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Chapter Text

Timeline And Ages

This takes place 8 years after BTVS season 7 episode ‘Chosen’. Comics/Season 8+ are not canon in this story.

This makes Buffy around 31 and Dawn 25.

As for Stargate time-line, this story begins just at the end of the season 4 episode 'Prodigy’

I'm making Cadet Jennifer Hailey 20, her age was never discussed in the show but the Air force academy requires four years to pass and a year after the episode Prodigy she is has graduated, meaning she likely joined the academy at 17.

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This fic is primarily an "Overpowered Buffy and Dawn" story and makes no attempts at being anything else, except maybe a serious comedy, whatever that is.

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Copyright Jargon

I do not claim to own Buffy : The Vampire Slayer, Stargate, or any of the characters within those titles.
This story is a work of fanfiction and not intended to infringe on the original copyright holders rights.
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Communication Type Legend

"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

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Chapter : 1 Swirl    (This chapter was originally uploaded to TtH on Sept, 27, 2022)

Buffy frowned at Dawn as the young woman climbed up off the ground and wiped off her pants.

“I don’t understand why you are even here.” Buffy said, admonishing her sister. “I told you that you were to stay back with Giles.”

Dawn’s eyes narrowed at her.

“You know very well why I am here.” Her sister hissed and pointed at the large ring that sat about twenty yards away. Inside the intricate metal ring was a swirling blue portal that looked like flushing water. “The prophecy said the ‘Key’ was the only power strong enough to control this thing. So if we need to close it to save the world, then it’s up to me!”

Buffy sighed and grabbed her sister's arm, nonchalantly pulling her out of the way of an incoming demon attack.

“This really isn’t the time or the place to be having this discussion.” Buffy said, throwing a stake at the demon without even looking, yet still striking true and killing the beast. “You should have waited until we cleared the area before coming up here.”

Dawn crossed her arms and shook her head, ducking slightly as a large plastic trash bin flew past her head and was lost in the portal. The pull of the portal had been growing steadily as time wore on, and soon they likely wouldn't be able to even stand where they were without being pulled inside.

“Giles and Willow finally figured out why time is flowing differently near the portal.” Dawn explained. “Turns out that the demons opened a portal into a black hole. Black holes exert so much pull that they can even pull time itself into it.”

Buffy’s eyebrows rose up at that and then glanced toward the ring. Could this portal really be powerful enough to do that? Honestly, they didn’t know enough about this whole situation to even guess as to the portal's original purpose, but somehow she doubted it was this. What they did know was that this ring wasn’t even originally from this reality, having been brought here by some kind of transdimensional traveler.

“So do you even know how you are supposed to close it, or are you just winging this?” Buffy asked, challenging Dawn’s presence here once more. Her sister might be twenty three now, and quite capable of taking care of herself in a fight, but Dawn was her only remaining family, and she would not lose her if she had anything to say about it.

“Yes.” Dawn said simply and turned to face the portal. “I just need to touch the ring.”

Buffy’s eyes shot wide.

“Are you nuts!” She yelled, grabbing her sister's arm again. “Haven’t you been paying attention? Nothing can get close to it without being pulled in!”

Dawn turned her head to face her and frowned, and for a moment Buffy thought that maybe she had talked some sense into her sister. But then Dawn suddenly got a very serene look on her face, one that Buffy recognized. She herself had made that same face back on Glory’s tower before she had jumped.

“No. Don’t you even think about sacrificing yourself!” Buffy yelled, holding tightly to her sister's arm. “This isn’t like when I jumped, the world isn’t ending this time!”

Then the ground shook violently and Dawn stumbled into Buffy’s arms.

“Actually Buffy, it is.” Dawn whispered, her face close enough to Buffy’s now to do so. “That quake, it’s just the first, because if we don’t close this thing, it will rip this planet apart.”

Buffy closed her eyes and hugged her sister close.

“I can’t lose you.” Buffy whispered in return. “It’s been us against the world all this time.”

Dawn pushed herself out of Buffy’s embrace, and even with Buffy’s superior strength allowing her to prevent such an action she found herself not doing so.

“This time it’s my turn to save you.” Dawn said, reaching up and wiping a tear from Buffy’s cheek. “Besides, there’s a chance I’ll make it. If I can close the portal before it pulls me in…”

Buffy shook her head and looked around the room. For a moment, she found herself lost in the moment, and all sound dropped from the room. She saw the five other slayers who were nearby, all fighting the demons that had opened the portal. Off to the left near the entrance to the warehouse, she could make out Willow and Giles talking in what appeared to be fast motion, time flowing just a bit faster for them. She then spotted a metal chain slowly being dragged along the floor toward the portal, and stomped her foot down on it.

“Dawn.” Buffy said in a commanding tone. “I understand why you think you have to do this. And I won’t stop you. But I won’t let you do it alone either.”

Down looked down at the chain as Buffy picked up one end and wrapped it around her sister’s waist. She then looked at Buffy and smiled at her, clearly understanding her plan.

“Now I imagine this will get pretty tight around you as you get closer and the pull increases. It's probably going to hurt like hell, but at least this way I can keep you from being pulled in outright.” Buffy said and she wrapped the other end of the chain around her own waist.

“I understand.” Dawn said, nodding, her expression showing her determination. Buffy couldn’t be more proud of her sister at that moment. “Let’s do this.”

Dawn began to walk slowly toward the portal and Buffy began to back up, allowing the chain to become taught. Once they reached a distance that the chain was fully pulled tight, Buffy began to step forward, fighting against the force of the pull of Dawn’s end of the chain.

At about twenty feet or so from the portal, Dawn was lifted off her feet and hung in the air as if she was falling downward, except she was falling sideways. Buffy’s feet began to drag in the dirt of the warehouse and the pull became greater still. She gritted her teeth and used her slayer strength to fight to pull as best as she could. She could see that dawn had a pinched look upon her face, likely being crushed slowly by the wrapped chain, but she still seemed determined, reaching her hand out toward the edge of the ring. Problem was, the pull of the portal was drawing Dawn toward the center, and the ring itself was out of her reach.

“Dawn!” Buffy cried out, but she could tell that Dawn couldn’t hear her. So Buffy decided to alter her plan and began to walk sideways, trying to pull Dawn closer to the side of the ring, but no matter what she did, the pull of the center was too great.

Deciding to abandon this tactic and try something else, Buffy tried to reel Dawn back in, but found that if she tried to do so, the pinched look on Dawn's face got worse. And worse still, she was watching her sister's agony happen in slow motion.

Then the ground quaked again and Buffy found herself stumbling forward slightly, only just being able to catch herself before Dawn entered the portal itself.

But apparently that was close enough, because it was then that Dawn started to glow and bits of green energy particalized off of her skin and flew into the mouth of the portal. However, instead of the particles entering and being swallowed up, they bounced around inside the ring itself as if hitting some kind of invisible barrier.

Buffy bit back a curse as the strain on the chain around her own waist started to become unbearable, and her skin began to tear from the pressure. Gasping for air she tried to reaffirm her grip on the chain and attempted to transfer the strain from her waist to her hands and arms before it could reach her torso. It was then that she noticed the glow exuding from Dawn had begun to travel up the chain and was starting to make her own hands glow.

“This can’t be good.” Buffy muttered and then focused on the ring. The portal inside was starting to flicker, as if it was becoming unstable. “Okay, maybe it’s not bad either.”

Buffy felt a tingle along her skin and looked down to find her hands had started to particalize, coming apart as if she was turning into a green dust. She looked up again and found that Dawn herself had completely disintegrated and her energy was bouncing around the portal still, the chain between them still holding taught, but onto nothing at all.

She was gone… Dawn was gone.

Buffy screamed as she tried to unwrap the chain from herself, but it was too tight, and soon she couldn’t even try any more because her hands had completely turned into little particles of light, then her arms followed suit.

As she became resigned to her fate she turned to look behind herself. The other slayers were all watching with wide eyes, and Willow and Giles were yelling something, but she couldn’t hear them. All she could do was offer them a small smile in the way of goodbye.

Whatever happened next, she wasn’t sure, but she felt herself falling toward the portal, even though she no longer had eyes or ears or any kind of body, she still knew, was still aware.

“Buffy?” Dawn’s voice came from somewhere. “What’s happening?”

Buffy tried to respond to her sister, but she didn’t know how to speak without a mouth, so all she could do was hope and pray as she felt herself become awash inside the portal, a rush of cold flowing over every particle that used to be her and Dawn.

And soon, she sensed nothing more.





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“Unscheduled off-world activation!” Walter called out as the Stargate sprang to life instantaneously. It had happened so quickly in fact that none of the chevrons had lit and no spinning had occurred as per usual. It was as if the wormhole had spontaneously connected, bypassing the usual process altogether.

“Close the iris!” General Hammond ordered as he quickly descended the spiral staircase at the back of the control room.

Walter slammed his hand down on the palm reader that would allow him to do as ordered and the Iris slid shut. However, before it did so, they all caught a glimpse of the wormhole, and Walter found it odd that its color had shifted from a blue to a green. In all his years in this post, he had never seen a different color wormhole.

“Report!” The General requested as Walter watched two defense teams rush into the gate room and aim their rifles at the Stargate.

“I’m not sure, the wormhole just appeared, the connection was instantaneous.” Walter explained. “So far there is no IDC.”

Before the General could ask a follow up question, a glow began to permeate the iris as specks of tiny green light popped out and ran along the seams of each blade. Walter bit his cheek and wished that Major Carter was here to properly diagnose what was happening, but she was still on M4C-862 with the rest of SG-1.

“Security teams evacuate the gate room!” General Hammond said into the mic, ordering the men who had rushed into the room back out again. Walter’s commanding officer then turned to him and said. “We can’t be sure if this is some kind of radiation. Close all of the blast doors.”

Walter nodded and activated the doors which all slid into place once everyone was clear. He also lowered the large blast screen that covered the window between the control room and the gate room. He then turned to the monitor on his left which showed multiple angles of a closed circuit feed of the gate.

They watched in wonder as the green particles ran along the iris, danced down the grating and railings of the ramp and then began to coalesce on the concrete floor of the gate room. Soon a form appeared and the green glow dissipated leaving behind a young blonde woman. She appeared to be unconscious and breathing, the subtle rise and fall of her chest easily made out even on the monitor.

There was then a whooshing sound and Walter checked his other monitor.

“General, the gates shut down. Incoming wormhole has disengaged.” Walter said as he watched the iris automatically retract.

General Hammond leaned in and squinted at the monitor and was likely trying to decide what to do. He then walked over to the phone on the nearby wall and picked it up.

“Radiation team, move in.” Hammond ordered into the phone after a moment. “Medical and security teams be prepared to move in as soon as the all clear is given.”

Walter looked up at his commanding officer and frowned as the man returned to standing beside him.

“Who do you think she is, sir?” He asked.

“I don’t know, son.” The General replied. “But we’re definitely going to find out.”





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Major Samantha Carter stepped out the gate and found herself back in the SGC, Jennifer Hailey at her side. The mission to M4C-862 had not gone at all to plan and she wasn’t looking forward to the debriefing. They had lost a man, one of the scientists they were sent to protect, killed by bugs made of energy. At the very least she was thankful the cadet she had brought along had survived, because God only knew how much guilt she would have felt if she had lost the young woman.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she noticed the sheer number of people in the gate room, all moving around with scanners. She then spotted the General standing nearby already talking to Colonel O’Niell. Both men turned to face her as she and Hailey approached the bottom of the ramp.

“Major, I know you are just getting back and haven’t had a chance to be medically cleared or debriefed, but I need you to head directly to the control room.” The General ordered. “We had an incident occur about twenty minutes ago and I need your expertise diagnosing what happened.”

“Yes, Sir.” Carter said, handing the Zat she was carrying to a nearby marine and then nodding at Cadet Hailey who gave her a small smile in return.

“An incident, Sir?” She overheard O'Neill ask as she walked away, unfortunately she didn’t hear the General's response because she was already out the door and heading around the corner to move up the steps into the control room.

“Walter.” Carter said as she arrived. “What do we have?”

“Approximately twenty one minutes ago an unknown gate connection was made.” Walter began to report. “System logs indicate that no handshake was given by the gate before the wormhole was formed.”

