Recombination

Dawn closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly releasing the breath she’d been holding, when she reopened her eyes the scene hadn’t changed much. Stephen was still standing in the center of the room scowling down at the girls who had finally parked themselves down in the living room. Luckily the other part of their problem was currently bound to a chair. She rubbed her forehead tiredly. It was a pity they’d been unlucky enough to bump into Andrew two days ago. Dawn hadn’t been impressed or happy to see one of the people responsible for Willow’s downfall back in town. Though she knew Warren had shot Tara and sent Willow spiraling into madness she also blamed Andrew and Jonathon for their parts in it. She was more then a little glad not to see Jonathon still tagged up with Andrew but she had wondered where he was considering the two had left together.

Stephen had caught Andrew trying to follow them into Sunnydale mall where they were checking on Dawn’s schoolmates, most of whom were taking care of the abandoned children in town; the babies and children unable to care for themselves and deeply terrified. It had been a struggle to drag them away from their parents despite some trying to either physically hurt the children or neglect them, seeing another unfamiliar face would have terrified them further. Besides, Dawn believed that Andrew couldn’t be trusted not to try to harm them despite his almost innocent and naïve appearance.

Consequently Stephen had frog-marched him back to her home and then promptly tied him to the chair with duct tape. He’d only untied him so Andrew could use the bathroom and take a shower, and he’d still watched him like a hawk. Dawn had been more then a little glad of the shower, Andrew had smelt more then a little ripe and he’d had blood all over his clothes. He’d refused to talk to them about it and explain why he was back, when they’d tried or rather Dawn had tried threats, she’d received snide comments so she’d gagged him.

Unfortunately the potentials had arrived two days after and had settled in making themselves at home and driving her and Stephen up the wall. They’d even un-gagged Andrew insisting it was wrong despite his incessant babble about Star Trek. Dawn had just spent the better part of an hour trying to explain what had happened to the slayer and her watcher something which the potentials and their little prisoner had found hard to grasp. She didn’t know what was so difficult, her sister was a super hero yes, but she wasn’t infallible.

After the first round of ‘she’s supposed to be protecting us’, came the snootier round of backhanded comments to which Dawn had been defending her sister and Giles against. Most of the comments she found came from the mouthier potentials, Eve and Rona. She at least could stomach Rona’s comments but Eve’s sickly sweet interjections were wearing her down. And had royally pissed off Stephen. After hearing his tirade about the slayer, her duties, the potentials duties, the First and their damaged friends Dawn had to admit he was a quick study. They’d been together for four days, in which she’d explained all the ins and outs of Sunnydale and her sister, the slayer, as best she could whilst the two of them had ransacked the magic box, looking for references and texts relating too what was going on. He knew who her sister was and whilst he hadn’t explained much about himself or defended himself when the girls barraged him with questions, he had defended Dawn and her sister and he didn’t even to shout them down. He just angrily reminded them they could take their own chances with the bringers or they could stick with them and actually have more then half a chance of survival.

Dawn had had to smile but unfortunately they were still no better off. When she and Stephen tried to brainstorm their plans the potentials had butted in to veto each one. In short Dawn was getting pretty ticked off. She had been living on a Hellmouth for a good part of her life and fake memories or not the dangers and lessons she’d found in them were the same as her real ones. Stephen was definitely on the fighting demons scene and though he said little his stance was clear, he was streetwise and had the experience. The potentials were green and new to the danger, most of them never facing a vampire before let alone the First evil.

In her opinion they were little more then added burdens and as Eve opened her mouth to speak again Dawn interrupted, “Enough.” She swiveled calmly around looking them all over. “You’re new here, you don’t know this town, you don’t know what it’s capable of. I do. I know Stephen and I might not look like much but we are all that’s left. We’re working on freeing the others but we need Willow for that.” She held up her hand as Eve moved to speak again. “You have no idea how to survive here or anywhere else for that matter and you seriously expect us to listen to you? No experience, no opinion.” She tried to glare them all down and was glad when Stephen moved up beside her.

