Part 1
School wasn't all she hoped it would be. For someone who was supposed to be a great asset to the fight against evil, it was less than thrilling. The thing was, she still didn't know how she was supposed to help Buffy Summers, or how Buffy Summers was supposed to help her. Tara had just brought her to Sunnydale, said a few cryptic words, and left it at that.
Of course, being that she had been an orphan before the powerful blonde witch had come to her and taught her a few things, this was better than nothing. She never actually knew her parents. Her first memory was of an orphanage in Chicago. She was called Jane, because no one there knew if she had a name or not. There were kids just like her there, and also kids with abusive parents, and kids going down the wrong path. It wasn't a bad place, but that was all she ever saw. For fourteen years.
Until Tara had flown into her life.
Now at her still very young age, she suddenly had this higher purpose thrust upon her. Looking around at all the other kids in the class, she pretended to be just like them. Gaping at the size and newness of the high school, groaning at the workload…but she didn't think she was pulling it off. As the teacher looked to her to answer the math problem on the board, it took her a second for her to realize that she was being called on.
"Dawn?" The teacher asked for the second time.
She never really liked "Jane", and she thought the new name she had picked out for herself had a nice ring to it.
***
"So you're done for the day, right?" Anya asked Xander in his dorm room.
She had come to see him a few minutes ago. Now she was lying against him, just being as close as she could get without removing any clothes. It had surprised him that she didn't immediately insist on anything more physical. After all, they hadn't seen each other for almost fifteen hours. Not that he minded. This was nice.
"I've fed my cranium all it's going to get to eat today." Xander said in answer.
"Do you…have…any plans?"
"Just the usual dance-o-rama at the Bronze."
"Oh." Anya said quietly. "Can I come?"
Xander was now completely thrown for a loop. "It wouldn't be fun without ya." He debated asking her if she was okay for about half a second. "You all right?"
Anya hated herself for being this…passive. She had been lapsing into a more depressive state as every day went by. Her aggressive nature was being buried, as was, sadly, her sexual appetite. She found herself wondering if she was ever meant to be human. Sure she had been one before, but she hadn't liked it then, which was why she jumped at the chance to become a vengeance demon.
Everything was boring. She had no desire to do anything, and she was slowly settling into the weak, insecure female role she had despised for over a millennia. Whereas most males would love that, it seemed to bother Xander. His loving her, even the aggressive, bitchy her, made her happy. Her love for him was the only thing keeping her from wanting to leave the mortal world, and she was holding onto that love like a vice.
"If you really must know," She said, trying to get some attitude in her voice, "no. I'm not."
"Wanna talk about it?"
She was afraid of that question. She didn't know if she wanted to talk about it or not. As she was contemplating having the heavy conversation an affirmative answer was sure to lead to, there was a knock on the door. He looked at her with an apologetic _expression_, silently telling her he was sorry for the interruption. He walked over to the door, opened it, and remained quiet for what seemed like an eternity to Anya.
As she was about to ask what the holdup was, he turned to her.
"Go. Please."
She was shocked. There was forcefulness, fear, and anger, all in those two words.
"What?"
"I'll catch up with you later. Just…leave."
She got off the bed, not arguing. She hadn't heard Xander's voice sound like that before. That wasn't to say that it didn't hurt, him asking her to just leave like that. He didn't look at her as she left. His eyes were focused on the man standing outside the room. She could have sworn she saw him before, but didn't say a word.
Once she was gone, Xander got up the nerve to address his visitor.
"Dad."
***
Willow sat on the floor of Giles' house going through several of the Englishman's old watcher diaries. She was trying to tune out Buffy and Giles' discussion over Krischten Taelano and his demise. The two of them were going back and forth, Buffy relying on her feelings, Giles on the facts in his books.
"I know you're 'Mr. Research', Giles, but believe me. He faked it. The Master had the hypnosis hocus pocus thing going, remember?" Buffy said.
