DestinyBy PSUBrat
Author's note: Chapter contains character death
Pentacle of Agony"Grab my hand!" Connor shouted to Dawn above the thunderous roar that was coming towards them. It was their time, their turn, to face the trials. What had happened to the others, he didn't know, but what he did know was that if he and Dawn were going to make it through this, they needed to work together.
Dawn did as she was told. As soon as she reached for his hand and he grabbed a hold of it, she could feel them being swept up in a torrent of air. She felt weightless, like she was floating. All thoughts of what was about to happen to them were rushed out of her mind as their bodies spun endlessly through the stars. At least she thought they were stars.
Then there was nothing but the semi-darkness and solid ground, a circle of torches surrounding them.
Connor pulled Dawn close to him as he allowed his inherently superior eyesight to take over. Every fiber of his being told him that nothing but evil lurked here. "Stay behind me," he told Dawn as they inched their way into the middle of the circle.
"I don't need you to protect me you know. I have my own powers."
"I know, but your mom said that we need to work together."
Suddenly, Dawn stopped and gasped as she tugged on Connor's hand. "Look," she said, fear evident in her voice while she pointed to the ground beside them.
"Blood," he stated as he crouched down to touch it. Slowly he lifted his finger to his nose and sniffed the watery red substance. "Cordelia's."
Dawn's eyes grew huge. "Are you sure?"
He nodded, closing his eyes. A feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that Cordelia was dead.
"There's more blood. Over there...and over there," she said pointing. "I don't like the look of this." She was shivering now. There was blood everywhere she looked, too much blood. It was clear what had happened to the others, their fate had been death. Were they going to die too? Desperately, she tried to push the thought out of her mind.
As they approached the other side of the circle, Connor's eyes came to rest on a pile of dust. He felt his knees buckle and his stomach clench.
Dawn felt him tighten his grip on her hand. "What is it, Connor? What's wrong?"
He turned to her, tears stinging his eyes. "I think...I think my father has been killed as well."
Before Dawn could answer, a voice came from behind them. "Right you are, my dear boy."
***
Connor spun around, positioning himself between the voice and Dawn. It was instinctual that he wanted to protect her, even though he knew she didn't need protecting. He was somewhat surprised when she allowed him to shield her from the unknown. That voice. There was something about the sound of that voice that sent chills up and down his spine, but yet there was something familiar about it as well. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"Why is your father's death so upsetting to you?" The female voice asked instead of answering his question. "It's not like you knew him. In fact, I heard that you even tried to kill him. A chip off the old block, aren't you? Although, I'm not sure which block that would be."
"What do you know about my father?" He commanded, anger seeping into his tone.
Slowly, the figure stepped out of the shadows, shrouded in a dark cloak. Automatically, both teens took a step backwards. "Come now my darling, don't be afraid." The visitor said soothingly.
His eyes narrowed and his body tensed. Could it be? But he had never met her, never known her, still there was something inside of him that knew who it was. Hesitantly, he took several steps forward, still holding onto Dawn's hand.
"Do you know her?" Dawn whispered as she tried to size up the cloaked woman in front of them. "Who is she?"
"I think...I think she's my..."
"Mother," Darla stated, pulling the hood off her head to reveal her smiling face.
"I know who you are," Dawn gasped as she recognized the female vampire. "You bit my mother and tried to make it look like Angel did it. Angel killed you!"
"Yeah, but you know how it goes," she replied, smiling sweetly. "You never stay dead for long around here. Besides," she continued as she took in the sight of the two teens holding hands. "Where would you two be right now if I hadn't come back?"
"Better off," Connor growled angrily. "It would have been better if I had never been born!"
"You don't mean that, darling." She walked over to him, still smiling pleasantly. "You have grown up so much. I guess that trip to Quartoth wasn't the best thing for your development."
He glared at her but said nothing. Most of his life, he had never even given his mother a second thought, after all, Holtz had told him what she was, what she always would be and he'd wanted nothing to do with that. Now, here she was in front of him. Hatred mixed with wonder coursed through his body. Suddenly, hundreds of questions began streaming through his mind.
She reached out her hand and delicately traced his cheek with a finger. "You're so handsome. Just like your father."
