Chapter 29

Red Dawn

A/N: Chapter twenty nine of the series.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the show. Original characters are mine.

Feedback: Sure, as you wish.

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North London, England

December 2017

"Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

Dawn had seen the interaction between mother and daughter and clearly remembered how every adult had treated her when she'd been fifteen years old. She had decided on taking some ice cream upstairs and engage in an aunt to niece talk, sponsored by a whole gallon of chocolate.

Instead, she'd caught said niece with one leg already outside the window. Annie looked back, her eyes wide and surprised because she had not felt her aunt approaching.

"Bet you didn't feel me, right?" Dawn said, as she placed the ice cream on Annie's drawer. She crossed her arms and leaned at the door frame, staring at Annie.

Annie sighed and leapt back into her room.

"Want to tell me where you were going?" Dawn asked.

Annie didn't answer right away, and made a grand show of sighing and plopping down on her bed. Dawn shook her head and went to close the window. She locked it and hoped that would discourage her niece a bit. Looking outside, she stared at the dark clouds looming and the few raindrops already falling.

"Look, honey, you can't go out there." Dawn said, still looking outside. "Well, more like it, you mustn't go out there. There are many things out there itching to sink their teeth on you. You happen to be the daughter of a slayer, and your dad is not very popular out there as well."

Dawn closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the window.

"You can't leave this house." She said. "Not tonight. I know what it's like to stay behind and feel useless. I can't let anyting happen to you. Not again."

Dawn opened her eyes and heard the raindrops hit the window.

She smiled and turned around to grab the ice cream and wasn't all that surprised to discover Annie was no longer in the room. From the looks of it, she wasn't either inside the house anymore.

"Shit." Dawn said. "Can't believe I fell for it."

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Dublin, Ireland

December 2017

Angel pushed his senses to the limit, trying to feel his wife and daughter.

He knew nothing bad had happened to them. He could have felt it. He was sure of it.

Yet, he'd spent the past days sulking and getting drunk, so that could have altered his perception.

He shook his head, running back to town and hoping his car was were he'd left it. So immersed in his thoughts and guilt, he didn't feel the familiar tingle until a baseball bat was crushed on his chest.

The blow caught him entirely by surprise and he twirled in the air, a perfect circle, before landing unceremoniously. The wind out of him, he growled, remembering the two hundred years he hadn't needed air to survive. He quickly curled into a ball and whirled, expecting another hit.

Receiving none, he managed to catch his breath and recover. He scanned the empty streets, quite unusual, and again struggled to see into the dark.

Since he'd Shanshu'ed, he had been turned into a male slayer of sorts, his strength increased but other things had changed. He still felt uncomfortable with his temperature, hated the fact he needed to breathe, he couldn't see that well in the dark and all stealth had disappeared.

Plus, he wished he could still growl, to warn whomever had dared to attack him. A figure approached him, covered in the shroud of darkness, and he struggled to identify his assailant.

"Not a clever move." He said, still clutching his chest. "Do you know who I am?"

The figure continued to move, making no noise and almost floating.

"I am Angelu..., I am Angel." He said, his tongue tripping. "You surely must have heard of me."

The figure seemed to control lights, for as his assailant approached, all lights around diminished or disappeared. Angel stood tall and once again felt a shiver run down his back.

The figure finally stood right in front of him, and the light revealed a hooded individual, a long cloak hiding any feature, but Angel had already figured who it was.

"It can't be." He whispered.

"Stars and fire couldn't keep us away."

The assailant removed the hood, and revealed a pair of big blue eyes, filled with mad adoration.

"We'll always be together, even if fire rains from the sky."

Angel chuckled.

"Fire has already fallen from the sky, Dru." He said. "What do you want?"

Drusilla smiled and twirled around, the cloak floating around her.

"What the cricket whispers in the night, daddy!" She said. "What the moon asks of the sun every night!"

She stopped twirling and stared at Angel, but her eyes were no longer blue, as a shade of golden appeared on them.

"I want my daddy back."

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North London, England

December 2017

Dawn ran outside the house, hoping to catch a glimpse of her very quick niece. Raindrops hit her in the face and hoped she'd brought an umbrella. Seeing nothing in one side of the street, she turned to the direction Annie had most likely followed.

Her eyes saw but her brain couldn't quite process.

The horizon was tingled with orange, as the fire in London quickly spread.

Dawn shook her head, focusing and realizing Annie must had seen the same and had run off looking for her mother.

'Stupid kid.' Dawn thought, looking around and trying to find a solution. 'Why couldn't she be more like her father and run the other way instead.'

Taking another look, Dawn's eyes fell on one particular object.

Figuring she could use something far quicker than her own two legs to catch up with her niece, her eyes settled on the brand new Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren sitting quietly on the neighbor's garage.

She slowly approached the car and thought twice about what she was about to do. It had been years since she'd been taught about this morally challenged decisions, but she figured times of war dictated the course of actions.

She looked up, and noticed the neighbor's tv turned on.

Dawn smiled. She would get only one chance to do it right.