"Hypnosis hocus -" Willow started with a grin, and then Buffy looked at her, telling her it wasn't the time. "Continue."
Giles held his glasses in his hand. "I don't doubt that Krischten has hypnotic and perception altering abilities or that he can use them with great skill, but staging his death by hypnotizing the hundreds of vampires who were there to watch the battle…seems, like a very, impossible task. It also doesn't make much sense."
"Nothing about him makes sense. He's supposed to fit in an ashtray, yet he's alive. And right now it's the only thing that I can think of to explain why he isn't dust."
"Because he manipulated your mind." Giles said.
"Right."
"Generally, people who are -"
"Well, I remember, okay? Maybe it's another gift. How should I know?"
Buffy stopped to take a breath. She guessed her new "insights" had thrown Giles off some. It had thrown her too, but she was embracing, and following what they told her. She knew she was right. She knew it. There was silence for awhile.
"The next question is, " Giles said, finally seeing the sureness in Buffy's eyes and knowing to go with it. He had told her to trust in the abilities that she was gaining, after all. "What possible reason could he have had to want to go into hiding?"
"Thanks." Buffy told him with a smile, then frowned. "Kind of out of character for a vamp in his position, isn't it?"
"If we can find the answer to that, maybe we can figure out what his intentions are."
"You mean besides using me as a punching bag?" She asked, somewhat serious and somewhat sarcastic.
"Obviously." Giles finally looked down at Willow. "Any luck?"
When Willow realized that their conversation had ended, and that they were now focusing on her, she felt bad, because she had nothing to add.
"Big no." She sighed.
"Zip?" Buffy asked.
The redhead thought, and suddenly remembered something. She scanned a few pages, and began to summarize a passage. "Well…I don't know how much this means, but this one watcher noticed, and this was about five years before Krischten's 'death', that he started to hunt less. His minions did it for him."
"That means what?"
Willow shrugged.
"For hundreds of years, he killed, slaughtered, and fed. He loved the chase, the hunt…the game. He was the best, but suddenly decides to stop. That doesn't seem odd?" Giles said.
The fog cleared from the girls' brains.
"Oh." They said together.
"That is kinda strange." Willow agreed.
Buffy nodded. "Sure is pretty high up on the Odd-o-meter." She shifted from back and forth, from her toes to her heels. "But…does any of this help?"
Giles wanted to say that they had more knowledge than they had before, that they were closer, but he settled on a more realistic response for the moment.
"Not really."
***
Dawn had left school and went to the corner coffee shop for awhile; just watching the people go by. People who were completely clueless as to what surrounded them. She was like them in a way. She had a gift, but she didn't know what it was. And there was the difference between her and the majority of the townspeople. They were happy in their clueless state, and she wasn't. She just wanted to know, because right now she was afraid. She couldn't prepare for it, and she didn't even know if she could handle it.
Reaching the end of her latte, she sighed. She should get home. One of things Tara taught her was how to move with unusual quickness, but it was still light out, and she wasn't in a rush. Throwing out her cup, she headed towards her adoptive family's house. They were an elderly couple. Tara had said that they were aware of the bad things in the town, the Powers that Be, all of it. They also had been taking in children considered "gifted" by the side of good for over thirty years.
She was the only one living with them now, all their previous kids being… somewhat…deceased. That wasn't very comforting knowledge, to say the least.
Trying not to focus on it, she always did try to have a positive outlook, she smiled at a little girl who was holding hands with her mother. The mother was talking on a cell phone, and Dawn automatically despised the woman. The girl couldn't have been more than seven years old, and her mother's highest priority was trying to develop a brain tumor. She looked at the girl again, and she was mesmerized by her bright, "amazed by the world" eyes.
