Chapter Seven- Away From Home
 

I will sell my soul for something pure and true
Someone like you
See your face every place that I walk in
Hear your voice every time that I'm talking
You will believe in me
And I will never be ignored

Dawn woke, and immediately wished she hadn't. She groaned at the pain in her head, a pain only magnified when she opened her eyes in small slits. She was sitting, her back pressed against something rough, her arms bound around the object behind her. She was inside a small hut-like structure, a thatched roof above her head, straw the floor beneath her.

She briefly considered what to do. Calling for help seemed particularly idiotic, and there was no way she would be able to get free of the tight bindings. Finally, she settled for a quiet, "Hello? Where am I? Anyone?"

There was an immediate response. A boy, maybe fifteen and dressed in animal skins, ducked into the hut. He looked oddly familiar, with dark hair and eyes. With him was an older man, but this man wore a patchwork of normal cloth and fur.

"Who are you?" the teenager demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"My name is Dawn. I'm looking for some people named Conner Angel and Holtz."

They stared at her. "Who are you?" the teenager repeated in a snarl, having gone rather pale at her pronouncement.

Something tugging at the back of her mind suddenly surfaced. Angel. The teenager looked like Angel. And time moved differently in other dimensions, didn't it? "You're him. You're Conner, aren't you." She smiled in relief.

"Who sent you?" the older man spoke for the first time. He glared at her suspiciously. There was almost a wild look in his eyes.

"Sent me? No one. I came by myself. To bring you home. They didn't even want me to come. They said it was too dangerous. Heck, they were probably right."

"They?" Holtz again, his eyes narrowing, his arms crossed over his chest.

"My sister, her boyfriend, the Scoobies and the LA gang."

Both men looked blank. Finally Holtz asked, "Who is your sister?"

"The Slayer."

Holtz's eyes widened. "The Vampire Slayer? The one-"

"Girl in all the world, yadda yadda yadda. She and Angel are both-"

"Angel?" Conner's head snapped up. "The filth that spawned me? You know of him?"

Startled, Dawn snapped, "Filth? I'd watch what you say, Hairy. And Angel's a good man. Even if I don't really like him, considering that he kidnapped me when he lost his soul- oops. Didn't mean to say that." Letting that slip probably wouldn't help Angel's reputation in Conner and Holtz's eyes.

"Your sister does not fight him?" Holtz looked incredulous.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not. They're...allies, I suppose, now that he has his soul back. Now, are you gonna untie me? Cause this is majorly uncomfortable, in the worst way. Oh, and you missed the memo- there are three Slayers these days. Buffy, who is my sister; Faith, who's totally cool; and Spike, who's Buffy's boyfriend and practically my big brother. He used to be a vamp." Dawn blinked- she hadn't meant to say that much. She hadn't even meant to give them her name. "Hey," she snapped, "what did you do to me?"

"Kaska leaves. The truth-tellers." Conner shrugged.

"You drugged me? You utter-"

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"-bastards!" Buffy cried, punching Warren directly in the face. "You do *not* mess with my boyfriend!" Warren went out like a light. Spike, bound, gagged, and drugged, lay in a pile of leather in the corner of the basement. Andrew was already unconscious, near Warren. Amy and Rack were nowhere to be seen. "They never learn," the Slayer sighed.

Dawn had tried the spell only two hours before, and her body was still utterly still. Tara was working feverishly with Giles and Willow to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Rack had teleported Spike out of the house. Buffy, already stressed, had become incredibly pissed as well.

She quickly unbound and ungagged her lover and lifted him into her arms, a small woman stalking home, bearing her boyfriend with ease.

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"I've found it!" Willow called excitedly from her laptop. "Obviously Dawn didn't read the fine print."

"What?" Tara asked, closing her book.

"The spell. It was to force a space in reality to tear, and Dawn would go through. Except it didn't work that way. Dawn wasn't experienced enough. Instead of tearing some of reality, it tore her spirit and mind and snapped her into Quortoth. So she's there now, and only the shell of her is in this dimension. Everything else is in Quortoth."

"Good work," Giles said, hope lighting his eyes. "Tara, Willow, research every aspect and form of that spell. I have business to take care of. We'll have Dawn back soon."

****************************************************

Dawn smiled slightly as she talked with Conner as they repaired the hut. She'd been there several months now. Strangely, Conner had aged but she hadn't. Conner was still recovering from the recent loss of his 'father', Holtz, who'd died of a heart attack only three weeks ago. Dawn had told Conner all about life back on Earth, about his father Angel and her friends and family. She only wished they could both go back there. But something with the incantation to bring them bach had gone wrong. All that had happened was her reverting to the Key form.