Connor noticeably flinched when she touched him. "Where is my father?"
"Daddy's dead, darling," she laughed as she continued to take in his features. "I'm the only family you have left now."
"No you aren't," Dawn hissed, taking a step forward but never letting go of Connor's hand. "He still has me and he has my family."
Darla smiled brightly at Dawn. She cocked her head to the side, considering the teenaged girl in front of her. She had been told that the girl was not to be harmed, that she possessed great powers and that another would be sent to deal with her. As much as she wanted to claim this one for her own, she knew better than to anger the Master. "Of course he does, but not for long. Soon you won't have anyone, and then where will you be?"
"She's not going anywhere without me. I'll always protect her, no matter what."
"So much like your father," she mussed sadly to herself. "Always trying to be the warrior, the protector."
"There's nothing wrong with that," Dawn snapped back.
"You'd do well to keep your mouth shut. I'm tiring of you already," she said as she backhanded Dawn across the cheek.
Dawn turned her head back towards Darla, hatred lighting her eyes. "Don't touch me!"
"Or what, little girl? What will you do to me?"
"She won't do anything, but I will," Connor replied with an air of authority surrounding him.
"Such an ungrateful child. I staked myself to save you and this is the thanks I get?"
"You should have let me die."
"Yes, so you said before. All right then, let's get down to business. The only way for you two to get out of this alive is if you," she said, grabbing Connor's hand. "Come with me."
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Ever."
"You are my son and you are coming with me."
"I refuse."
"Fine then. We'll just do things the hard way," she stated as she slipped into her vampiric features.
***
Sensing that Darla was distracted by Connor's attitude, Dawn frantically looked around the circle, searching for weapons, anything that they could use to fight against the vampire. Behind them, where they had found Angel's dust, was an axe. She couldn't remember seeing it there before, but for whatever reason, it was there now. Giving Connor's hand a squeeze, she let go and slowly backed up. She was grateful that Connor hadn't turned to face her or had had a problem with her letting go of his hand; it would have only tipped off Darla to what she was trying to do. Keeping her eyes on the mother and son, she slowly reached down to pick up the axe. Suddenly she felt an arm around her neck and one around her waist. Startled, she screamed.
"And just what were you trying to do, little girl?" Darla asked with a smile. "You weren't trying to get that axe to kill me with, now were you?"
Connor had tried to stop his mother before she had reached Dawn, but he just hadn't moved fast enough. Now, his girlfriend stood before him, eyes wide and full of fear, trembling under his mother's grasp. "Let her go!" He demanded. He blamed himself for Dawn's precarious position.
"No sweetie," she cooed at him. "Not this time. Actually, I'm kinda hungry." She pulled Dawn's long hair away from her neck, exposing the tender flesh.
"No!" He screamed, running towards them, knocking his mother and Dawn to the ground. Rolling to his right, he grabbed the axe and helped Dawn to her feet. "You will not touch her!"
"Then you'll have to kill me," Darla replied, smirking up at him.
"Whatever it takes." He ran towards her, screaming, as he swung the axe.
Darla laughed and rolled away, just in time to for the weapon to miss her head. "That's it, that's my boy."
"I will kill you!"
"Of course you will. You must," she stated as she kicked him in the stomach, sending him and the axe to the ground. "It's your destiny."
He recovered from the kick and sent her flying with one of his own. For every move she made, he matched it flawlessly. Finally, he sent her to the ground with one, hard punch to the face. In an instant, he was standing over her with the axe. He raised his weapon and was about to bring it down on her neck when Dawn screamed at him to stop.
"Don't do it! Don't become what she is," Dawn pleaded with him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're not a murderer. You're not like her." Connor continued to stand over his mother, no emotion showing on his face. Dawn wasn't certain if he had even heard her or not. Several tense moments passed and then he laid the axe down on the ground.
"I will not kill you," he said, backing away from Darla. "I don't want to be like you."
Darla stood, wiping the blood from her swollen lip. "It's such a shame you had to turn out like your father. I had such high hopes for you."
"Thank you."
"Thank you for what?" Darla demanded, confused.
"Thank you for saying that I'm like him. He was a good man despite being a monster."