Carter stopped looking at the monitor and the logs in question and gaped at Walter.

“That’s impossible.” She said in disbelief. “The gate has to handshake with the incoming wormhole.”

“See for yourself, Major.” Walter said as he pointed at the information listed on the screen. And just as he said, there was the data that indicated just what she thought was impossible.

Carter began to type furiously, dissecting the data that was being presented to her.

“Okay, it looks like the wormhole was originally connected to another gate and some kind of energy blast caused it to leap… wait.” Carter said, stopping abruptly as she realized what she was seeing. “Something similar happened when we were dialed into a black hole a couple years ago. We had to set off a shaped nuclear charge in front of the gate to make it jump from the gate inside the event horizon of a black hole to another one nearby so that we could disengage the wormhole. Except this time, it looks like ours was the gate that received the displaced wormhole.”

“So, somewhere out there, someone else was connected to a black hole?” Walter asked.

“It’s possible.” Carter said. “Or, someone used a similar technique to force an instantaneous connection to our gate. But for what purpose, I can’t imagine. I assume we still had the iris closed in time to prevent any kind of incursion?”

Walter nodded and Carter squinted at his hesitant expression.

“What is it, Walter?” She asked.

“Well, someone still made it through, even with the iris closed.” He explained, pulling up a recording on a nearby monitor.

Carter was about to ask how that was possible but then the video began to play and she watched the lights dancing, forming into the shape of a young woman.

“Holy Hannah.” Carter whispered and she could see Walter nodding beside her in agreement.

“You’re telling me.” Colonel O'Neill's voice broke in from behind her and she glanced up to find him standing there with Cadet Hailey looking on in wonder. “The General just filled us in and our cadet here requested permission to assist in the investigation. What do you think, Carter? Could you use another egghead?”

Carter frowned at the egghead comment but then eyed Cadet Hailey who had a hopeful look in her eyes.

“I don’t see the harm in it sir, she will need to stick around for a while until we can debrief on what happened on 862 anyway. Might as well put her to work.” Carter said with a smile.

“Alright, Cadet.” O'Neill said to the young woman who now had an overpowering smile on her face. “Listen to Carter and try not to make too many waves around here.”

“Yes, sir!” Hailey said, saluting. “Thank you, sir!

Carter smiled as she turned back to look again at the paused playback showing the blonde woman that had appeared in the gate room.

'Who are you?' Carter wondered.


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Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.
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Chapter 2 : The Taste Of A New Reality  (This chapter was originally uploaded to TtH on Sept, 30, 2022)

(Ugh)

Dawn slowly fluttered back into consciousness, although she wasn’t sure she had been unconscious to begin with, just overwhelmed to the point of blind shock.

The first thing she became aware of was the coldness on her skin. However, an attempt to rub her arms over her skin and warm herself was met with… static-like nothingness. Panic then, as she realized she had no solid form. She could feel herself, it was like that subtle sensation you can feel of air entering in your lungs, but inside every inch of what she would have called her body. She was like a breath floating in the wind. (Am I dead?)

But this wasn’t wind, there were currents and eddies all over the place, drawing her upward and downward, side to side, but most of all there was an inward pull, like a gravity well disguised as a warm hug. She couldn’t quite see what was at the center of that pull, because of the sheer amount of noise assaulting her senses, but she could ‘feel’ a familiar presence.

Buffy. Yes, this was definitely her sister because she could recognize this feeling of ‘home’ without fail. (What’s happening?) The sound of a heart beat then, coming forth through all the other record scratches, dings, whizzes and pops. It seemed her hearing was as overwhelmed as her sight was. But she found that if she concentrated on Buffy, she could hear the thump thump thump as clear as day.

She tried to focus more, to sift through the visual noise and try to actually see something, and in doing so became flooded with so much information that she wasn’t sure what to make of any of it. Her eyes… (Damn, how am I seeing everything around me at once?). She tried to close her eyes so she could collect herself, but it was to no avail, she had no eyelids.

It was all noise, streamers and arcs of energy, particles of light, lines like a wireframe model forming shapes and figures. Now, she wasn’t so great in science, only got a consistent B back in highschool, but she was quite sure that she was seeing every wavelength on the spectrum of light at once. From radio, to x-ray, through iridescent, all the way up to gamma, and it was near impossible to tear down and focus on any one thing and make out its form as she would have with her own eyes.

Honestly, it was starting to hurt her head. (Great, apparently I can get a headache without having a physical head.) Clearly pain was still a thing though, and so were emotions apparently because she was definitely feeling fear. So perhaps her body, her nerves, her brain, her heart, she even could swear she could feel her blood pumping, it was all still here, just… lighter, empty, a different form completely,

An echo. Yes, that was the best description she could muster.

As she focused some more and peeled away the layers of waves and particles, the place that she was, or more so, the place that Buffy was, became slightly clearer to her. She could make out the shape of a room, and even the shape of Buffy’s body laying on a metal framed bed. Beyond the walls of the room she could still faintly make out level after level of other rooms and winding corridors. Whatever this place was, it was big.

Now things got weird and kinda gross. She could smell everything in the room, worst, she could taste everything. (ew ew ew. Wait, is that my sour apple chapstick? I knew she borrowed it without asking!) The musks, the fragrances, all of it was everywhere, floating around like little specks of flavor among icebergs of stink. Thankfully, it took less time to peel that layer of her senses back and keep them at bay than it had been to do for her vision and hearing. She was grateful for that, because honestly, Buffy needed to take a shower.

And now she was quite sure this was a hospital room of some kind because of all the medical grade cleaner she had tasted on the counters and the floor. Thankfully the aftertaste of sweat, dirt, blood, hair, skin, and well, yeah, everything too gross to think about, all quickly faded from her taste buds (If that’s what I even have), because if it hadn't she would have found out if she could vomit in this form real fast.

Her attention shifted as another heartbeat came close to where Dawn was currently centering herself near Buffy. She could see the outline of a person, a woman. (Freaky, I can see her nervous system, and it kind of looks similar to the electricity flowing through that light up there, and OW!)

Dawn’s form wracked with pain as she recoiled as best as she could away from the light fixture she had been ‘touching/tasting/seeing/hearing/smelling’. (God this is so confusing.) The lingering sensation of being shocked actually seemed to course through her entire form, which of course was the size of the room, and perhaps a bit more as some of her was spilling into the corridor nearby.

And she was quite certain that Buffy had experienced the shock too because she had seen/felt her sister’s body jump in reaction. (Oh crap, am I conducting it to her? Did I hurt her?) Fearing for her sister's safety, Dawn attempted to put some distance between her and Buffy only to start and feel some strong resistance.

Worse, Buffy’s body seemed to be following her. (Crap, I’m attached to her somehow. Maybe if I try to pull hard enough I can detach myself.)

So Dawn attempted to flitter around the room, moving the center of her ‘focal consciousness’ such as it was, to various locations further away from Buffy. Unfortunately, no matter what she tried, she felt the resistance holding her back and Buffy’s body would shift in reaction. The other forms present in the room seemed to be trying to keep Buffy from moving around, so perhaps if she worked against their pull she could tear free.

But she couldn’t, and she was quite sure the people that were with Buffy were yelling things, but she had peeled back too much of her hearing to make it out. It was then that she realized she was in many ways trapped and tethered. Dawn started to feel claustrophobic and in her panic she tried to pass through a nearby wall, not fully paying attention to the electrical currents present there.

This time the pain was ten times worse and she felt the need to actually scream, so she did so, and even without a real mouth or vocal cords, she was quite sure she had made a sound because not only did she see all of the other people present shift in reaction, she felt their surprise coming off them in waves.

She tried to gather herself and shake off the pain, and quickly succeeded.

(Okay, if I can’t leave, then maybe the only option is to move inward, closer. Keep from touching anything dangerous.) Dawn focused on Buffy and slowly moved her way toward her sister’s body, embracing her with all of her own form.

Upon touching Buffy directly, Dawn suddenly felt different and everything went dark. It was quiet, like she was inside an empty room, but she could hear muffled sounds outside.

“What… Where am I?” She asked, feeling the words vibrate in her throat. (Wait. Since when did I have a throat?) Did that mean…

Dawn opened her eyes and found herself looking out into what she realized was the same room she had just been experiencing through a wholly different level of senses. She felt elation at having normal eyes again. Not to mention, she had skin again! No, it wasn’t her’s, it was Buffy’s. She was inside her sister, controlling her body. But she felt a weight on her chest, as if she was being held in place, unable to move. There was also the sensation of arms wrapping around her from behind. She didn’t think the arms were what was keeping her still, no, it was something else. Perhaps it was because she was a guest in this body?

There was a sense that Buffy was there, present in the back of her own mind. Dawn could hear whispers, perhaps a dream taking place inside her sister's unconscious mind. So at least she knew that Buffy was alright.

And yet, something was wrong. Pain. She, or perhaps Buffy, hurt everywhere. It wasn’t a sharp pain, more like that sensation you get when your foot falls asleep and you put pressure on it and regret it, but it was everywhere.

“It hurts.” Dawn said, trying to convey to the man who had just come into sight and knelt in front of her. He was older, had salt and pepper hair, definitely Military judging by his outfit. Thankfully Buffy was asleep because she would likely not react well to his presence. Dawn wasn’t as annoyed by the military as her sister, but she could definitely understand her sister's fear and reluctance to trust them.

In any case, maybe she could get them to help her, help Buffy. With a frantic need to communicate, she tried to articulate her request, but her jumbled emotions and thoughts seemed to all want to rush forward at once. It was like her excitement at the prospect of finally being able to talk made her thoughts become all out of order. Worse still, she felt herself talking, but she had no idea what she was saying. It was as if she was trying to convey every worry, fascination and question she had felt since waking up here, all at the same time, unbidden and uncontrolled.

After a moment she was finally able to stop herself from talking. She needed to focus if she was planning to get any kind of meaningful conversation going.

She heard quick footsteps and suddenly two men ran into the room waving weird looking devices around and suddenly Dawn was struck with a compulsion to get away. Finding herself outside of Buffy’s body again, she tried to flee from the energy waves that were being created by the devices. They didn’t hurt her as much as they set her on edge and made it hard to focus her consciousness in any one place. The waves being produced by the two offensive objects were constant and jarring, giving her the sensation of being in a hurricane.

She flitted this way and that way to try and escape the tumult, but to no avail. Giving up, she decided to try and hide behind Buffy, her sister, her hero, the one who would always keep her safe.

Once there, finding little solace as she continued to be battered by the constant current of energies, Dawn couldn’t help herself but to start to cry.

“Please, Wake up.” Dawn pleaded to her sister. She knew Buffy would likely not understand what was happening to her, but she also knew her sister would do anything in her power to keep her safe, and that’s what she needed right now, because she felt so lost. “I can’t do this alone.”

“Dawn?” Buffy asked in a tired mumble, drawing Dawn to lean back and look down at the form of her sister. Now she could see her sister's brain sparking to life, no longer under the thrall of unconsciousness, her head filling with shimmers of light as each thought became reality. And with every shining thought, Dawn became mesmerized, feeling drawn to join with the light.

So she collected every bit of herself, and did just that.

~SGC, Observation Room One, Five Minutes Earlier~



Janet Frasier had seen a lot of interesting things in her time at the SGC, but she could honestly say that her current patient was up there with the most strange.

The woman in question was a medical miracle, or maybe perhaps ‘scientific anomaly’ would describe her better. Whichever way you looked at it, there was no guessing what was happening to her. Her heart rate was, to put it frankly, impossible. The ECG said it was 170bpm, erratic, and would have killed anyone else. And yet, if Janet used her own hand to find a pulse it seemed to indicate it was only a steady 85bpm. This would indicate that the electrical pulses in her body were being sent out erroneously, doubled somehow like the ECG was indicating there was a second heart that didn’t physically exist.

The same could be said for her brainwaves. Two separate patterns were present, and yet there was no sign of a symbiote to allow for such duality. In fact, according to x-rays, and CT scans, she was entirely normal on the inside, minus an aberrant glow over all of the captured imagery.

She had all the same organs, same bone structure, everything that screamed human.