“You’ve told us you haven’t as much as faced a vampire yet, have had hardly any training.” Dawn could see the sneer on his lips, it was a little cruel but it got the girls attentions. “Right now all you are all our problems so you can either leave now or get off our backs and actually help us work.”

Dawn tried not to smile at the look of outrage on some of their faces; the feeling was quickly wiped away and replaced with resignation as Eve stood up her body quivering. “Well I am certainly not going to stay here if that’s all on offer.” She spoke in indignation her southern drawl becoming more obvious. “I am going back to my watcher. He has managed not to be taken down by anything, and he’s helping get more of us together.” She looked smug as she glanced at the others. “And he’d be more then willing to take you on too, what do you say?”

Dawn sat down, Stephen following her example. She tried to act as relaxed as possible; much as she knew she couldn’t keep the potentials in Sunnydale she had to try to, her sister would be infuriated otherwise and despite what they’d said they didn’t want the girls coming face to face with the bringers. She relaxed a little more when nobody leaped to Eve’s idea. The young English cockney and the slightly brash potential *Molly and Rona*, she noted mentally, seemed ill at ease with the idea and the older one seemed well-set against it; her whole body was turned away from Eve he body language showing contempt for the other Potential. Only Annabelle seemed to actually consider it and that seemed more because Eve had beaten her down to it then anything.

Not a word was uttered as Eve turned her nose up at them all and strode out, Annabelle hesitantly following. Dawn had to resist grabbing the girls and locking them up in the house as the door swung shut. She looked back toward the others, and stood up. “There’s nothing we can do for them right now,” she said glancing at Stephen her eyes speaking volumes. He nodded briefly and stood up quickly moving towards the door and after the girls. Dawn had no doubt he could shadow them without being seen. She saw the other potentials visibly relax as they realized their friends would be watched over.

She let them have a few minutes to think about what had happened then, taking a deep breath she stood up. “Okay here's the situation.” She tried to portray her sister as best as possible, making herself seem a lot more calm and controlled then she truly was. “Four days ago everything started to get more then a little strange around here, no demon attacks, no disputes no nothing.” She paused. “It was seriously weird. Everyone went unconscious and those who didn’t wake up seem to be in some kind of coma, those that have…” she winced slightly. “Just wander around, sorta like zombies but not so much into the killing and eating.” She saw a flicker of recognition in Kennedy’s eyes and was glad that at least one of the potentials was on her wavelength. “Everyone older then twenty is now affected and it’s started picking off the older students. The little kids seem unaffected and we’ve managed to gather most of them together at the mall.” The potentials collectively made little noises of amazement, Dawn was slightly pleased at their surprise and a little annoyed, did they really think she that inept?

“My sister and her friends are still unconscious but Stephen and I found some references in Giles, my sister’s watcher’s hand.” Dawn picked up the sheets. “They totally don’t make sense and go on about the Beljoxa's Eye and Soul suckers but I thought we could have a mammoth researching session." Dawn hesitated unsure about mentioning the rest. Swallowing hard and not seeing the duo entering the house behind her, she continued. “The First has taken two of our friends. Spike my friend’s boyfriend and Annemarie their…child,” she floundered for lack of a better word. “If we can get Willow back up and magicking she can so get the others up and they can kick its arse.” Seeing the potentials focusing behind her, she turned around.

“Hey you think we can kick ass, that’s so sweet.” Xander grinned at her from the doorway, he was half propping up the obviously exhausted Willow.

“You’re doing good Dawnie.” The red head smiled tiredly. ”Keep it up and Buffy will be looking up to you.”

Dawns mouth dropped open and she was torn between racing to hug them and suspicion. It took a minute for her to realize neither could be the First in disguise and she flew at them, squealing and hugging as she babbled what had happened. Xander gently pried her off them after a long hug, he tried to smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. He and Willow were still very shaken by what had happened to them and hearing that the First had Spike and Annemarie, he couldn’t help feeling more depressed then before. Seeing Willow looking concerned he forced the smile to appear genuine.