Before either of the teens could react, Darla picked up the axe and ran at him. As Dawn stood by, watching helplessly, Darla buried the axe into Connor's midsection. "Sorry, my dear boy."
Dawn screamed and tried to reach for Connor's hand but Darla was between them in an instant, separating her from Connor. If she could just touch his hand, she would be able to save him with her healing powers. Flailing her arms and legs, she tried to beat off Darla, but it was useless. The more she struggled the tighter the vampire's grip on her became. "Connor!" She shouted.
"Dawn?" Connor managed to gasp. He turned his head to face her, as he lay on the ground, blood pouring from him. "I love you..."
"No! Connor! No!" She sobbed. Suddenly, Darla was gone and she was free. Struggling to her knees, she crawled the distance to Connor's side, hoping beyond hope that he was still alive. She placed her hand on his chest. There was no rise or fall of breathing, no beating of a heart. His eyes stared endlessly at the place she had been. Slowly, she closed his eyes and kissed his cheek, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry," she cried. "All these powers and I couldn't even save you."
"That's a pretty big bummer, huh?"
***
Dawn froze in her spot next to Connor's mangled body. She knew that voice. She didn't even have to turn around to look at the person to confirm what she already knew. Slowly, she stood up, her eyes never leaving Connor's face as if staring at him would summon all the strength she would need to face the thing standing behind her. "You're dead," she stated courageously, balling her hands into fists and biting her lip.
"Aren't we all at one time or another on the Hellmouth."
"You're not real."
"Oh, I'm real. Right here, right now...I'm real. And damnit, I think I broke a nail getting here."
Dawn glared at the image sideways, anger and hatred covering her face, but she didn't say a word.
"Too bad about your little boyfriend there, honey. I'm sure he didn't feel much. Not like what you're going to feel. I should have finished the job the first time around, but no, your big sister had to interfere as well as that stuffy British guy."
"Buffy beat you."
"No sweetie. Not really. Yeah, she sacrificed herself to close the portal cause she realized that you were made from her blood, but she didn't save anyone. That old guy did. You know, the one that you think of as your father."
Dawn looked back down at Connor's body, her anger being replaced by confusion and disbelief. "Giles? He didn't do anything more than the others. It was Buffy that saved the world. She died protecting me."
Glory laughed at her. "She died to close the portal, but by that point, I was already dead. Well, not really me, but Ben. Without Ben's body alive, I was as good as dead too. Your sister left him alive but Giles, see, he knew. He knew that if Ben was allowed to live, I would continue to live, continue to seek out new ways to use you to get back to my dimension." She paused, looking down at her shoes. "These shoes don't really go with this setting, do they? I should have worn sandals."
"What?" Dawn asked in disgust with eyes large and wet as she turned to look at the former Hell God.
"Sandals. They would have been more practical here. Don't you think? Heels just sink in the sand."
"You're lying about Giles. He would never do anything like that." Never. She knew he had some type of dark past, but he would never kill in cold blood like that, not even if Ben had been monstrous to her...he was still human. The rules were different for humans.
"Kid, you have no idea about anything, do you? Of course not," she added as she shook her head, giving Dawn the once over with her eyes. "You've gotten a little older, a little taller, and a little more powerful, but definitely not any wiser. That's too bad."
"You don't know anything about me," Dawn hissed at her, trying her hardest not to be afraid of the creature in front of her.
"Sweetie, all I ever needed to know about you could be summed up in one word. Key. I didn't, and still don't, need to know any more than that."
"I'm not just a key," Dawn growled at the god. "I'm more than that. I'm Dawn Summers."
"Whatever," Glory stated, sounding bored as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, I don't have a whole lot of time. And really, I don't care who you are other than the key." She walked over to Dawn and grabbed her by the throat, her eyes narrowing. "So why don't you open me a portal and send me home?"
***
Dawn hung from Glory's grasp, frantically trying to pull the demon's hand away from her neck. It was getting harder to breathe as the vice-like grip tightened even more. Anger began to course through her veins as she thought about how much she had hated feeling so helpless and hopeless when Glory had been alive the first time around. She had felt alone then, as she did now, but then she didn't have the powers that she had now. True, she wasn't as strong as Buffy, but she could hold her own and she could heal herself in a pinch if she had to, like she had done at Angel's hotel. She wasn't just "the key" anymore, she was more...so much more and she would be damned if she wasn't going to use them to defeat this wench. Suddenly she stopped struggling and closed her eyes.