And yet, she wasn’t normal on the inside as all those tests would indicate. Her patient’s eyes proved that. Janet had opened them to test for pupil dilation and nearly dropped her pen light in surprise. The woman had no eyes… or more accurately, the spaces where they should have been were hollow and filled with the same green particles that had been seen exiting the gate. It was almost like her insides were still in flux, even though all of her equipment said otherwise. So, were Janet’s own eyes lying to her? Even now, an ethereal green glow was visible through the woman’s closed eyelids.

Her patient seemed to be breathing regularly for someone who was unconscious, and she even had a normal pain response to outside stimuli. So at the very least she didn’t seem to be in any kind of distress, which was good.

Janet however was starting to get the feeling the Observation Room was haunted. Every few minutes she would hear someone mumbling in a whisper about the strangest things, like tasting blood or hearing dirt. At first she thought it was her patient, but she had been looking directly at her mouth one of the times it had happened, and there had been no movement at all.

The light above the bed flickered slightly and Janet cursed under her breath as nurse Ramirez stepped back and muttered a prayer to herself.

Yeah, that damned light was joining her current ‘The Observation Room Is Haunted’ checklist along with the mumbling AND the presence she kept feeling around her. It was enough to make the hair on her skin stand up on end.

“Hey Doc!” O’Niell said from the doorway, causing Janet and Remirez to both jump slightly.

Janet hissed and scowled at the man who at least had the sense to look apologetic.

“So, What’s got you so jumpy?” He offered after he quickly nodded to the two SF’s that were guarding the door. “Our new visitor causing you some grief?”

Before she could answer, her patient's body jumped slightly, the woman's chest arcing up off the bed as if she had just received an electric jolt. The light above had flickered in unison with her movement as if the two events were connected.

Janet shared a look with O’Niell and then looked back at the blonde woman who then suddenly rolled out toward the side of the bed as if she was being pulled by an unseen force. Janet only just barely managed to catch her before she hit the cement floor. However, before she had a chance to push her back into the bed, Janet felt another tug as if the body she now held was being pulled out of her grasp, this time in a completely different direction.

“For crying out loud, what is going on!” O’Niell asked as he tried to help Janet right the unconscious patient. Unfortunately, whatever force was yanking the woman’s body to and fro was slightly stronger than them both and they stumbled, the woman tumbling to the floor unceremoniously.

To their surprise, the unconscious body started to be slowly dragged along the floor unaided as if it was a puppet with broken strings. Before they could react, on the opposite side of the room in the same direction the woman’s body was being dragged, a metal tray full of surgical instruments clattered to the floor followed immediately by the electrical outlet on the wall sparking and shorting out.

Then they heard the blood curdling scream.

It was as if the sound had come from everywhere at once, echoing and reverberating multiple times. Definitely a woman's scream, yet again not coming from the unconscious form at their feet because that woman’s mouth was still closed.

“Colonel, I think there’s something in here with us!” Janet cried out and turned in time to see O’Niell slam his hand on the emergency button on the wall and then reach for the phone next to it.

“Security team to Observation Room One with TERs. I repeat, we need TERs in O.R. One.” O’Niell said as the klaxons began to blare and Nurse Ramirez fled the room.

Janet shook her head and focused again on her patient. She could see that the woman was being scraped up by being dragged across the cement floor, so she ignored her fears and ran to lift up the blonde's face at the very least and keep it from further damage. Then she decided on trying to cradle the woman in her arms and attempt to curb further movement.

The woman’s body jerked up again as if she was struck and Janet held her tightly in her arms from where she now sat on the floor.

“What… Where am I?” Another clearer voice asked, sounding oddly layered, this time its source very close to Janet. The doctor looked down at the face of the woman in her arms and saw that her eyes were open. They were no longer voids filled with green particles, but they were still glowing green.

“Colonel!” Janet called out, drawing the man’s attention. “She’s awake.”

The Colonel quickly moved over to kneel in front of them.

“It hurts.” Her patient said softly, yes, now it was clear that her voice was a mixture of two people speaking at once. As she continued to speak, shooting off random rapid fire statements, her voice sounded as if it was shifting through every emotion possible.

“How can silence be so loud?” Scared.

“You know, gunpowder tastes worse than it smells.” Angry.

“I could see thoughts being made.” In Awe.

“Shouldn't touch live wires.” Exasperated.

“Am I even human anymore?” Fearful.

“I was everywhere, but nowhere.” Lonely.

“Can you help me?” Hopeful.

Janet exchanged a look with O’Niell who furrowed his brow. It was then that the SF’s showed up carrying TERs and aimed them about the room, causing another quick jolt from the patient's body, her eyes closing once more.

Janet’s jaw dropped open as everyone present stared in silence as they took in what was being shown by the Transphase Eradication Rods. Janet felt as if she was looking up at a million points of green light, floating through the room like bits of dust. The dust, which seemed to be everywhere, seemed to shift around at random, and in certain places a collection of the particles would form into a shape that was recognizable as being a person, but then quickly scatter to move and collect somewhere else.

The form that would appear was in the shape of a woman if Janet had to guess based on its curves and long flowing hair. However, most details were impossible to make out due to the fact that only about thirty percent of the woman's outline would appear at a time. It was like a living constellation in the night sky, if you filled in the gaps with your own mind, you could just make her out. Honestly, the only thing that Janet could think was that this was a ghost.

Then someone started to cry and Janet glanced down to see that the ghostly form had settled alongside her patient's still body, curled up like a scared child.

“Please, Wake up.” The same disembodied voice from before said, but this was clearer and no longer a mumble. “I can’t do this alone.”

Then, as if in answer to the plea, her patient moved. Her eyelids fluttered, and she started to stir as if she was waking up.

“Dawn?” The woman muttered, no more layered voice, causing the ghostly form to suddenly jerk back from where it was curled up and then it suddenly scattered again spreading all throughout the room.

It all hovered in silence for a moment and Janet jumped slightly as all of the particles suddenly shot downward and entered the woman held in Janet’s arms. With one final jolt, her patient opened her eyes again, the glow in the woman’s eyes fading completely as she blinked twice, suddenly seeming very awake and aware.

“What the hell is going on?” She asked sharply, trying to squirm out of Janet’s arms. And damn was she strong.

“Please calm down.” Janet implored. “We are trying to help you.”

Suddenly Janet was being lifted up as the woman stood, ignoring the entire weight of her body upon her back. Janet tried to let go and stand on her own two feet but she was suddenly being swung around like a ragdoll to the woman’s front, held in her strong grip by the wrists. It was quite the feat seeing that this woman was even shorter than Janet.

“Help me? Somehow I doubt that!” The woman snapped as she looked around frantically, quickly pulling Janet into her arms like a human shield when she saw the soldiers nearby aiming weapons at her. “Where is my sister! I just heard her! I know she is here!”

By now O’Niell was on his feet and had taken a Zat from one of the SFs.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down and let the nice doctor go.” He ordered, aiming the weapon. Janet knew that if he had to shoot that it would hurt but she would likely be alright.

“Doctor?” The woman sounded even more angry now. “Typical military, looking to run experiments on me and mine. Didn’t you guys learn your lesson the last time?”

“Hate to break it to you, blondie, but you’ve got this all wrong.” O’Niell offered. “You showed up in OUR facility uninvited and unconscious, so maybe you should take a step back and take a moment to try and remember how you got here.”

The woman hesitated at that. Good, maybe the Colonel was getting through to her.

“The last thing I remember was trying to close the portal… the black hole.” She said, sounding confused. “What happened? Where is this place? And what have you done with my sister?”

“That’s the second time you’ve mentioned your sister, but no one else showed up when you did.” O’Niell said and then he looked at Janet. “Except that green ghost.”

“Green ghost?” The woman rasped out, suddenly releasing Janet and stepping back. She then looked around the room, seeming much younger than she had a moment before. “Dawnie?”

It was then that O’Niell fired his Zat, the electrical blast arcing over the woman’s body. Surprisingly, she actually seemed unaffected, although she looked even more pissed now than she had a moment before.

“Now see here!” She began to say, holding up her finger in a fit of rage. But she stopped suddenly and looked down in surprise at herself as she began to glow green.

“Dawn?” the woman asked, seeming confused.

Then she vanished in a flash of green particles.

Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

Chapter 3 : New Tenant    (This chapter was originally uploaded to TtH on Oct, 13, 2022)



Buffy was disoriented, and it wasn’t just because she woke up in a strange hospital room inside what could only be a military facility. No, she was a bit muddled because she had just heard her sister's voice inside her own head.

Now, it's not that she heard Dawn ‘speak’, no, this was more like she heard Dawn ‘thinking’. It was hard for Buffy to describe the difference or how she could tell her ears hadn’t been the thing picking up the sound of her sister's voice, but it was definitely inside her head.

Buffy had just been electrocuted, or well, someone had tried to do that to her, but nothing happened. At least not to Buffy. But she heard Dawn, inside her head, screaming. And then suddenly, Buffy was somewhere else, stumbling forward to catch herself on a nearby table and keep from tumbling to the floor. Somehow, it seemed that she had just teleported.

“Okay, that just happened.” Buffy said, looking around at where she was now, trying to ignore the loud alarms that were going off in whatever facility this was. Currently she appeared to be inside some kind of lab. The walls were much like the ones that had been in the room she had just been in, concrete everything, pipes, lots of gray, so it was a good bet she was still inside the same facility. She noticed that there was someone in the room with her, a young blond woman, dressed in a military outfit. She seemed startled by Buffy’s presence.

“Uh. Hi.” Buffy said lamely and waved.

The woman raised her hand to wave back, then shook her head as if to realize what she was doing and stopped her hand before it could continue.

Buffy blinked a few times to try and clear her vision, which was still tinged with green spots that were starting to fade. The color was familiar, and reminded her of the particles her and Dawn had been turned into before being sucked into the portal. But where was Dawn? If she had just heard her voice in her head, she must be nearby, right?

“Dawnie?” Buffy asked nowhere in particular.

[Buffy?] Dawn's meek voice came back. [God, that hurt. Remind me to give that guy a piece of my mind next time we see him.]

Buffy’s eyebrows rose as she considered the fact that her sister was somehow inside her mind. For a fleeting moment she considered that maybe they were just communicating telepathically like when Willow connected their minds during missions sometimes.

[Actually Buffy, You were right the first time, I’m inside your mind.] Dawn replied, causing Buffy’s eyes to widen because it was clear that Dawn was hearing Buffy’s thoughts, even the ones not meant to be heard outside of telepathic conversation. [Yeah, I haven’t quite figured out how to separate your thoughts from what you actually want to say to me, but I think I can with time and practice. It’s just a big mess in here right now, seriously, how do you focus on anything with all this clutter?]

“Hey!” Buffy snapped indignantly, causing the woman across the room to jump slightly. “Oh, sorry, I wasn’t talking to you.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at that.

Buffy turned her head and looked at nothing in particular as she continued her conversation with Dawn.

“What happened, Dawn?” Buffy asked. “How are you inside my head?”

[Uh, I don’t know exactly, I just know I woke up without a body.] Dawn replied and Buffy could almost feel her sister’s frustration and nervousness. [For a bit there I was kind of floating around the room, but I couldn’t seem to get far away from your body. Seems like somehow I’m tethered to you. But yeah, I’m not really just in your mind right now, I’m kind of in your whole body.]

Buffy’s right hand began to raise involuntarily like it was being pulled on by a puppet string and Buffy quickly used her other hand to reach up and snatch it and stop Dawn from moving it.

“Don’t do that.” Buffy said, exasperated, shaking her head. “I am already freaked out enough with you being inside my head, I don’t need you moving things around.”

[Sorry.] Dawn replied sheepishly. [But hey, I think I can pop out of your body if you want and do the floating around thing. It might even keep me from moving around your bits. But from what I am figuring, I think my mind or my consciousness might be permanently connected to your brain, and that’s why I am tethered and can’t get too far away.]

Buffy blinked, taking in what Dawn had just said.

“Could you not call my body parts…. bits?” Buffy said and shivered in disgust at the imagery. “Makes me sound like some kind of wacky frankenstein.”