Conner had been intrigued to learn that she wasn't really entirely human. But he'd comforted her, unknowingly repeating Spike's words: "It's not where you start out...."

Life here, other than Conner, was awful. Every few days they had to move, lest some demonic creature find and kill them. Her food was often uncooked- Conner was wary of lighting fires at most times. The constant danger was an unpleasant reminder of the Glory days, when she had to be on guard at all times. But now there was no Buffy or Spike or Willow- only Conner.

The girl figured that she'd been in Quortoth for about three hours in Earth time, if Conner's age at her arrival had been any indication. The boy had been astonished to learn that in the world of his birth, he'd been gone no longer than a week and a half. Dawn herself found it fascinating as well, and hard to believe. She wondered what her sister and Spike were doing- had they even discovered her disappearence yet? Probably. Willow and Tara likely sensed the spell the moment it was finished, anyway. Right now, Tara, Willow, and Giles would be researching, Faith would be out Slaying to work off her frustration, and Buffy and Spike would be comforting each other. Xander and Anya, if they knew, would be making bad jokes or counting money, depending on which of them it was.

She felt a pang of regret for all the worry she must be causing them. A little more guilt on Angel's shoulders as well, though it wasn't his fault. He'd no doubt twist the whole affair around until he made himself even more depressed and broody than usual.

"Dawn! Where were you? Back in Sunnydale?" Conner teased. "Pass me some of the meat. Time for lunch." Dawn was momentarily startled- Conner was rarely in such a good mood. He brooded almost as much as his father, and considered everything with a deadly, earnest solemnity. Teasing from him deserved a smile, so she flashed him one.

"One sec." Dawn sighed sadly, her good mood evaporating. *Buffy, get us out of here.*

***********************************************************

"Find anything?" Buffy queried as she entered the Magic Box. "Spike's at home, Faith's babysitting him. Dawn's still...asleep. Rack and Amy are still on the loose, but the Nerds have been taken care of."

Willow and Tara looked up, both frowning slightly. "Giles went out," Tara said in greeting. "We've found the spell she used, and we think we know what went wrong. Now we just need to learn how to reverse it, and get Conner out, too, if possible."

"Good." Then Buffy's face hardened. "But Dawn is first priority. Conner takes second place, here. At least *he* has an adult with him."

"We know," Willow said softly. Her next words were cut off by the shrill ringing of the phone.

Buffy frowned, glancing at her watch. Three in the morning. Who would be calling now? "Hello?"

"Is this Buffy?"

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Gunn- you know, with Angel Investigations. Cordelia just had a vision. One about your sister, Dawn."

The Slayer froze, utterly still. "What happened in the vision?"

"I dunno. Cordy passed out before she could tell us."

"Damn it! Call me the second, and I mean the *second*, she wakes up." Buffy scowled, ignoring her friends' curious looks. "Tell Angel that Dawn decided to go to Quortoth. Something went wrong with the spell. We're working on getting her and Conner back."

"She did what?!" Gunn sounded astounded. "I'll tell him. He'll feel guilty, no doubt. Ciao."

"Bye." She hung up the phone and turned to her friends. Worry and hope warred in her expression, and a little relief. "Good news, though I suppose it might be bad. We have another lead."

*************************************************

Giles glared at the middle-aged woman before him. "You owe me," he insisted.

"Perhaps," the woman shrugged, her eyes narrowed slightly, an amused and tolerant smile flickering across her delicate features. Her hair was pure white, her eyes a startling amber. She was sturdily built and of medium height, wearing a faded floral print dress. She spoke with a strong Australian accent.

"Listen, Maya. That little girl is lost in another dimension, and we need power in order to counter her spell and get her back. Willow is no longer practicing, and Tara is more a psychic than a witch. We *need* you."

Maya's face shuttered. "Maybe you do. But I will *not* attempt to tear reality, especially not to go to Quortoth. That place is hellish."

Just slightly, Ripper emerged, startling the witch. "You *will* help. Or I will let the Council know exactly who it was that stole to Ferdrajn Prophecy, and where they can find the thief."

The witch's face paled. "How did you- Never mind. Fine. I will provide you with my power, but you must do the ritual. Even the Council's prison is better than being sucked into that dimension."

Rupert Giles sighed. He supposed it would have to do.

*************************************************

Willow suddenly cried, "Eureka!" into the silence of the shop, her face glowing in triumph. Buffy and Tara turned to stare at her. She blushed in embarrasment, but explained excitedly, "I found it, what to do in cases like this, where the spirit has been ripped from the body. Someone has to kind of go into Dawn's mind and pull her back- apparently there's still a thin line connecting her body to her soul and mind. Just kind of give it a tug, and she should come back." Then she read a little more, and her face fell. "Oh. But someone has to be performing the reality-tearing spell at the same time. And both spells take a *lot* of power."

