Half and half
Chapter 9

Authors notes: Sorry this new chapter has taken forever. I was working on a Spuffy Haven banner challenge fic and although having a great time writing it, it meant that this one languished a bit. Anyway, here I am again, raring to continue the further adventures of Buffy and Spike, William and the Slayer, …oh and of course, Dawn. My thanks as always to my Beta Just_Sue who always manages to make really positive suggestions despite what I send her, and to the readers who give me such encouraging feedback.

Oh, and because I haven’t said this before, I’d better say it now. No, Spike isn’t mine although I’d cheerfully wade through a hundred women waving a blunt instrument if I thought he could be. No I’m not writing for profit and yes my thanks go to those people who really own or have written about the original characters on BtVS and AtS. Joss, you begat more than you knew when you created your little universe.

Shutting up now.

***


Chapter 9

Dawn lay very still. From her vantage point inside the cage she could see the two men as they dipped in and out of view in the main room. Knox and the big man who made her skin crawl. Hamilton. Whatever drug she’d last been exposed to was slowly wearing off but Dawn still felt all floaty. Moving her head carefully, not wanting to draw attention to herself, she looked at her prison. She was on a sterile mattress on the floor with no bedding; there was a steel toilet and basin, a tray of untouched food and a blue plastic cup…and that was it. She was alone, Fred was gone.

They’d almost made it to the taxi cab when Fred’s phone had started ringing. A breathless Knox had entreated her to return to the lab. He’d discovered something about Spike’s return, something huge, and could she come straight away. Not wanting to be left out of the loop Dawn had rushed back in with her. They’d swept past a bemused Harmony without explanations and taken the lift.

There was no warning. They stepped out and were engulfed in a cloud of gas, and everything was hazy from there. At some point Dawn had been strapped to a table and Spike’s amulet had been placed round her neck. There was a laser of some sort aimed right at her chest. Then there was white. Then blackness consumed her.

The two women had woken up in a large cage to the sound of shouting. Hamilton, his suit ripped in several places, held the slowly choking scientist up against the wall with one hand.

“Fix this now.”

“I can’t.”

Swiftly turning to the young women he unlocked the door and entered, taking up all the space. This was a man who enjoyed violence. Cold expressionless eyes locked onto Fred.

“You’re the big brain, get out and help him.”

“With what? I don’t understand.” Fred shrank back until her body pressed against the bars of her prison.

Lunging at Fred, Hamilton grabbed a handful of hair and tugged. She immediately clawed at his eyes and when he gripped her wrists, tried to knee him in the balls. Dawn leapt into action too, incensed. She kicked out her heel into his kneecap, a blow from the side that should have done some serious damage. It was like hitting a stone wall. Shoving Dawn hard, so that she fell back onto the mattress, he then backhanded Fred. She went completely limp. Grabbing her light frame he threw her out of the cage before following. Dawn rose and tried to make it to the door but he slammed it shut and locked it. A small canister appeared in his hand, aimed at her face.

“Goodnight, Freak.”

***

‘Buffy, please find me, please make everything be alright.’ Dawn repeated the litany in her head while doing her best to appear unconscious.

They were talking.

“You’re a fucking moron,” growled Hamilton. “One simple instruction, that’s all you were given, lure them back up here then wait. We had our people primed to extract the Key properly, but no, you had to go all Frankenstein and try your own damned experiments on the bitch. Now our mages are in ribbons and the Senior Partners can’t even get through to the photocopy repairman, let alone conduct business. Billions, we’re losing fucking billions of dollars while you stare at this piece of junk and wring your hands!”

“I don’t understand. It should have been perfect. A simple energy transfer - trap the Key in the amulet, ready to open any portal at will. Simple.”

“The only simple thing around here is you, but right now you’re all we’ve got. I promise you, you’ll be spit roasting in your own personal Hell for this. For just how long depends on you.”

“What about Fred?”

“Fred is off in La-La land right now. Who knew she’d go off the deep end so fast?” he muttered.

“She…she’s alright though?”