[Well what else should I call them?] Dawn asked, her voice laced with humor.

“I don’t know!” Buffy retorted lamely.

[So, should I hop out and see if I can still move anything from out there?] Dawn asked.

“Sure, I guess… I mean, as long as you don’t think you will be harmed by not being inside me… ugh, I mean inside my body, again with the imagery.” Buffy said, placing her head into her hands.

Buffy heard someone whispering and looked over toward the woman who had been listening in on her side of the conversation and found that she was on a phone, peering at her warily as she talked to whoever was on the other end. Great, Probably have company coming.

“Dawnie?” Buffy asked, wondering how her sister’s test was going.

[I’m hovering just over your right shoulder.] Dawn replied and Buffy glanced, seeing nothing. [And I can’t seem to move you around anymore. But let me try something.]

Suddenly Buffy felt her mouth moving.

“Test, test, okay, it seems I can still talk through you from outside.” Dawn's voice came from Buffy’s mouth, sounding layered with her own voice.

“Dawn!” Buffy yelped, seizing control of her own mouth again. “That’s even worse than you moving my arm! It sounds so weird!”

“Sorry Buffy, but maybe I want to be able to speak to the outside world without coming off as casper the friendly ghost, you know?” Dawn replied. “Or would you really deny me that just because it creeps you out?”

Buffy pouted, but considered her sister’s words. If Dawn really was trapped without a body of her own, she could understand how unnerving that would be. Hopefully they could find a way to get her body back, because her sister was too much of a social butterfly to be kept inside the ‘Tower of Buffy’ for the rest of her life.

Buffy laughed, or well, Dawn had. It was weird, because Buffy could feel the mirth from Dawn’s sudden desire to laugh.

“Did you just compare me to Rapunzel?” Dawn asked and then her voice shifted to inside her head again. [You know, I think you should just communicate with me in your mind, then maybe you wouldn’t sound like a crazy person while talking to me. And it would be a good way to reduce how much information we are giving out to the military peeps here.]

Buffy looked at the young woman across the room again. She had hung up the phone and was just watching them now, a curious expression on her face.

[Good point.] Buffy said. [What do we know about this place or these people anyway? You seem to have been awake longer than I have. So give me a run down.]

Before Dawn could answer, one of the doors in the room swung open and in ran three armed soldiers and the man who had tried to electrocute her before. They all moved into position and raised various weapons at her. Buffy eyed the strange electric gun in the man's hand warily. It didn’t seem to be much of a threat to Buffy, but to Dawn…

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to lay down on the floor and surrender.”

[Great.] Dawn mused. [This guy again.]

Buffy however had tensed with annoyance at how she had been addressed but otherwise ignored his demands.

“Uh oh.” Dawn said, usurping Buffy’s mouth. “You called her ma’am. She hates that.”

“Dawn!” Buffy snapped, and then she looked at the man who had spoken. “Though, she is right. My name is Buffy, so if you would please call me that.”

The man looked at the other three soldiers in confusion and then back at her.

“Alrighty then… Buffy.” He said, hesitantly. “So, what’s with the flashy green eyes when you talk with that strange voice? What are you, some special kind of snake head?”

Buffy narrowed her eyes.

[What did he just call me?] Buffy asked, seething.

[A snake head.] Dawn replied. [Not sure what he means by it, I don’t think it was meant to be an insult or anything. But I could be wrong because I am sensing a weird emotion from him I haven’t categorized yet which I think might be ‘disdain’. It could be for either you, uhm, us, or just directed at the concept of snake heads.]

Buffy tilted her head at Dawn’s casual mentioning that she could sense the man’s emotions.

[Oh sorry, yeah. I am kind of getting a whole range of new senses while I am floating about like this. It’s cool, but it has its downside, like If I don’t concentrate enough I can end up accidentally doing something like tasting everything in the room at once… and it’s not pleasant.

“Ew.” Buffy whispered to herself and made a face, drawing the four men with weapons to look at her confused, which reminded her that the one guy had asked her a question. “Oh right, sorry. No offense buddy. But I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“Goa’uld? Tokra?” The man said, and Buffy was even more lost than she had been a moment before.

[Right there with ya, sister.] Dawn added.

The man seemed to pick up on her confusion and decided to continue on.

“Okay, so you’ve never heard of them.” The man said, and then before he could say anything more, the woman from before meekly said ‘sir’ to get his attention. “Cadet Hailey? Do you have something you want to add to this discussion?”

“Yes Colonel.” Hailey replied and then stepped forward. “You were talking with someone named Dawn earlier, correct?”

Buffy nodded, she couldn’t really deny it, after all, the woman had overheard much of the conversation.

“And Dawn is inside you?” Hailey asked.

“Yes. I am.” Dawn replied before Buffy could. Buffy wanted to snap at her, but she suddenly felt an unspoken request for patience from her sister. “We are currently sharing a body. I’m not sure where my original body went, but I have a feeling the portal we passed through may have scrambled us up a bit and it was lost.”

The Colonel raised an eyebrow at her answer.

“So, what… you are trying to tell us that you are two normal humans sharing one body?” He asked. “Because I gotta tell ya, normally humans don’t glow green and teleport.”

Buffy put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at the man.

“We never claimed to be normal. And the teleporting thing was so totally your fault.” She retorted and then suddenly felt self conscious and was second guessing her hypothesis about what had happened. “At least… I think it was. Dawnie?”

“Yeah. You’re right.” Dawn confirmed. “The electrical charge you used on Buffy hurt me instead, and I uh, just wanted to get away… so poof, teleportation. To be honest with you, I was not aware I could do it, but I am really jazzed about the possibilities.”

“Oh great, does that mean you're gonna be zapping me all over the place?” Buffy groaned. “Because I gotta tell you Dawnie, it was kinda unpleasant. At least for me.”

“Well, I mean, I will have to figure out how to do it again at will, and no Buffy, I won’t be willy-nilly zapping you all over.” Dawn replied with an undignified snort. “But you have to admit, it could come in handy.”

Buffy tilted her head and then nodded. She was right of course.

[Of course I am.] Dawn agreed.

Buffy groaned.

“Stop reading my thoughts!” Buffy snapped.

“Sorry, you are just thinking too loud.” Dawn replied.

“Ladies!” The Colonel yelled, drawing their attention. “I don’t know if you have forgotten but… you are kind of in the middle of a situation?”

He motioned to himself and the three other soldiers who were still holding weapons on Buffy.

“Sorry Colonel.” Buffy said with a shrug. “I’m not sure what you want me to say or do. I just want you to know that if you insist on trying to take me prisoner, then I’m not going to go without a fight.”

The three other soldiers stiffened at her words and reaffirmed their aim.

“What my sister ‘actually’ means.” Dawn said, her tone carrying reprimand for Buffy. “Is that there is no need for violence. We mean you no harm. Unless of course you intend to harm us, and if that becomes the case…”

The three pistols and one electric gun were suddenly flung from their hands to a spot clear across the room.

“That’s just a sample of what you could expect.” Dawn continued, humor in her voice.

“Wow Dawn, way to completely counter your own claim that we mean them no harm.” Buffy said, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her grin. She couldn’t help her smile, because honestly she was impressed by what Dawn had just done.

“What, we don’t! Not without reason anyway.” Dawn snarked back. “And you know very well that a vague disclaimer is nobody’s friend.”

Buffy sighed and nodded, then locked eyes with the Colonel who was staring in shock at his weapon which now lay on the other side of the room.

“Look, if we meant you harm, you would have been harmed already.” She said flatly. “So if you want to discuss the situation like adults, without all the gun pointing nonsense, please, lead the way and we shall follow.”

The Colonel looked at Buffy like she was insane, but then shook his head and stepped aside to allow them to move past him. He then waved his hand toward the door and two waiting soldiers who would likely be leading the way to wherever they were headed.

[Dawn, can you like, see behind me?] Buffy asked.

[Yeah, I kind of have a three-sixty view of everything.] Dawn replied.

[Nice.] Buffy said, letting a sly grin cross her face. [Keep an eye on our new friends and let me know if they try anything while I’m not looking.]

[You got it, sis.] Dawn said.

Buffy started toward the door and considered just how good a team her and Dawn could make if this ended up being permanent.

[I agree.] Dawn said with humor in her voice.

[Dawn!] Buffy yelled. [Stop. Reading. My. Mind!]

[Make me.] Dawn replied, her tone giving away that she was just joking around.

Buffy pouted as she walked, all the while listening to Dawn laugh inside her head.

Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

Chapter 5 : Reasons To Blush



Buffy sighed as she looked around the ‘observation room’. She hadn’t been pleased that they had been relegated to this large cell-like area, but the woman named Carter had said that it was actually normal procedure when dealing with ‘situations like theirs’. Buffy hadn’t been sure what that was supposed to mean so she had asked as such while she changed behind the provided privacy screen.

Carter’s response had been that the room was multipurpose, depending on what was needed for any given situation, ranging from conducting life saving surgery to keeping certain contagious medical situations contained. Then the woman added that they also sometimes used it as a place to run experiments or examine scientific oddities without the rest of the base being at threat from any unexpected accidents that might occur in the process.

Buffy had tensed immediately, assuming that they were being considered a ‘scientific oddity’ to be experimented on, but she had been quickly calmed by Dawn who insisted that these people had every right to be wary of their presence, especially when faced with the mystery of what they were capable of. Still, in the end what it really took to set Buffy at ease was Dawn pointing out that between Buffy’s strength and Dawn’s new abilities, they could easily get out of this room if they really wanted to.

After Buffy had dressed and Carter had left, Dawn had taken to floating around the room doing ‘tests’ of her new form and its limits, and at the same time promised that she was trying to find a way to separate Buffy’s private thoughts from their ability to communicate inside ‘their’ mind.

It was a bit weird and slightly annoying for Buffy to have to consider this ‘their’ body now and not just hers alone, but having faced so many strange circumstances over the years, it was safe to say they had both become adaptable and maybe a little jaded.

Still, it was definitely a big change.

[Sweet!] Dawn said suddenly and Buffy could literally feel her excitement. Curious as to what was so exciting, she looked around in question, but she still couldn't see Dawn to know exactly where she was.

[What’s up?] Buffy asked.

[I just figured out how to shift my visual range to be what it was with plain old human eyes.] Dawn explained. [Meaning I don’t have to get inside you to-] She stopped talking and giggled as Buffy scrunched her nose at the terminology. [-I mean, I don’t have to merge with you to see the world the same way you do.]

[Oh. Cool.] Buffy said with a shrug. Honestly she couldn't imagine what Dawn was going through right now. The sheer amount of information her sister seemed to be experiencing with her new senses was staggering. In fact, Buffy could actually feel how overwhelmed Dawn was by all of it, but her sister was clearly trying to play it cool.

[You noticed that, huh?] Dawn asked sheepishly, again clearly hearing Buffy’s thoughts.

[Yeah, you really don’t have to try and act like this isn’t bothering you. I’m here for you Dawnie.] Buffy said, wishing she could hug her sister. Then she grinned mischievously, sniffed once magnanimously as she raised her chin, and then spoke using her best Cordellia impression. [In fact! I’m literally unable to not be here for you, so I suppose it wouldn't be so bad to spare the time to offer you my support.]

There was a beat before she started to feel her sister’s amusement mixing with her own, and they both broke down and laughed.

It was probably a strange sight, Buffy randomly breaking into a fit of laughter in a room by herself, but hey, these people knew she wasn’t actually alone, or crazy… she hoped.

[So this eye thing.] Buffy went on after getting herself back under control. [Why is it a good thing? I mean, aren’t you seeing less with plain jane human vision than you could with your new senses?]

[Well, yes, technically.] Dawn said, a feeling of contemplation washing over Buffy. [But take Mr. Guard up in the window over there for example.]

Buffy turned and regarded the soldier in question who was watching her…them, from the little observation booth set into the wall. He had clearly been eyeing her until she looked at him and then he looked straight ahead as if to attempt to hide his attention on her. She wondered for a moment if it had been her fit of laughter that had drawn his attention or if he had been checking her out. She hoped it was the latter because he looked to be around her age, and he definitely had that soldier-boy look working for him. Yup, definitely drool worthy.