Then she felt herself begin to shake. She clenched her fists to try and, well, she wasn't sure what she was trying to accomplish. She just wanted whatever was going on to stop. She shut her eyes, hoping that it would go away. She didn't feel any pain, but what she was feeling didn't seem very natural. The best way she could think to describe it was that energy was coursing through her. She opened her eyes, and was shocked to discover that everything had a green tint to it.
She looked around, her new vision creeping her out. She looked back at the girl and her mother, only they weren't alone now. There were things swirling around the girl. They didn't have a shape, but she could make out what seemed like hands. They looked to be composed of smoke. The one thing she was positive she saw, were their glowing red eyes. Whatever they were, she knew instinctively that they weren't good. They circled the girl faster and faster.
Their voices entered her head.
"She looks perfect."
"She'll cure our thirst."
"They all will."
Dawn felt anger take her over, and she charged the beings.
"No!"
In a flash, everything was back to normal. The sky was blue, and her body had stopped shaking. She found herself standing by the little girl, holding her hand. She was confused and scared as hell, but she didn't have time to dwell, as the girl proceeded to ask her something.
"How'd you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Make your eyes green." She giggled.
The mother got off the phone finally, and noticed that a strange girl was talking to her daughter. She forcefully, but calmly said they had to go, pulled her daughter's hand out of Dawn's, and hurried down the street. Dawn stood there for awhile, not moving, and eventually decided that hurrying home wasn't such a bad idea.
Tara watched her go, knowing the time for meetings had come.
***
"Can I come in, Alexander? Or are you going to make me stand out here all day?" Mitch Harris asked his son.
Xander looked at his father. He was more dressed up than usual. Clean jeans without holes, sneakers that had laces, a shirt with sleeves, and it even looked like he shaved. He moved out of the way so the older man could enter. He noticed that his dad was carrying a duffel bag.
"It's just Xander."
'How many times have I had to say that to you?'
Mitch entered, shutting the door behind him. "That's not what it says on your birth certificate."
"You look good."
'Mom probably made you.'
"Your mother made me." He dropped the bag at the foot of the bed. "You forgot some clothes at home."
"Thanks."
Mitch looked around at his son's room. "You and college. Never thought I'd see this in a million years."
"Yeah, well -"
'Did I surprise you?'
"I mean, you eked your way through high school, and couldn't even make it out of the state on your road trip. Really think you can cut it?"
"Doing pretty good so far."
'I'll be better than you.'
"Well, I hope you don't expect me to pay for any of this."
"I don't expect anything from you."
'Well, one thing. But you never could give that, could you?'
"I gave you a year already. You fail, and you'll be doing it on your own. I still want the rent. You're not off the hook with that."
"You'll get it."
'You need it, don't you?'
"She can't believe you left the house like that. You hurt her, you know that?"
"Tell her I'm sorry."
'We were never big on good-byes, dad.'
"How come I always end up apologizing for you?" He turned towards the door, and opened it. "Don't screw up again. Your mother can’t take it anymore."
"I won't."
'Thanks for the confidence.'
"I guess we'll see."
Mitch Harris left, and Xander slammed the door shut once he couldn't hear his father's footsteps anymore. He sank to the floor.
"Yeah. I guess we will."
***
Buffy and Willow were hanging around in Stevenson Hall's lounge waiting for Xander to show, so that they could all go to the Bronze together. They got the same dorm complex, but they were on the first floor this year. In Room 106.
Buffy was still feeling bad about the semi-argument she and Giles had had earlier. She would never have thought to challenge him that strongly before. Well, she had questioned him, but she usually ended up being wrong. And this time, she knew she was right. It wasn't an ego thing, just a fact. That she couldn't prove.
"Giles is smart, Buffy, but he's not always right. Nobody's always right. Except Yoda. But now's not the time nor the place to go there." Willow said.
"Wisest Muppet ever." Buffy said jokingly.
Her friend and partner didn't pick up on her tone, however. "I know! Some may argue that Kermit or even Bert was the smartest, but did they ever get a spaceship out of a swamp by moving their hand? I don't think so."
