Destiny

By PSUBrat

Worst Case Scenario

Dawn peered into the portal. She was positive that this was the same place the portal had opened on that night she was with Steven. This time, it was darker and there was no one to be seen nor heard. She chewed on her bottom lip, trying to decide if she should close the portal and forget about it or go through and check things out. The idea of finding out more about Steven was intriguing. Finally, curiosity got the better of her and she cautiously stepped into the room. It reminded her of a hotel lobby. She was just going to check things out, like she had when her first portal opened. Little by little her vision grew accustomed to the darkness. She chided herself for not grabbing her flashlight from her desk before stepping through the portal. If she was going to keep snooping around like this, she was going to have to start carrying one.

A cabinet on the other side of the room caught her attention. It looked somewhat familiar to her. She wandered over to look inside. Her breath caught in her chest as she recognized some of the contents. Weapons. This was no ordinary hotel. She knew this place. Or did she? The fact that the monks had given her false memories didn't help; she was no longer sure what was real and what was implanted. This was frustrating. There was a little gnawing sensation at the back of her mind telling her that she should know this place, yet her mind remained cloudy. She quietly walked over to the front doors and looked out into the night. Wherever she was it was around the same time of night as Sunnydale, or at least close to it. Warily she tried to open the front doors, but they were locked. Okay. No way to get outside to see where she was.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a computer monitor with a scrolling screensaver. It was located behind the main counter. Maybe that would give her some clue to her current location. The desk where the computer resided was cluttered with papers. She turned on the desk light after glancing around the room to make sure she was still alone. The soft light illuminated a two-foot area on each side of the lamp. A silver framed picture sat near the telephone. Taking it in her hand, she studied the picture with great interest. A young, dark haired woman was smiling brightly and holding an infant in her arms. She thought she knew the girl, but again with the uncertainty. Gently she set the picture down and started to go through the loose papers on the desk. There had to be something here to tell her where she was. She glanced over to the portal, it was still there shimmering and humming. Good. After a few seconds she found something with letterhead on it. As she held it up to the light to read it, a hand fell on her shoulder.

Dawn's scream pierced the air.

***

Buffy and William froze at the sound of Dawn's scream. They quickly untangled, all thoughts of reuniting quelled. Dawn needed their help. Shifting into Slayer mode, Buffy went to the weapons chest, pulled out a sword and threw it at William. She grabbed a crossbow for herself. Heedless of her semi-nudeness, she bolted up the steps, taking two at a time, William close behind. It took less than a minute from the time they heard Dawn's scream to the time they reached her bedroom door. Buffy kicked the door open and charged into the room. It was completely empty.

"Dawn," Buffy screamed, "Dawn? Where are you?" Panic began to take hold of her. Where was her sister? She scanned the room searching for a sign, anything that would tell her what happened. There was nothing out of place.

William threw open the door to Dawn's closet silently hoping the teen was hiding inside. It was empty save for the girl's clothing. He turned to Buffy and shook his head. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Where could she have gone? She didn't come downstairs. We would have seen her." Her voice trembled, mostly out of anger than out of fear. She knew deep down that her sister could take care of herself. But still, Dawn was her responsibility.

"Luv," William said quietly as he walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "We'll find her. Okay?"

Buffy nodded slowly. She walked over to her sister's bed. To her it looked as though Dawn had gotten out of bed willingly, no signs of a struggle. She glanced over at the window. It was open.

William followed her gaze. "There's no way…"

"This is Sunnydale," she stated flatly, "Anything is possible."

"Right," he sighed. Still, the girl couldn't have gotten far. It hadn't taken them that long to get up the steps! From what he could tell, the widow hadn't been forced open.

"You go outside and look around. See if you can find any tracks. I'm going to call Xander, maybe even Anya and let them know Dawn's missing. We'll do a sweep of the town and then meet with them at the Magic Box."

He nodded.

Without hesitation, the two walked out of Dawn's room and hurried toward their assigned tasks, both hoping the other would find some important clue as to the whereabouts of the missing teen.

***

Wesley watched as a wide grin crossed Steven's face. It was almost chilling. Wesley narrowed his eyes and spoke. "Do you know what a Slayer is?"

"I know what and who the Slayer is," Steven replied as he moved to the edge of his seat. He wanted to know more. Now.

"Good. Then I won't go into details about Ms. Summers. Tell me though, how did you find out about her?"

He shrugged. "I overhead Fred and Gunn. They were talking about how Angel could love only one person. Her."

"Ah, yes. Buffy." He didn't see Steven's dark expression at the mention of her name.

"She loved that monster." He was angry. Disgust was rising in his voice as he continued. "How could anyone ever willingly love something like that, especially a person whose quest it is to kill them?"

Wesley stared in shock at the boy. He noted that Holtz had done a nice job brainwashing the child. "Buffy loved Angel. That's true. They have a bond that no one has been able to break. Now do you understand why my employers want to get her and her friends out of the way?"