[Uh! What about him?] Buffy asked quickly when she realized that Dawn probably heard those idle thoughts.

[Well, now imagine looking at him and not seeing depth, color, texture, or even things like light and shadows.] Dawn said, thankfully not mentioning Buffy’s mental escapades in ogling.

Buffy squinted and couldn’t really imagine it. But she figured he would look pretty nondescript, flat, and empty, almost like looking at one of those outlines police draw around a body with chalk.

[That’s actually a good analogy, Buffy.] Dawn said. [Now, tell me. Looking at him that way, is there any way you could decide if he was more or less ‘drool-worthy’ than anyone else?]

Buffy ignored the throwback teasing and furrowed her brow at the question, considering it in earnest.

[Well, no. Kinda hard to drool over a line drawing.] She answered after a few moments and then her eyes went wide as she realized how truly sucky that would be. [Okay, I guess I see what you mean.]

[Yeah.] Dawn said with a sigh. [I mean, it’s not like my new senses don’t have their uses, and I’m learning how to switch each of them on and off if needed, but I kind of like being able to see the beauty in the world, you know?]

Buffy nodded in understanding.

[Although, one cool thing is that even when seeing the world in ‘normal’, I am always viewing it as a three hundred sixty degree sphere. Basically I can see all around me at once.] Dawn said and Buffy could just feel the joy in her words.

[Wow. I think that would just confuse me. Like, can you even tell which way you are facing? You had trouble focusing on research as it was, I can’t imagine what you’ll be like now.] Buffy asked with a grin as she shook her head. Then her smile slowly melted into a frown. [Honestly, I’m not sure how long it would take for me to get used to something like that, or if I ever would.]

There was a pause and suddenly Buffy felt Dawn begin to panic.

[What. What is it?] Buffy asked, looking around frantically in worry.

The panic receded slightly after a few seconds, but Dawn still had yet to respond.

“Dawn?” Buffy asked aloud.

[Sorry.] Dawn finally said, her words weak. [What you said triggered a moment of realization that I’m not really… me, anymore. And it's possible that I’m gonna be like this forever.]

[Oh. Dawnie.] Buffy said, wrapping her arms around herself, wondering if Dawn would feel it and treat it like a hug.

[Yeah, it kind of is like one. Thanks.] Dawn replied softly, a feeling of warmth coming with her words. [And hey, hugging like this means you can’t accidentally crush my ribs anymore, so that’s nice.]

[Haha. Very funny.] Buffy groused futility because a mirthful smile betrayed her attempt to sound annoyed.

Buffy noticed movement in the observation booth and looked over to find a young woman had entered and had relieved the guard of his duties and was now in the booth alone. Buffy would bet good money though on the fact that others were still watching through the two cameras she could see in the corners of the room.

[Wait, isn’t that the woman who was in the room with us earlier when we teleported?] Dawn asked.

[Yeah.] Buffy said. [I wonder why she’s here.]

The young woman in question moved to sit in a chair facing the glass and then smiled at them. Buffy suddenly felt a wash of blush creeped up her neck. Odd, she hadn’t felt the need to blush. Unless…

[Dawn… why are you suddenly feeling embarrassed?] Buffy asked.

[I, uh. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.] Dawn said in a nervous rush, her tone making her voice sound like a squeak.

Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion, wondering what was making Dawn suddenly feeling nervous now on top of the already present embarrassment. It was moments like this that even given how annoying it could get, Buffy kind of wished she could hear Dawn’s thoughts in return, because sharing her emotions without the context sure made things confusing. Which meant, all she could do was try and figure out what Dawn was so flustered about based on the clues she was being given.

[I said it’s not a big deal. Please, Buffy, just ignore me.] Dawn pleaded, sounding a bit frantic now.

Before Buffy could think more about it, the speaker in the room sounded and the voice of the young woman now watching them came through it.

“Hello. I’m Cadet Jennifer Hailey, we uh, we met earlier but I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself.”

Again, a sudden rush of various emotions flowed from Dawn. Buffy shook her head and tried to ignore it.

“Um, Hi, I suppose regardless of the circumstances, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Buffy and my sister Dawn is… well…” Buffy motioned to herself vaguely and then again at the room at large. “Somewhere.”

Hailey looked around the room as if she was trying to spot Dawn.

“Hello again, Dawn.” Hailey said to nowhere in particular. It was kind of nice that the woman was attempting to include Dawn so personally as it would be easy to just focus on Buffy herself.

It took a second to realize that Dawn had remained silent and Buffy tilted her head in question.

“Uh, Dawn’s feeling a bit frazzled right now, you know, new situation and all.” Buffy offered, again wondering what was up with her sister.

“I’m fine.” Dawn said, finally, taking over Buffy’s mouth, even adding a small pout at the end. “It’s uh, nice to meet you Cadet Hailey.”

“Please, call me, Jen.” She replied with a smile.

“Call me Dawn.” Dawn replied awkwardly. “Which you already knew and did already, haha. Just ignore me.”

Buffy felt herself blushing again and she felt compelled to pull some of her hair behind her ear. Why was that familiar? In a moment of clarity she had a flashback to how Dawn had always acted whenever Xander had been around when she was younger.

[Oh. My. God.] Buffy yelled, her eyes going wide, causing Jen to raise an eyebrow at the physical reaction lacking any context. [You’re attracted to her! Wait! Since when are you into girls!]

Buffy suddenly felt a rush of something passing all through her body and then her hand was being held up against her will, a single index finger raised.

“Excuse us for a moment please.” Dawn said to Jen with a forced smile and then Buffy felt herself turn around and move away from the window.

“Dawn!” Buffy cried out. “What did I say about moving my body!”

[Sorry, I just… God. I can’t believe we are actually having this conversation right now.] Dawn mumbled. [For your information I’ve been attracted to girls for a couple years now. I mean come on, you try not questioning your sexuality after spending twenty four seven three sixty five surrounded by Slayers with all their strength and mystically imbued perfect skin! Hell, I hardly even saw any guys outside of Giles, Xander and Andrew this whole last year!]

Buffy’s eyes remained wide for a few moments but then her expression shifted into a smile.

[Okay.] Buffy said. [I suppose that makes sense. Sorry, you just took me by surprise.]

[You… wait. You’re okay with it?] Dawn asked, sounding perplexed.

[Of course, I mean, helloooo, my best friend is gay. Remember? Besides, as long as you are happy, then I will support you one hundred percent. Although, as your sister I reserve the right to scare off any potential girlfriends if they seem like they may not be good for you.] Buffy said with a shrug and then looked over her shoulder at Jen who was watching with curiosity. She waved awkwardly and then turned to look away again. [So were you nervous because of how I would react to finding out you're gay?]

[I’m bi actually, and no, not really.] Dawn replied easily.

[So then why are you so nervous right now? I’ve never seen you act this way around the Slayers before. In fact, you’re a picture of confidence around the Council houses. I mean, right now it feels like you’re about to crawl out of my skin, so what gives?]

[Well…] Dawn started and then, as Buffy felt a rush of embarrassment again, her sister began to ramble so fast that even Willow would have a hard time keeping up. Seriously, she could actually hear the lack of commas. [I just got a good look at her up close and thought oh she’s really cute and then I was like I bet she’s a good kisser and then I realized I don’t have lips or a body so the only way I can be intimate with anyone is if you let me take control of your body and even if you did allow that you would still be there watching and so then I realized I would be too if you were ever to find someone you wanted to be intimate with and oh god this is embarrassing please shoot me now!]

Buffy, by the end of Dawn’s run-on rant, was beet red, definitely also feeling her own embarrassment.

[Oh.] Buffy said softly after letting her sister's words sink in. [I hadn’t really thought about any of that yet… I was just being Slay gal and only focused on the tactical advantages and all that. But now that you mention it, this really does pose some tough questions for what life will be like for us going forward… especially on a personal level.]

[Yeah.] Dawn agreed softly.

Buffy could feel her sister’s worry and despair now, replacing the nervousness and embarrassment completely. It took everything she had to try and counter those feelings with comfort and acceptance. Buffy’s dating life had always been complicated, so what was one more complication in the grand scheme of things. Besides, she loved her sister, and she knew there was nothing they couldn’t face if they were doing it together.

[We’ll, if we can’t figure out a way to reverse this, we’ll find a way to live with it.] Buffy said adamantly. Dawn's emotional state leveled out a bit at that and led Buffy to smile softly. She then straightened up and breathed in. [For now though, we need to focus on the situation at hand. Okay?]

[Right.] Dawn said, suddenly sounding all business, but Buffy could still feel her sister's uncertainty which made it hard to concentrate.

Buffy turned around and smiled at Jen as she tried to compose herself.

“Sorry about that. Just a little sisterly conference.” She said with a small chuckle, “I’d say ‘you know how it is’, but I don’t really know you or if you have any siblings so you may not get what I’m talking about and oh god now ‘I’m’ rambling!”

Buffy placed her head into her hands and groaned.

“Uh, well, if it means anything, I do have two older brothers, so I kind of get it.” Jen replied, causing Buffy to lower her hands and look up at her again. She found Jen offering her a look of both curiosity and concern. “Are you okay? You seem nervous. I mean, we hoped that my coming here to talk to you might put you more at ease, with you know… everything. But if you want me to leave…”

“No!” Dawn yelped.

“It’s fine.” Buffy said with a knowing smile, taking over almost immediately in a calmer manner. “You’re right though, this is all a bit overwhelming. But I think it would be nice to have someone to talk to who isn’t pointing guns at us.”

Jen nodded and smiled, and then Buffy realized what the young woman had said.

“Wait, they sent you to keep us calm?” Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow and the beginnings of a glare causing Jen’s eyes to widen slightly.

“Oh, well, they could tell that you are wary of the military, so they are looking to get a civilian to come and speak with you. Problem is, that the person they wanted to have come talk to you isn’t around just yet, and because out of everyone you’ve met here so far you seemed to feel less threatened by me, so here I am.” Jen offered with a wince at the end, her expression giving away that she had probably said more than she should have, which led Buffy to figure that she could believe her.

[Yeah, she’s being honest with us.] Dawn said. [And she definitely became a bit worried as she talked. I think she figures she will get in trouble for admitting all of that to us outright.]

[Wait, You can actually sense that she’s telling the truth?] Buffy asked.

[Yup!] Dawn said proudly. (Well that will definitely be handy.)

“Well, thank you for being honest with us.” Buffy offered with a genuine smile. “It means a lot, especially after dealing with some of the military goons we’ve encountered in the past. Let’s just say that they were big with the dishonesty and ulterior motives. Trust me, I wasn't a fan at all.”

“I guess I can understand your reaction then.” Jen acknowledged, returning the smile and then she furrowed her brow some. “So, you dealt with the military a lot back where you're from?”

“Well…uh, one sec.” Buffy started and then she turned her head. [How much do you think we should tell these people?]

[I mean, they already know our first names, and no offense Buffy, but your name is pretty easy to narrow down in a database search.] Dawn said. It sounded like a tease, but Buffy felt no mirth behind it so she knew her sister was being serious. [And with that in hand, if they have access to the Initiatives files, then they are already going to know everything there is to know about you being a Slayer. Maybe just don’t mention the other Slayers or the Council, or Willow, or magic in general. Oh! And don’t mention that we had anything to do with Sunnydale’s collapse, or explosion at the Colosseum, or how I accidentally turned the rivers in Egypt to blood last year with that ritual to banish Petbe.]

[Any other extremely specific subjects I should avoid?] Buffy asked with a chuckle. [I mean, you forgot to mention you being the Key.]

[Very funny.] Dawn replied with a huff. [Although, I’m afraid that one may not be avoidable.]

[What do you mean?] Buffy asked.

[Well, I’m pretty sure that our whole ‘merged bodies’ situation was caused by me being the Key.] Dawn explained. [So it’s going to be hard to leave that part out if they ask us how this happened.]

[What if we just act oblivious and wait for the others to find us? I’m good at being oblivious if I have to be.] Buffy suggested. [Besides, I’m sure Willow is already scrying for our location.]