Willow said that with so much forcefulness and belief that Buffy knew it was best to not challenge her. Not that she wanted to.
"Anyway," Buffy began gently, trying to move back to the original topic, "I just hope I didn't cross the line. I don't want him to be mad, that's all."
"I'm sure he's not. But you could always go talk to him if it'll make you feel better."
"I will, I just need to think. The last thing I want to do is have a attack of stupidity and say the wrong thing."
As Willow was thinking of a response, they both saw a girl walking up to them. She had light brown hair that went just below her shoulders, and hazel eyes. She seemed somewhat nervous.
"Can we help you?" Buffy asked.
"Um…actually, I was going to ask you that." She reached out her hand. "Hi. My name's Christi, and," she said the next part quieter, "I'm the president of the 'Lesbian Alliance' group."
Buffy shook Christi's hand, as did Willow.
"And…?" Buffy questioned further.
"I've just noticed how you two are very open about your relationship around campus. It must be hard, and one of the things we do is offer support to one another. We'd like to be there for you, and I was wondering if you'd like to join."
"No thanks." Willow said, speaking for the both of them.
Christi obviously hadn't expected a negative answer. "How come?"
"We don't see the point." Buffy said.
"To fight the ridicule of a heterosexually dominated society, together with your fellow sisters."
"I don't feel ridiculed. Do you feel ridiculed, Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Nope."
"A lot of people don't see that they're being -" Christi tried.
"Do you have a girlfriend, Christi?" Buffy inquired.
"Yeah, why?" The confused girl asked.
"Is she here?"
"No. We're in Dixon Hall. She's out with a guy friend of ours right now."
"Uh huh. And do you live in the same room?"
"No, of course not."
"Don't you hold meetings in that rec center off campus?" Willow asked.
"Yeah..." Christi was even more confused now.
"No pun intended, but let me get this straight. You go to this school, but the club isn't even on campus, you have a girlfriend but you're not together, and she pretends to go out with a guy. You're in closet."
"I think what she means is," Willow explained, "how can you fight the ridicule of other people, if no one on campus knows you're a lesbian, and how do you know you'll even be ridiculed?"
"Thanks again for the offer." Buffy said.
"You're just ashamed of who you are." Christi said angrily.
"But we're out in the open. Funny." Buffy said sarcastically. "Isn't it, Will?"
But Willow was looking over Christi's shoulder at someone else.
"Tara?"
***
Christi stormed off. Buffy and Willow, well mostly Buffy, had sent her mind into a whirl. When she was gone, both girls jumped up from their relaxed positions and hugged the blonde witch.
"Nice to see you too." Tara said, not expecting such a warm welcome.
"Where have you been?" Willow asked, and then suddenly whispered. "Oh. Are you not allowed to say?"
Tara smiled. "I've been…busy. That's why I'm here."
"I get the feeling you aren't going to be a student at UC Sunnydale again." Buffy said.
"No. I did what I had to do here." Tara said with a smile, looking back and forth at Buffy and Willow. "Well, I didn't have to…but I just saw it, and I couldn't stand watching it not happen."
"We're glad you did."
"Very glad. 'Thank you doesn't seem good enough' glad." Willow added.
"You're welcome anyway. But you would've figured it out. I just gave a little push."
"So what do you do?" Buffy asked.
"We have the same bosses." Tara said simply. It was too complicated to explain any further. "And…they just 'hired' someone I'd like you to meet. Dawn?"
A young girl with came over, and she seemed very shy. A little scared. Buffy didn't think it was of them, though.
"Uh…hi." Dawn said.
"She's special. And she just got a taste of why, earlier."
"It was more than a taste." She muttered.
"She can help you." Tara said, cryptically, and then was suddenly gone.
Buffy and Willow looked around for Tara, wondering what the heck had just happened. Dawn smiled for the first time since finding out about her talent.
