to fit the requirements for a first year teacher but had removable pieces which could be used as weapons if necessary. Most of the pieces had hidden nooks to hide other pieces of contraband necessary to being a Watcher.
Satisfied all her stuff had arrived and was arranged in a reasonable manner her only destination now was the queen sized bed in the upstairs bedroom. After a long drive and the leeching of her magic all that was left was to show up for orientation week at McKinley High School. Compared to demons it shouldn't be that hard; Dawn set her alarm crawled into bed and promptly shut off all thoughts of tomorrow.