[Like there’s any doubt.] Dawn agreed. [Still, I’m thinking we need to cooperate, at least a little, just in case we need to get out of here on our own. And I think I would rather talk our way out than fight, especially seeing that they are all human and we can’t go all out on them.]

[Okay. Talking it is.] Buffy agreed and then smiled. [So, do you want to take over and talk to your little crush, or…]

[No, no. you're fine. You got this.] Dawn said quickly as Buffy turned her gaze back to Jen.

“Sorry again, having two conversations at once is going to take some getting used to.” Buffy said. “So, right, yeah, we’ve dealt with the military a few times over the years. The first time was, I’m thinking it’s coming up on eleven years ago now, and it definitely gave us the worst impression possible of just what the military is capable of. See, they came to our hometown and were conducting experiments on not only the locals, but their own soldiers too.”

Jen seemed shocked by that.

“Wow, that’s awful.” She replied in earnest, and then her expression softened. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that here. While I’m still just a Cadet and this isn’t my normal posting, I can already tell that the people in charge here are trustworthy.”

[She truly believes that.] Dawn offered.

Buffy shrugged, she had figured as much, but she also knew that it was the big wigs they had to worry about and in the end it would take Dawn’s new Lie-dar checking every single person on this base to get her to believe such a claim was correct.

“See, that’s what Riley thought too.” Buffy explained. “He was one of the soldier’s working for the Initiative, a real good and honest soldier who trusted his superiors, and he ended up being one of the people they were experimenting on. The drugs they had him on nearly killed him.”

Jen opened her mouth and closed it a couple times and Buffy wondered if she was contemplating the chances of the branch of the military she worked for doing something similar without her knowing it.

[Actually, while I haven’t seen this emotion yet, I think she’s feeling sympathy, probably for Riley and the others affected.] Dawn said.

“Well, in any case, I hope you’re right about your people.” Buffy continued. “Because we don’t need a repeat of what happened in Sunnydale. I mean, it’s not like it was perfect there before the military came and mucked things up, but it was our hometown. You know?”

“Yeah.” Jen said with a smile, probably thankful for a lighter subject. “Can you tell me what it was like living there?”

“I mean, I guess.” Buffy said with a shrug. “Typical, west coast town. Definitely not as lively as L.A. but we had our-”

“Wait.” Jen interrupted. “L.A.?”

“Yeah, we lived there before Sunnydale.” Buffy explained. “It was only a two hour drive away, so it wasn’t too drastic a change of scenery when we moved, and as a Cali girl I was just glad to stay near where the beaches and malls were, so it was definitely of the good.”

Buffy couldn’t help but notice that Jen’s brow had furrowed more and more as she spoke, so she asked Dawn, [Did I say something weird?]

[I’m not sure.] Dawn replied. [She’s really confused.]

“You’re from Earth.” Jen blurted out suddenly and Buffy blinked at the question.

“What?” She asked. “Well I mean, yeah, we are. Wait, why is that even a question you are asking? Where else would we be from?” Buffy asked, completely flummoxed.

“Uh…” Jen stammered and looked over at the nearby camera. “Well… we assumed… since you came through the Stargate that you were from-”

The door behind Jen opened suddenly and Colonel O’Niell quickly stepped inside.

“Cadet, I think we need to reassess the situation before continuing this little chat.” He said and then focused on Buffy. “If you will excuse us.”

Buffy watched them leave and once the door closed she turned around and raised her hands in confusion. [What the hell just happened?]

[I have no idea.] Dawn replied and then Buffy felt Dawn leaving her body. [But, I think I’m going to go find out. Can you stand near the wall on your left, it will give me a better reach.]

[What are you doing?] Buffy asked as she did what was requested of her.

[I have to stay within a certain distance of you, but otherwise, these walls and such don’t really limit my movement.] Dawn explained. [And I can see them having a little pow-wow in the room next door.]

[Ooooh.] Buffy said with a mischievous grin. [That’s my Dawnie. Invisible spy girl.]

[Yup that's me! Although, spy woman, thank you very much.] Dawn replied with a huff. [Now shush so I can listen.]

Buffy leaned against the wall for a while before eventually sitting in a meditative lotus so she could try and keep her mind clear and not disturb Dawn’s eavesdropping. The various emotions she felt coming from her sister as she was off listening in made it difficult to concentrate, but she tried her best to ignore them.

[Wow.] Dawn said, startling Buffy out of her silent trance after a good long while.

[So what’s the what?] Buffy asked, standing and stretching.

[Uh, well…] Dawn hesitated and Buffy could feel the tension in her. [You want the good news or the bad news first?]

[The good.] Buffy said without hesitation. She had always taken the good first when asked that question because ever since becoming the Slayer her philosophy had been, ‘Seize the moment, ‘cause tomorrow you might be dead’.

[Well, the good news is that Jen didn’t get in trouble for telling us the truth or letting some of that stuff slip.] Dawn explained, sounding distracted. [And hey, from what I can tell, she was right about them, while they are definitely wary about us and what we might do if provoked, they aren’t looking to experiment on us or do anything nefarious.]

[Okay, that’s good.] Buffy said. [So what’s the bad news.]

[Well, apparently they had thought we were from another planet.] Dawn explained.

[Really?] Buffy asked, shocked by that revelation.

[Yeah. I think it has to do with this ‘Stargate’ thing. They mentioned it a few times, and from the sound of it it’s probably another one of those rings like the one the demons were using to connect to the black hole. They have one here in this base apparently and we popped out of it. So, because of that, they assumed we came from… well, elsewhere. But honestly that’s not really the kicker here.] Dawn replied. [You see, with them knowing that we are from Earth, it meant that they could search various databases for us. And while they didn’t have any information on me, well… they found you pretty quickly.]

[Well, we knew that was a possibility.] Buffy said with a nod.

[No, Buffy…] Dawn said. [They found you, or to be precise they found a twenty year old you, living in L.A. with a husband named Oliver Pike.]

Buffy blinked in surprise and then she couldn’t help herself when she yelled out loud.

“Say what?!”

Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

Chapter 6 : Body And Soul

Jack leaned back in his chair in the briefing room and shook his head. It had been three hours since the revelation that the woman, or women, down in the observation room came from an alternate reality and not another planet. Which of course was a fact that came with a pretty serious complication.

Entropic Cascade failure had suddenly jumped to the forefront as a worry for their visiting guests. On top of that, they no longer had a Quantum Mirror to get these women back to where they came from. The device in question had been ordered destroyed after the incident last year with the alternate Kawalski and Dr. Carter, so there was no way -at least not one that they knew of- to save these women before they literally shook apart.

Of course, your would think that the fact that the Summers women hadn’t arrived via a mirror in the first place might have given them some hope at finding a different means to return them home before it was too late. Except, Carter was still adamant that the Stargate shouldn’t have been able to break the barriers or reality at all, even under the most extreme of circumstances, but it seemed like that was what had happened. So, hoping that they could find a way to repeat whatever caused the Summers women to cross over like they had, they reopened their dialog by informing the two women they were not in their own reality.

Interestingly enough, they hadn't seemed surprised by that fact, but they had taken the threat of Cascade Failure seriously, which was helpful because it apparently convinced Buffy and Dawn to be completely open about what had happened before their trip through the gate.

Of course, the explanation they had given was… well, it wasn’t what any of them had been expecting.

Apparently, a Stargate had been opened in their reality and connected to a black hole, which Carter actually confirmed had been the case, at least based on her own findings of the event that had brought the women here. So far so good, everything was lining up hunky dory. At least until the General had asked who had been responsible for opening the gate -expecting fully that the response would be the military or maybe even scientists- because they instead got a reply that threw them off a bit.

Demons.

O’Niell had of course automatically translated that in his head to ‘Aliens, probably Goa’uld’ and had taken the two women’s statement as a mere lack of understanding at what they had been seeing. Of course, that had only lasted a few moments, because when asked why the women themselves had been there, his assumption fell apart.

Buffy and Dawn were apparently part of a clandestine group that protected their world from everything and anything supernatural that threatened it. And no, they weren’t talking about aliens, but monsters, vampires, ghosts, demons and even sometimes actual gods.

They didn’t have much of a chance to get clarification on all of that nonsense before General Hammond had asked their visitors to focus on the event that brought them there. At that point, Buffy seemed to hesitate in answering, which was a surprise seeing that she had been so keen on spouting nonsense about vampires only moments before, so something strange was definitely going on.

That was when her sister took over and explained that Buffy was afraid to expose Dawn's secret, which was that Dawn's origins allowed for this situation.

And so the wild and crazy kept coming. Apparently, the younger of the two sisters had not actually been born, but had been created from Buffy’s DNA, fully formed as a teenager, by monks using a ritual.

A ritual, as in magic .

Not only that, but they claimed that Dawn had originally been a primordial ball of energy called the Key, which apparently was capable of breaking down the walls between realities. It had been Dawn's hope to use her own internal energy to close the Stargate and save her world from being pulled into the black hole. However, it seemed that in the process her form had broken down and both she and Buffy had been converted to energy before they had ever even entered the wormhole.

Sure, their story actually gave some explanation as to what had happened, except for the fact that it was all a load of bullhockey as far as Jack was concerned, and he had no issues voicing that opinion now.

“Magic.” He said incredulously. “They really expect us to believe all of that crap?”

“Yes, sir.” Carter replied. “And I’m not really sure we can discount what they are saying, at least in regards to the magic.”

O’Niell blinked at that.

“Carter, aren’t you supposed to be the scientist of our group? You know, you listen to them speak, you shake your head at their claim, and then you say something like ‘advanced technology looks like magic to people who don’t understand it’.”

“I wish I could do that sir, and I'm glad to see you've been paying attention in the past, but we are dealing with alternate realities here. And based on the limited testing I did on the Quantum Mirror before it was destroyed, I can guarantee you that the theory of infinite universes is correct.” She explained. “Which means the fundamental laws of physics within our own universe have only a comparable basis in any discussion we may have about what is possible in any other given reality, especially if you move far enough away from our own local cluster of realities in the infinite spectrum of existence.”

Neither Hammond or Teal’c said anything for a moment as they were probably trying to figure out what the heck Carter had said, just like he was. Jack was glad that Cadet Hailey had been sent to get some kip, or else the two eggheads would probably start endlessly spouting nonsense back and forth again. Of course, it ended up not mattering that the younger genius wasn’t there, because Carter must have taken their silence as a request for her to ‘explain’ what she meant and spoke up again without prompting.

“You see, Sirs.” She began, turning to look at both of her commanding officers more directly. “Beyond what we would consider differences in a reality’s timeline based on varied choices by its inhabitants, like what we saw with the other Kawalski being alive and Dr. Carter having not joined the air force, every universe would also have a chance at having its own varied physics or dimensions that exist within it. We for example have depth, height, width, subspace, hyperspace, and the various other dimensions like the one in which the Reetou exist. If you recall, they exist on a dimensional plane that is one hundred and eighty degrees out of phase with us and can’t be seen by the naked eye, but allows them to still interact with our environment. So, it is entirely possible that in the Summers' reality that there is an overlaid set of dimensions that are similarly out of phase, but allow for the manipulation of matter and energy by sheer force of will and thought, or even by contacting higher life forms who live in those planes to do it for them.”

“Did not the being Oma Desala possess the ability to manipulate matter and energy in such a way?” Teal’c asked.

“Yes. Exactly.” Carter agreed. “And it’s entirely possible that whatever dimension Oma Desala's kind exists within that allows them to do those things here in our reality, is simply much more accessible to the everyday person in the Summers’ home reality.”

“So, Major. What you are saying is that it’s possible that in their reality, real magic could exist.” General Hammond asked.

“I believe so sir.” Carter acknowledged and then her face fell a bit. “As for the rest of it… vampires, werewolves, ghosts… that’s a lot harder to swallow, and yet, again, the further away you get from our reality, the more likely unimaginable changes will begin to occur. What I am surprised about is that we have fiction here in our world that touches on those very subjects. It begs the question where those ideas came from and if maybe the writers of our reality somehow gleaned that those things exist somewhere out there in the infinite multiverse.”

“Could it not be possible that they exist here as well? Merely out of sight to the general population?” Teal’c offered, and honestly, Jack didn’t like that possibility at all.