Buffy absorbed this expressionlessly. A few months ago, Willow could have done both spells and had Dawn back in a jiffy. But now there was only Tara. And Tara was nowhere near as powerful as Willow.

Her resolve strengthening, she stared straight into Willow's eyes. "Then we just have to find a lot of power, don't we."

**************************************************

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Willow was pale and nervous as she and Buffy walked through Sunnydale.

"Frankly? No. But we need the power, and they're pains in my ass anyway. Two birds, one stone kinda thing. Are you okay with what you have to do?" Buffy watched her friend carefully, ready to call this off if Willow felt she couldn't handle it.

"I'll be fine. Really, it's not really magic, as such. Just absorbing. And then I'll let Giles and Tara absorb from me, and we have instant power. At least, that's how it should work. How Tara planned it, anyway. It can't be any worse than Amy's little 'present', after all, and I dealt with that okay."

Buffy nodded, relieved. "Thanks," she said with heartfelt sincerity. "Do you feel it?"

The redhead paused a moment, then turned sharply into a park. "It's right here. So I pretend I'm all evil-ish and junkie-like, right?"

"Exactly." Buffy sighed, blinking her eyes in exhaustion. "Let's hurry this up, alright?"

"Kay." Willow took Buffy's hand, closed her eyes, and stepped through thin air into the waiting room of Rack's bussiness.

*************************************************

"Angel?" Cordy sat up slowly, blinking her eyes rapidly. The vampire was immediately at her side. "God, I haven't had a vision with pain since I became all demon-y." The Seer's foorhead furrowed- was that a gray hair on Angel? She shook her head and looked away, blinking several more times to clear her sight.

She turned back to Angel, looking sad and very serious. "Angel, in the vision...Dawn was in Quortoth. With Conner."

The vampire's eyes widened, and he tensed. "What is it?" he demanded, seeing the hesitant, sorrowful look in the Seer's eyes. "He's okay, isn't he? And Dawn?"

Cordy sighed. "They're both fine. And they're both teenagers."

"What?" Cordy and Angel looked up- they hadn't heard Fred and Gunn reenter the room.

"He's a teenager," Cordy repeated. "Apparently time passed much more quickly there. He looks about sixteen. He and Dawn were talking and eating."

"And Holtz?" Angel's voice was tight and under strict control, but there was shock in his eyes.

"I didn't see him," Cordelia admitted, running a hand through her hair.

There was a long moment of contemplative silence that Gunn finally broke. "So Dawn's safe? Good, then I'll go call Buffy back, give her the good news and see if they've found a way to get them back yet." He hesiated. "Hey, Angel, man?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll get Conner back. And if he's a teenager...well, you'll still be a good dad. And he'll love you."

"Thanks," Angel whispered after a few seconds. "That means a lot."

"And it's true," Fred added. "Maybe this was how it was supposed to be, maybe it wasn't. Either way, it'll all turn out right."

****************************************************

"Mistress, the sacrifices are being procured." The vampire bowed his head submissively.

The dark vampiress' eyes lit with an insane glee. "My Spike will be with me again soon, Miss Edith whispers, and we'll be a family again. And the naughty Slayer will learn her place. Have m'lord and m'lady been informed, my little doll?"

"Jasper is going to tell them right now."

"Very, very good. M'lord will be pleased, don't you think? Jasmine and roses, he'll give to me." She giggled and leaned forward, as if telling an important secret. In a whisper, she said, "The merry sun will welcome me to his party when the last drop is made."

"Er...that's nice," the vampire stuttered, backing away. "I'll just go talk to Jasper, make sure he took the message, shall I?"

Drusilla smiled, the expression of a happy child. "M'lord will be so happy," she said dreamily. "What a reward I will recieve! Burning baby fish, my Spike. Don't rain on their little desks. Wither and die...." She began to screech, her hands curled tightly into fists. "It all withers and dies! My Sweet William...."

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What do you think? Any good? Like it? Next chapter up fairly soon- and we finally get more Big Bad action. And no, I don't mean Spike. Oh, and Drusilla is NOT the Big Bad(s) of the story. Sure, she's vindictive and nuts, but she really isn't Big Bad material. She's just working for the Big Bad(s) of the story.
Is everyone in character? Oh, and I was wondering if anyone has a favorite chapter. If so, which one? (Mine is Ch. 6, He's A Mystery.)