“No time like the present to get started.” He waved to the potentials. “Hey girls, Xander here, handyman to the slayer and member two of the slayerettes.” He forced himself to grin at them even though he could see the worry in their eyes. He turned to Dawn. “Hey we raided Giles house too, found some really strange stuff, I think maybe we should go into the kitchen and look over it whilst the girls…” He grinned to the potentials. “Try googling to find out about the First. Know your enemy and all that.” He smiled at Molly who relaxed and started chatting to the others about how best to search online.

Xander’s eyes drifted over to Andrew in the corner keeping quiet for once As their eyes met Andrew murmured a slightly abashed, “Hi”, Willow’s gasp of recognition and Andrew’s flinch when her eyes met his was unmistakable. Xander locked eyes with Dawn hoping she knew what he meant. Dawn nodded catching on instantly but before they could leave the front door opened and Stephen staggered in, holding Annabelle in his arms. He swept past all of them, ignored Willow and Xander’s presence and laid Annabelle gently on the sofa. Pulling off his jacket he pressed it against her side.

Dawn moved next to him ignoring Willow’s startled gasp. “Is she okay, what happened? Where’s Eve!” Her mind yelled curses at her for letting them go, in all likelihood Eve was dead. She almost didn’t notice the strange look on Willows face, but when she did she wrote it off as her wondering who Stephen was and went back to her task at hand, helping stem the bleeding on Annabelle’s side. She didn’t see the same expression on Xander’s face or the look that passed between them and the unspoken mental communication.

Stephen wrapped the coat tighter. “She’ll be okay, it’s just a scratch the Bringers managed to nick her and knock her out before I got her away.” He glanced at Willow and Xander; his eyes shadowed slightly and his expression grew a little cooler. “Glad to see you’re alright.” He didn’t ask how they had managed to escape but also strangely enough not only had the other potentials grown silent but Andrew had actually shut up as well. He turned back to Dawn looking directly at her, the only person he obviously was concentrating on other then Annabelle. “Eve played us, or rather the First did.” He ignored the potentials gasps. “I followed them, Eve was talking about a small hotel but when Annabelle asked her how to get there Eve turned around to her and said ‘there’s only one place your going’.” He snorted “Classic bad guy line, very overused.”

As Dawn’s cough Stephen continued, “The Bringers came so I went to shove Eve away from Annabelle and pull her away but my hands went straight through her.” He flexed his hands in disgust. “I grabbed Annabelle and came back here, I’m guessing the real Eve’s body is at that hotel.” He looked from Dawn to Willow and Xander. “We have to do something now, the Bringers don’t care that people aren’t getting in their way and I bumped into a couple of child vamps in the park, they’d been slowly munching through an annual works picnic. I had to stake them, before the rest got munched on.” He paused “The Bringers also seem keen on taking a swipe at anything in their path.”

Dawn shuddered slightly, looking at Willow and Xander, she felt even more out of her depth then before. Willow sighed. “Okay, you guys…” she pointed to the potentials. “Research and keep and eye on Annabelle, I presume.” She looked at the unconscious girl. “We all need to be in the kitchen.” She glanced at the other three, grabbing a few pieces of paper from the side before slowly moving into the kitchen and stumbling onto a seat.

Xander, obviously exhausted, followed suit and Dawn dragged the almost unwilling Stephen in after her. All four ignored Andrew’s petulant cries to be included. As Stephen shut the door, Willow straightened the pages in front of her and glanced at Xander. “Xander and I got out of that trap yesterday and we headed over to Giles’ House to find some stuff out; we found out what’s going on.” She glanced down at the paper in front of her. “The thing that’s caused this is called a alma a mais escura, the darkest soul. It feeds on emotions forcing them to overcome a person whilst it feasts on them. We think we can reverse it and sort this mess out to get everyone back.” Her gaze was serious. “And we’re thinking now, that we can also use it to get back Spike and Annemarie.”