“As much as my curiosity is piqued by that possibility, I’m afraid we don’t really have the time to debate the existence of the supernatural in our own reality.” Carter said and then her tone shifted to one of worry. “Our focus must be on returning these women to their own universe before the Entropic Cascade failure has a chance to take hold.”

Hammond was nodding, likely agreeing that saving these two women’s lives was paramount, but O’Niell couldn't help but notice how Carter’s tone carried more of a ‘this could be dangerous for everyone’ kind of worry than a singular one for these two women.

“Major?” He asked, hoping she would catch onto his question and explain, which was a surprising thing to admit.

“Sir, if what they are claiming about Dawn's origins is accurate, we are talking about a singular force born at the beginning of the universe that is powerful enough to alter and break down the barriers of reality. It could literally be a remnant of the big bang, and somehow I doubt that such a powerful force experiencing a loss of cohesion through Cascade Failure would be good for any of us.”

“Right then.” O’Niell said, his eyes going wide. “So how long do we have?”

“The timetable may be altered by a few factors, like the distance of their reality to ours, or that there are two of them sharing a body and that Dawn doesn't seem to have a counterpart here. But going solely based on what happened with Dr. Carter, breakdown should begin somewhere around hour thirty two of their being in our reality.”

“So we have a little more than twenty four hours left?” Hammond asked to which Cater nodded. “Alright then, lets-”

Before he could finish what he was going to say, quick footsteps could be heard clamoring up the stairs into the briefing room and soon Walter appeared.

“What is it, Airman?” Hammond asked.

“Sir, Major Davis just reported in. He’s been able to locate Buffy Summers' counterpart.” Walter replied. “But there is a complication in bringing her to a secure location for observation.”

Hammond noticed that Walter seemed to falter and hesitate at that point, so he said. “Spit it out, son.” 

“Well, Sir, it appears that she is currently at LAC Medical Center.” The Airman reported and everyone reacted to that news with widening eyes. Had something already happened to the other Buffy? Last time the Cascade Failure had only affected the newcomer to their reality, leaving the original alone, but circumstances could very well be different this time. 

“Is she alright?” Carter asked. “Do we know why she is at the hospital?”

“Yes ma’am.” Walter replied, his face falling. “Approximately five hours ago her daughter passed away.”

O'Neill's heart shuttered slightly at that, memories and feelings of his own loss bubbling to the surface momentarily.

“Five hours ago, that’s exactly when Buffy and Dawn arrived here through the gate.” Carter pointed out. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

“That’s not all, Sirs.” Walter said. “It seems that her daughter's name was Dawn.”

There was silence in the room for a moment before O'Neill finally said what everyone was thinking.

“Huh.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy and Dawn had been arguing since the Air Force peeps had gone off to discuss what Dawn had told them. Why were they arguing, you ask? Because while Buffy had not been keen on sharing quite so much about Dawn's origins, her sister had decided to simply steamroll past her and tell all. Sure it was technically Dawn’s secret to tell, but that hadn’t been the issue.

No, what was the issue was that when Buffy had hesitated to say anything, Dawn simply overrode Buffy's control completely and wouldn't let her get another word in edgewise. And as you can imagine, this had upset Buffy a great deal.

[But you weren’t listening!] Dawn was saying for the fifteenth time as Buffy paced back and forth. It was a good bet that anyone watching her was currently comparing her to a caged tiger, or a nut-ball, because she was silently scowling and flailing her arms about to emphasize shouting that was taking place entirely inside her own head.

[It doesn't matter if I was listening or not!] Buffy yelled, her anger getting the better of her. [This is my body and you can’t just take it over like you own the place! Come on, Dawn! You’d think with what’s happening to us you could put yourself in my shoes! I mean, how would you feel if an unwanted guest suddenly usurped control of your body?]

Her words were immediately followed by silence compounded with a severe wave of sadness, and Buffy suddenly realized and regretted how she had worded what she had just said.

[Dawnie, I didn’t mean-]

[Yes, you did.] Dawn interrupted. [I’m unwanted. Always have been, ever since the monks shoved me into your life.]

[That’s not true! I swear that I meant the situation was unwanted, not that you were!] Buffy asserted and meant every word, but she could still feel Dawn’s pained disbelief. [Seriously? I can’t believe after all of this time you can possibly think that you are unwanted. That I don’t want you.] She sighed and shook her head, for a genius, sometimes her sister could miss the most obvious things. So, in hopes to counter her sister's spiral, Buffy started to think about how much she loved her sister and why. [You can literally hear my thoughts and feel what I do Dawn, so you just go ahead and try and tell me you are unwanted.]

Buffy’s thoughts and memories flowed in silence for a few minutes as she recalled the good times, and the bad, all of which proved how much she wanted her sister in her life. Soon enough she was remembering her jump from Glory’s tower and that was what made Dawn speak again.

[It was so hard to believe...] Dawn whispered almost as if to herself. [I mean, you’ve always said… but… there was no way to know that you really meant it. Not until now.]

[Of course I meant it, you're my sister Dawn, my family.] Buffy said adamantly. [No matter how much you annoy me sometimes, I love you more than anything else. I mean, why else did you think I jumped off Glory’s tower?]

A wave of confusion this time.

[I thought… I mean, you're the Slayer and it was your duty to save the world, to save me, you were told that death was your gift and we both know that you’ve never been able to walk away from your destiny before. It was just like with the Master and how you knew you were going to die, but went anyway. Besides, the monks made me your sister and made you love me so that you would do your duty…] Dawn trailed off at that and Buffy wasn't sure how to reconcile that her sister had apparently spent the last decade assuming she had only jumped because she was the Slayer, and not because she was her Sister, capital S.

Now that she thought about it, Buffy remembered Dawn saying something similar to her and mom after she had found out she was the Key, that she thought Buffy had to love her because it was her job, but she honestly thought that she had proved how much she loved her in the days and years that followed. Apparently she was mistaken.

The words she had spoken before she jumped suddenly rang in her mind and she wondered if Dawn had somehow sparked the memory.

Dawnie, I ‘have’ to. Listen to me, listen, I love you, I will always love you. This is the work I ‘have’ to do.  

Okay, yeah, hearing those words now, she could see why Dawn would have assumed she meant ‘Had to save you’ and not ‘chose to save you’.

[Dawnie…] Buffy whispered gently as she placed her hand on her own cheek in an attempt to comfort her sister. [The monks didn’t make me love you, that was my choice.]

[You don't know that. It’s magic, they could have forced you to love me.] Dawn said flatly.

Buffy shook her head.

[I do know, because for a short while, I had no love for you at all.] Buffy admitted. [So if a spell was forcing me to love you, it wasn’t a very good one.]

[What?] Dawn gasped out and Buffy grimaced, knowing for a fact that her words had stung her sister.

[Look, when I did the spell to see what was hurting mom and discovered you hadn’t always been a part of my life…] Buffy began softly, purposefully avoiding the word ‘real’ because she knew her sister had always struggled with that idea. [... Well, I was hurt, confused, scared, and most of all I was worried that my own memories apparently couldn’t be trusted. Everything I knew to be true about you being my sister, including my love for you, was suddenly suspect and I got defensive, pushing all my feelings aside to deal with you as the Slayer. So for a short while, I didn’t love you, I wanted you gone, because you were a threat to me and my family.]

She felt Dawn stir inside her and there was pain, despair and a little bit of anger which let Buffy know she needed to finish what she was saying quickly so that Dawn could finally truly understand.

[But then… the monk told me what you were, that you were innocent, and that you had no idea that you weren’t my sister.] Buffy's recall was playing the monk's words over in her own mind, and it was clear that Dawn was surprised by them, because she could feel a wave of understanding and acceptance flowing from her now. [My heart broke for you in that moment, Dawnie, because no matter how much I was hurt to know that the monks had played with my memories and altered my life, I realized how much worse it would be for you. So you see, that’s how I know that it’s always been up to me to decide how I feel about you, and I’m telling you that I chose to love you.]

Dawn's emotional turmoil raged for a little longer but then began to subside and was soon replaced by a warmth that Buffy recognized.

[I love you too, Buffy.] Dawn said, and then with no attempt at all to hide her snark she added. [Even if you are a howler monkey.].

[Hey!] Buffy said, and instinctively threw up her hand as if to smack Dawn but then realized that smacking herself to do it would be pretty silly. She dropped her hand a little and then looked at it. [You know, if you’ve been feeling this way for all these years… Then part of me is glad that this happened to us, so I could finally have a way to prove it to you.]

[Yeah.] Dawn whispered and then feelings of remorse flowed. [I’m sorry about taking over earlier. Cause you’re right, I wouldn’t like it if someone suddenly stole my body from me.]

Buffy smiled just as her attention was taken by the large metal door to the observation room sliding open to admit O’Niell and Carter.

“Summers.” O’Niell said, using the name that Buffy and Dawn had requested they be called if someone was addressing both of them equally. “We’ve got some news.”

Buffy raised her eyebrow at that.

“Must be some big news if you are coming into our cage to tell us.” She said snidely. She was still not pleased about being kept in this ‘observation’ room, Dawn’s logic and reasoning about why it made sense notwithstanding. 

When she and Dawn had told their story, the others had all crowded into the little observation booth to listen. Not one of them had seemed comfortable enough to come into the room with them since they had been placed in there more than four hours ago, and it made her feel like some kind of specimen.

“It’s not like that.” Carter assured her. “This room is simply better equipped to handle-”

“Scientific oddities?” Buffy asked, reusing Carter's own words, and then she felt what could only be described as Dawn poking at her. So she rolled her eyes. “Sorry. Dawn explained why it makes sense that you feel it necessary to keep us in here, and is insistent we give you the benefit of the doubt, but as you can imagine it's hard to not feel like I have to be on the defensive.”

“Well, then you’ll be glad to know that we are giving you a change of scenery then.” O’Niell jumped in with a weak smile, in fact, he seemed much more subdued emotionally than all of the previous times she had seen him.

[You're right, he's sad about something.] Dawn confirmed.

"Now that we know the specifics of the situation, and that you are willing to cooperate, we've arranged proper guest quarters for you." O'Neill continued, unaware that they were assessing his state of emotion. "You'll still require an escort anywhere you go on the base, but keeping you in here has fallen on this side of unnecessary."

At Buffy's raised eyebrow, Carter jumped in.

"Mainly you were being kept here because the stability of your condition was in question. Truth is, we've never encountered anyone who was joined in such a way before, so we wanted to have you somewhere we would be able to provide you with medical care if things began to break down. But we've cleared you medically, and even though there is the threat of Entropic Cascade Failure, you being in this room won't really stop anything. In fact, there's not much we can do about it other than getting you back to your reality."

“Oh.” Buffy whispered, and then she remembered what O'Neill had said when he came in. “So was this the news you wanted to tell us?”

“No. It's that we finally located your counterpart from this reality.” Carter explained, her face falling. “The reason it took so long was because she wasn’t at home or at her place of work, but the hospital.”

"Oh. Is she alright?" Buffy asked, suddenly worried for another version of her, although she wondered why. She didn't really know this other her, and yet they were the same person. It was a strange situation.

"Physically, she's fine… emotionally is another story." O'Neill said, and she couldn't help but notice how carefully he was watching her, as if he wanted to see her reaction to this news. "She suffered a death in her family."

Buffy tensed, but couldn't help but notice how quiet Dawn was being. In fact, Buffy was feeling a lot of numbness from her sister at that moment. Of course, there was a likely reason, seeing how they had gone through this kind of thing before, in fact…

She was about to ask if it was the other Buffy's mother that had passed, but Dawn interrupted her. [Buffy, mind if I ask them a question?]

[Go ahead Dawnie.] She said with a small smile at her sister's consideration. It was clear their earlier argument had had a positive outcome. But it seemed that one last clarification was required. [And just so you know, I don't mind if you talk when you want to, I just wasn't a fan of you taking over and preventing me from speaking.] 

[Okay.] Dawn replied absently, sounding very distracted as she shifted her focus to Carter. "Major, what's today's date?"

"Oh, uh, it's September Twenty Sixth." Carter replied, seeming taken off guard by the fairly random question.

“The year?” Dawn sought.