“Wherever her head is now, she can’t be touched. No, boy, this is your mess - you clean it up. You’ve got one hour.” He leaned in close. “Then I’ll be back to give you a little motivation.”

Hamilton clenched his fists as he glared at Knox one final time before striding out of sight. A door slammed.

Knox’s shoulders slumped forward, barely catching the table in time to keep his legs from giving way. He gazed blankly at the amulet. The lazy swirls of green light twisting around it seemed to be mocking him.

Dawn knew something that they didn’t. She could feel part of the Key moving just underneath her skin. In all her brief, fabricated existence, she had never once felt this way before, only believing that she wasn’t normal because other people believed it. Even when teetering on Glory’s tower waiting for the end of the world, a little voice inside had been screaming, “No, wait, there’s been some mistake!” But now she knew that she was also ‘other’ and it scared her – though felt strangely right.

Knox would soon be drawing conclusions and start to look for the missing ingredient, and there was no way she was hanging around for that. If Buffy couldn’t be here to save the day then she’d have to save herself; after all, the Summers were a tough lot. Dawn glanced at herself, ‘Key’; keys were important weren’t they, they solved things, unlocked things, now what was she missing? There was no use in pointing at the bars and saying “Open Sesame.” No little holes were going to open up for her to just step through, and she should know…she’d already tried it.

She gave a small smile at her clothing. Buffy’s eyes had nearly popped out of her head when she’d seen what she was wearing, but then her sister had grinned, hugged her and whispered, “Give Dad hell.”

While still mourning Spike, the sisters had wandered through all the interesting bits of London, imagining him strutting along the streets as if he owned the place. They’d seen many a glimpse of leather and bleach in the goth clubs, and Dawn had insisted on buying some clothes so that she would fit in. It was this outfit that she had chosen to wear for her visit to see ‘Dad’ - a tight black tank top printed with a skull and crossbones in bright pink, a black and pink tartan mini skirt and purple spiderweb patterned tights. Her boots, though, were the finishing touch.

She’d spotted the docs on Camden Market; not new, but they had steel toe caps and one of them had a little pocket where you could slide things out of sight. They were black and a bit scuffed - and had taken forever to lace up and try on in the crowded street - but they’d fit perfectly...

Of course! Why had it taken so long to remember? Drawing her leg up slowly, she undid the popper on her boot and wiggled her fingers inside. There. In a little leather pouch lay her present from Spike, a gift given shortly after they’d broken into the magic shop to find out about her true origins. He’d made her swear not to tell Buffy. “She’ll have my guts for garters, pet. This’ll be our little secret, only to be used in emergencies, right?”

He’d then spent several hours teaching her how to use them, making her practice over and over again until she got it right.

Dawn held the spring steel hand-pick set in her hand and couldn’t help grinning. The gift had travelled with her from the Hellmouth, had survived her anger at the giver and had ultimately been the source of precious memories when there was nothing else left. Spike had given her more than he knew.

Now that she had the means to escape all Dawn needed was an opportunity. Knox was just out of sight but she could hear him whimpering to himself. It was deadly quiet except for a faint ticking and the pounding of her heart.

Eventually her prayers were answered. Knox gave a long sigh and, perhaps realising that he’d better do something positive, and soon, moved purposefully away from the worktable. His footsteps receded into the distance. Uncurling from her position, Dawn moved stealthily. What had Spike taught her? Carefully inserting the correct slivers of metal into the lock, she turned and wiggled them, then added the next pick and felt the mechanism give a little. Good. Another more forceful turn and she was rewarded with a soft click. Eureka!

With barely a sound Dawn was free. ‘Now, think ‘Spike’, think sneaky, don’t you dare bump into anything.’ On her hands and knees the trembling girl crept past the metal tables, around the tall stools, over the cables and to the door. She inched her hand up to the handle, slowly pulling down as she rose.

Half way through the door she glanced back to see Knox staring at her. They both froze. With a sudden flare of adrenaline Dawn reacted first. Yanking the door open she darted through it…and ran as if her life depended on it.

***