Steven nodded. He had already made up his mind. "I will help you. Tell me what I need to do."

Wesley smiled at the teen. This had been easier than he had expected. "There is one other thing…"

"And that is?"

"Dawn."

***

The forest was usually quiet this time of night. No creature could be heard, not even of the nocturnal variety. The Master paced in the cave, waiting for the next meal to be dropped off. He could feel himself become stronger every time he fed. His minions were starting to grow in numbers now. They were bringing him offerings, as were the ones who had betrayed him. It was such a shame that they hadn't let him turn the first one. She would have made a splendid bride. They had wanted to use her as a calling card for the Slayer. Every time his thoughts dwelled on the Slayer he became angry and anxious at the same time. This time…this time she would be judged and he would be her executioner. The thought thrilled him. He closed his eyes and remembered the taste of her. She had been so young then. Would she taste sweeter now?

In his mind he played out every scenario, every detail of what it was going to be like to confront her again. Should he kill her instantly or torture her slowly? Perhaps he would even turn her friends before turning her, that way she would suffer more by watching their pain. She would become his right hand and his bride. He could not think of a more fitting end to her life. The night of his release was coming and she had no idea. He had been strong the night he had died at her hands, but he would be even stronger this time around, virtually indestructible. And there was nothing they would be able to do to stop him. The Last Judgment was going to make the Harvest and the Night of St. Vigeous look like child's play. The Order of Aurelius would be reborn.

***

Buffy hung up the phone after waking Xander and explaining the situation to him. He was going to check the cemeteries and neighborhoods closest to his place and then meet up with her at the Magic Box in a few hours.

"Don't worry Buff," he had said, "we're gonna find her and she's gonna be okay."

If only she could believe that. Where could Dawn have gone? What could have taken her? Buffy closed her eyes and heard Dawn's scream roar through her mind. She shuddered. Had she failed her sister again?

The sound of the backdoor slamming closed snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see William staring at her, concern filling his eyes. She looked away. She could tell that he had found nothing to help them find her sister.

William glided across the kitchen to take her in his arms. "It's going to be alright, Pet. We'll find her. She's strong you know, like her big sis."

For the second time that night, Buffy cried.

"Hush Luv. It's going to be okay." He tried to comfort her as best he could but he was worried about Niblet just as much as she was. A thought occurred to him as he stroked Buffy's hair and rocked her in his arms. "Buffy," he said kissing her on top of her head, "What if something didn't take her?"

She looked up at him with a puzzled expression. What was he trying to get at?

"Just hear me out. What if she opened a portal and went through? You know how she's been about wanting to investigate things. A real Harriet the Spy she is. What if she went through and…"

"And something got her? What if something on the other side pulled her through? How will we ever find her?" She was almost in hysterics now.

Great. This is not what he'd had in mind. He just wanted her to be open to the possibility. "No. I'm saying, worst case scenario, what if she went through to snoop and someone startled her…"

"Spike…William…God I don't even know what to you call you anymore. Either way, what you're saying is she could be trapped somewhere. No. I refuse to believe that. Something has her and we have to find her. We have to!"

William nodded. "Alright then. Let's go do a quick sweep of the town. If she's out there, we'll find her."

Buffy quietly thanked him with a kiss. She grabbed the crossbow and they made their way out into the night.

***

After she was finished screaming, Dawn grabbed the hand on her shoulder and spun around like Buffy had taught her. Her attacker was much larger and stronger than she was, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She threw all of her weight into the move, and they both went crashing to the floor. Before her attacker could compose himself, Dawn was up and across the room, heading for the weapons cabinet. She was terrified when she heard her assailant's moan and the sound of him getting to his feet. Panicking, she chose a battle-axe that was much heavier than she had anticipated.

The footsteps were getting closer. She brought the axe up to her shoulder and started swinging blindly. However, the weight of the axe combined with her shaky footing sent her sprawling, face down, to the floor with a scream. Pain shot through her ankle and up her leg. Bloody hell. Had she just broken something? She lay quietly as she tried to assess her situation. That's when she heard the footsteps again. They were closer than before. She could sense him standing over her. Closing her eyes, she summoned all of her courage. As the man's hand touched her leg, she yelled and rolled away, scrambling to her feet.

"Don't come near me asshole," she threatened. "I'll kill you!"

She tried to look around the room for an escape route. That's when she discovered that the portal had closed. Of course it had. It had probably closed as soon as that guy had grabbed her from behind. Damn. Now she was stuck here for sure. "Okay. Okay. Breathe deep and focus," she whispered to herself. If she could just calm down enough to think about Buffy she'd be able to open another portal and go home. As soon as she had quieted herself down, that's when she noticed that the footsteps had stopped.

The footsteps stopped. Suddenly the room was filled with light. Her hand flew up to her eyes to shield them from the glare.

"Dawn," the male voice asked from somewhere across the room. "Is that you?"

Dawn lowered her hand. Her eyes widened. "Angel?"



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