"Wow. You're no fun. That was almost way too easy," Glory stated as she continued to hold Dawn at arm's length. Humans were just too easy to kill when you were a god.
"That's what you think!" Dawn yelled as she kicked out and caught Glory by surprise. The force of the kick sent the god sprawling and released Dawn from her grasp. Dawn stood over her, glaring down at her. "Did you really think I'd let you kill me that easily, after what you did to me and my sister and friends? For a Hell God," she stated putting her hands on her hips. "You're pretty stupid."
"Why you impertinent little brat!" Glory screamed, pounding her fists on the ground by her sides. "You'll pay for that."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you'll try," Dawn stated as calmly as she could, but inside she was trembling. "But I'm not going down without a fight. So if you want to kill me, you're going to have to work harder than that." She folded her arms across her chest and stood defiantly in front of her nemesis.
Glory stood, brushing the sand off herself. Her eyes glowed red as her rage boiled to the surface. "You have no idea what you're in for you stupid little girl."
"I think I have a clue or two. Remember, I faced you once before..."
"And I bled you once before."
"No. It was your lackey who did the cutting since you couldn't reach me in time." She stood up straighter and puffed out her chest. She was scared but there was no way she was going to let Glory know that. "You didn't succeed then and you're not going to succeed now, Glory. You're just a loser."
Glory screamed shrilly at Dawn as she launched herself forward, trying to start her attack but she found that her shoe was stuck in the sand. "See," she stated coolly after looking down at her feet. "I should have worn sandals." Hearing Dawn giggle, she looked up expecting to see a smirking child in front of her, however, what she saw instead was Dawn's fist, which connected with her face with a powerful thud. "You little bitch," she stated as she came to rest several feet away from where she had just been standing. "I am so going to hurt you." Quickly she pulled off her shoes and ran at Dawn again.
Dawn was expecting her so she used Glory's momentum to flip the god over onto her back. She straddled Glory, pinning arms down with her knees as she began beating her fists into the god's face, over and over again. Glory struggled beneath her but it was no match for the fury that had erupted inside of her. She had snapped. Snapped to the point that all she wanted to do was to kill the woman beneath her. So caught up in the beating she was giving Glory, she didn't realize that the god was now laughing at her, encouraging her to continue on...urging her to kill her.
"Come on kiddo, a little harder...break an eye socket or two. I know you can do it. Beat my brains in."
Dawn paused only when she thought she had heard Connor groan. Whirling around, she looked at him closely, trying to see if he was breathing. There was nothing. It had been her imagination, she was sure of it but it had been enough of a distraction to bring her mind back to the present. Slowly she turned to look back down at creature under her. Glory was almost unrecognizable now, her lips were fat and split and her eyes were almost swollen shut. Quickly, she scrambled off the god and backed up, disgusted at what she had done.
"Hey," Glory growled. "Where do you think you're going? You're not finished. I'm not dead yet."
"I'm...I'm not going to kill you," Dawn sputtered, still horrified by her actions.
Glory pulled herself up into a sitting position. "Dearie, you have to. It's kill or be killed. No in between."
"I won't kill you."
Glory rolled her eyes as she stood. "Stupid little girl," she muttered to herself. "All that energy and power. Don't you want to learn to use it?"
"Not if it means becoming like you."
"You think you're so different from me, do you?" Glory asked, her face darkening. "You're not. You're just like me."
"No. No I'm not. I won't fight you anymore and I won't kill you."
"Fine. Then I'll kill you."
Before Dawn had a chance to react, Glory plunged her hands into her brain. The pain was so intense that it was blinding. Was this what Tara had felt? If not, it had to be close. She felt her knees buckle as she slowly sank to the ground. At least she thought it was the ground, maybe? Her life, as short as it was, flashed through her mind, pictures of Buffy and her mother, Spike, all of her friends and then of Connor. He was reaching out to her, telling her how much he loved her. She knew her life was ending, could feel it seeping out of her body and into Glory's. Before the darkness took her, she whispered to the air. "Buffy, I'm so sorry..."