"She does that a lot. So, um, where do we start?"
"Give me a second." Buffy said, trying to get a grip on everything that had just happened.
"While she gets her brain un-jumbled, I guess I should make introductions. I'm Willow and that's Buffy. Dawn's a cool name." Willow said with a smile.
"I thought so." Dawn said, pleased that someone else liked her choice.
"Look, here comes Xander. He's a friend of ours."
As soon as Dawn heard his name and saw him coming, she began to look around the lounge. She tried really hard not to blush.
Xander came up to his friends, almost over his father's visit. Almost.
"Hey. Sorry I'm late. Been waiting long?" He said.
"Is everything okay?" Willow asked, noticing her friend's lack of cheery pep.
"Yeah. Fine." He saw Dawn. "Who's -? It's you!"
Dawn finally looked at him, and smiled sheepishly. "How's it going?"
Buffy decided to get in on the conversation. "Somehow I don't think we're going to make the Bronze tonight."
***
Sarah Walsh was on the night shift at The Sunnydale Kids Home. That was the PC term. It really was an orphanage. Most of the kids here were between the ages of five and fourteen, but they had a few that were older. The fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen year olds were the ones getting into the most trouble. Skipping out for the night, doing God knows what, only to sneak in before they were caught.
And it was Sarah's job, if she caught them, to deal out punishment. Be the disciplinarian. It was tough. She was only twenty-four, and still felt close enough in age to them, where she could understand why they did it. To get attention, to find someone out there who would take them in…even if it was a bad crowd. A lot of the older kids had been at the Home for years, had seen many couples looking to adopt, but they hadn't been chosen.
She had been an adoptee. One of the lucky ones who went to a loving family. She felt for the ones who weren't so lucky, or who had come back to the Home after being abused by their adoptive family. That's why she found it hard to be strict. She always found herself thinking these thoughts every night as she walked the halls to the rooms of the sleeping kids. First stop were the ones she was most concerned about.
The teenagers, of course.
Opening the door and looking into the moonlit room, she immediately shook her head. One of the kids was making his way out of the window, while another was telling him not to. She cleared her throat, and they both looked up at her. The one halfway out the window pulled his leg back over the sill. She walked in, and checked the four others who were sleeping soundly in their beds.
"Pete, you've got to stop." Sarah said as she went over and shut the window. "Mr. Dermot is one more escape away from putting bars on the windows."
"I'm sorry, Sarah." Pete said.
"I tried to stop him -" His friend John, started to say.
She just gave him a look. "We give you a lot of freedom here, don't we? I trust all of you, but every time you go and do this, it hurts me. It makes me think you don't respect me."
"I just need to get out sometimes, you know?" Pete asked.
"You'll be eighteen in a year, Pete. Then you're out. I hope when that comes -"
Sarah was interrupted by a scream. The three of them rushed downstairs, where they met up with the other people who worked at the Home at night. They all went to where they heard the scream coming from. It was a younger kids room, and the ones inside were up and standing over a bed. When they heard adults, they ran to them for comfort.
Before Sarah went to look, she turned to Pete and John. "Go back to your room."
"But -" John began to protest.
"Go."
Taking a deep breath, she went over to the bed, and was horrified at the sight she saw. It was Timmy. He was only six years old, and he was slowly being, "drained". That was the only word for it. The color left his face, his skin was drying up, and the worst part was, he was looking right at her as it was happening, and she didn't know what to do. One of her fellow workers took one look at him, and ran out of the room to throw up.
"Somebody call 911! Now!" She yelled.
Then she felt a hand pull on her shirt.
"Is Timmy going to be okay?" Six-year old Natalie asked.
--
"I wanna set the record straight. I thought the cop was a prostitute."
(Homer J. Simpson)
"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even
begun."
(Tara to Buffy, BTVS)
"Since when is there a cowboy in 'Death of a Salesman' anyway?" (Willow,
BTVS)