“Two thousand.” Carter answered. “Why do-”

"It was her daughter that passed away, wasn't it?" Dawn interrupted, and at Carter's surprised nod Buffy suddenly felt conflicted by both pain and jealousy. Buffy had always wanted to have children, and it seemed that this other Buffy had succeeded in doing so, and yet… it was clear that things had gone badly. Buffy couldn't help but wonder if this would have been her life if she hadn't been a Slayer. Would she have had a child only to lose it? Of course, her contemplation of 'what if’s' came suddenly to a halt when Dawn continued on a near whisper. "At nine forty three this morning.”

It didn't sound like a question.

“How did you know that?” Carter asked which led to Buffy adding, [Dawn?]

[I, uh… Just checking a theory I have.] Dawn hesitantly replied to Buffy and then turned their head at Carter. “I know because it’s the exact time that I was created by the Monks.”

“Wait, what?” Buffy took over. “How do you know that ?”

Buffy suddenly felt Dawn’s guilt.

“On my eighteenth birthday, I… I found myself wanting to know how old I was… like, how old I really was, not just my fake implanted age.” Dawn explained out loud, likely so that Carter and O’Niell could understand as well. “So I asked Willow to do a spell for me to find the exact time and date I came into existence.”

Buffy frowned. Why hadn’t either of them told her this, and why had they felt it necessary to keep it a secret in the first place?

[I knew you would freak, because you’ve always tried to keep talk about my creation to a minimum in fear that I might suffer an existential break and cut myself again.] Dawn explained, turning her head to the side to look at nothing as she spoke to Buffy. [But this had nothing to do with me being upset about not being real, it was actually-] She hesitated and then continued out loud. “I did it to finally be able to accept who and what I was. Knowing when I was created, it helped me understand how much of my life was truly mine, and how much of it was fabricated. And ever since then, I’ve been doing everything I can to be my own person, building on what I was given to make it my own. You know?”

Buffy smiled sadly. She had always known her sister suffered from uncertainty of her existence and the meaning of it all, but to know that her Dawn had been able to find solace in such a way, it made her not only relieved, but proud. Perhaps she hadn’t been giving her sister enough credit after all these years of growth. Sure, she knew her sister was a genius linguist and demonologist, but to know she had finally grown confident about her existence and grounded herself in such a way, well, Buffy couldn’t help but suddenly feel silly about trying to protect her from it all the way she had.

[I’m your… family , Buffy. As much as I hated how much you hovered, I did understand why.] Dawn offered and Buffy felt a bit of solace at that, but then she tilted her head as she noticed her sister's hesitation and wondered what that was all about. Did it have something to do with what was happening?

Buffy raised an eyebrow as the swirls of Dawn's nervousness returned.

“Dawn. There’s clearly something more you're not saying… I mean, what’s all this have to do with the other me losing her daughter at the same exact-” Buffy began to say before suddenly understanding, her gaze snapping to O’Niell and Carter. “-Wait! Her daughter's name was Dawn, wasn't it?”

“Yes. It was.” Carter replied, seeming completely fascinated by the entire conversation.

Buffy herself felt faint as the conflicting emotions from both her and Dawn battled for top spot in the pile of turmoil they were being buried under.

“Buffy.” Dawn almost whispered, her nervousness accompanied by guilt which was coming in torrents now. "There weren't actually any spells that would allow someone to find out when they were created , seeing as that kind of thing isn't common. But Willow was able to alter one meant for determining true parentage so that we could obtain the answer we were looking for. So, that means it not only gave us the information about when I was, 'conceived' and 'born' but also who my parents were." Buffy's eyes widened as her wonder turned into disbelief. "We weren't really sure how to take the results at the time… because, it listed me as having two sets of parents, neither of which were Hank or Joyce Summers."

Buffy, already having realized what was true, still needed to hear it said aloud, “Dawn, you're saying that you're my-”

“Daughter.” Dawn affirmed, and Buffy suddenly felt years worth of previously unfelt emotion bubble up as she realized that she had jumped from Glory’s tower to save her own daughter. Of course, she also suddenly understood that her instinctual overprotective nature made sense, because it stemmed from being Dawn's actual mother.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Buffy asked, feeling torn somewhere between sadness and anger, so she settled on disappointment.

"I was afraid, I mean I already explained to you that I didn't know if I was really wanted or not. And that was with you only thinking of me as your sister… but for you to find out that you had a daughter forced on you… yeah, no way was I risking that ." Dawn admitted. "Not to mention that I needed time to process it all myself, besides, what we had as sisters, while it wasn't always perfect, it was what I knew and loved. I didn't want it to change."

Buffy felt Dawn's remorse as well as her fondness and she tried to clamp down on her own frustration at knowing both Dawn and Willow had kept something this big from her. But as Dawn had said, her sis-... god, her daughter had spent the last decade not being sure if she was wanted, so she couldn't fault her for being afraid to say something.

Buffy wrapped her arms around her midsection, wanting more than ever for Dawn to actually be there to hug.

"I'm sorry you ever felt the need to hide this from me." Buffy said. "You could have told me, and I would have loved you all the more for it."

"I realize that… now." Dawn replied, a spark of relief flooding through her.

"Well, okay then, young lady ." Buffy said, sounding a lot like her own mother had when she was disappointed, which made Dawn wince. "Now that we've gotten that bombshell out of the way, mind sharing who the other parents are? You said there were two sets? What’s that about?"

"Well, I think I finally know why there were two, and it has to do with different realities. I'll explain that in a second, but first, the person from our reality that was paired with you was… well…”

“Dawn?” Buffy asked after a good four seconds passed.

“Faith." Dawn blurted out without any kind of preamble.

"Faith!" Buffy yelped in surprise. "What? How? And more importantly, WHY ?"

"Well I figure the monks had no idea there was another Slayer out there… so casting a spell to use the Slayer’s blood to create me would have included her."

Buffy sighed and ran her hand through her hair. It made an annoying amount of sense. Ugh, she and Faith had a child together, talk about wiggy.

"Just when I thought my life had reached peak weirdness…" Buffy groused and then tilted her head. “Okay, and the other set of parents? You said it had to do with different realities, I assume you mean this one?”

“Yes, you see, as powerful as the Monks were with being able to create a physical body for me in our reality, Willow figured they still wouldn't have managed to do one important thing." Dawn explained. "Create a human soul."

Buffy frowned, understanding perfectly.

"So, they just took this other Dawn’s soul when she died?" Buffy surmised, suddenly feeling ill, knowing full well what it was like to have your afterlife stolen from you. “Because what, it was compatible and convenient?”

"That's what I'm guessing. I mean, they had access to the Key itself, so touching the multiverse to find an available soul would have been made simpler because of it." Dawn said. "And it explains why Willow's spell revealed that I had only one conception date but two different sets of parents and birth dates. It’s because the other Dawn, or I suppose me in my first life, was conceived in ninety seven here in this reality. Then my first birth was nine months later to Buffy Lynne Summers and Oliver Owen Pike. And while I wasn’t technically conceived in our reality, my second birth date, the date I was created -using the genetic material from both Buffy Anne Summers and Faith Elizabeth Lehane- coincides with the time and date of my first death. Which was apparently earlier today.”

“Buffy Lynne Summers and Oliver Owen Pike are the names of parents of the Dawn in this reality. So that at least supports your hypothesis.” Carter offered, reminding Buffy that they weren’t alone.

“Pardon my ignorance.” O’Niell jumped in. “But you're saying you were born today? How does that work? Didn’t you say you were made human something like eleven years ago?”

“That’s because for us, this is the past.” Dawn replied with a shrug of Buffy’s shoulders. “Before we got pulled into the Stargate in our reality it was two thousand eleven. Somehow we were sent back in time to the exact moment I was created, or… actually… maybe it’s better to assume that we were returned to my soul's original reality at the last moment it was here, like some kind of anchor. It explains the how, the when and the why.”

“The Stargate has been known to be capable of sending people through time.” Carter said at O'Neill dubious expression. “Especially when interacting with a powerful force in space, like a solar flare. So a black hole, or even the energy of this ‘Key’ having a similar effect is entirely plausible.”

“Right.” O’Niell said, sounding unsure, but Carter seemed thoughtful. The woman was probably trying to process this all as a scientist would and she felt for her, because magic was always a bit too 'chaotic' to be understood like that. In fact, maybe that chaotic nature explained why Dawn was given to her as a sister rather than a daughter, and a teenager instead of being a toddler.

"Actually Buffy, I think the monks had planned for me to be your daughter, but Faith's unexpected inclusion in the spell probably threw it all off. In fact, based on what I picked up  from your thoughts earlier, I’m thinking he probably had no idea what I actually became until you mentioned it." Dawn offered and Buffy frowned as she tried to understand what Dawn meant. "Remember what the monk said to you? Or … more how he responded when you said ‘ She’s not my sister? ’”

" She doesn't know that ." Buffy quoted aloud with wide eyes, realizing that while she had meant that in terms of Dawn being the Key instead of her sister, the man had meant it as a declaration of Dawn not knowing her actual connection to Buffy. 

Expecting to find a flaw in Dawn’s logic, she quickly went over the whole conversation in her mind again. Yet she soon found that Dawn was right, the monk never once said that Dawn was her sister, just that they molded the Key flesh, that she was innocent and helpless and needed Buffy to protect her. It sounded like he was talking about a baby or toddler, not a teenager. "But our memories… he said they built them. And you were definitely my sister in those memories."

"Well, they probably cast their spell in a hurry when Glory found them, which means they probably set basic guidelines, but let the spell do its thing on its own after. And with Faith's inclusion probably messing with the spell and altering things like my age and appearance… well, adjustments would have had to have been made because no one would accept that you had a daughter that was only seven years younger than you, so boom, teenage sister."

Buffy furrowed her brow. It was all conjecture, but Dawn had clearly been thinking about this a lot over the years since she had learned the truth. And now, after getting confirmation about this world's Dawn and her parents, it all lined up and definitely pointed toward it being correct. In fact, it also explained some other things…

"Well, I guess we know where you got your klepto tendencies from." Buffy snarked and then shook her head. "Want, take, have indeed."

"Yeah…" Dawn said almost wistfully. "I just wish I hadn't spent so many years hating her before I found out. I mean, she tried to kill you, sure, but… she was one of my moms."

Buffy straightened. "Wait. Is that why you suddenly insisted on hanging with her after you turned eighteen?" She asked. "I mean, I thought you were doing it to piss me off, but…" She paused and her voice dropped to a whisper. "Does she know?"

"No." Dawn replied. "Only Willow and I knew."

Buffy sighed and then there was a cough from O'Neill. Right, she had forgotten they weren't alone again.

"Sorry, Colonel, it's just not every day you get one life altering revelation after another like this." Buffy offered and then tilted her head. "Actually, you know what, for us this is normal."

Dawn's mirth at her words was palpable and Buffy couldn't help the giggle her si-daughter forced out of her.

"It's alright Summers." O'Neill replied and glanced at Carter who nodded at him. "But while this is all fascinating, and apparently answers a lot of questions." He paused and mumbled, "Somehow." Then continued normally. "It's clear that you two need some time and privacy to sort this all out. So let's get you to your quarters, shall we?"

"Actually, that sounds nice." Buffy replied. "I don't suppose there's a shower in there?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied. "All of our VIP guest rooms have built-in facilities to prevent the need for said guests to wander the base."

Buffy nodded. It was clear they still considered them a security concern, but it was nice to know they weren't being seen as an outright threat anymore.

As Buffy made to follow O'Neill and Carter out of the observation room, she felt Dawn's emotions churn a bit and she turned her head in question.

[I just realized that us being in not only another reality, but also the past, means that our odds of ever finding a way home are slim to none.] Dawn said softly. [Which means we'll never be able to tell Faith.]

Buffy frowned and halted in her step, having not considered or realized any of that.

[Hey. When have we ever let poor odds keep us from succeeding at anything?] Buffy encouraged.

[I guess.] Dawn replied, her mood brightening ever so slightly. [Thanks… mom.]

Buffy's eyes widened at that -because, yeah, weird- and yet she found her heart melting to the point of shedding tears of joy. Dawn had always been so brash and rebellious, especially in regards to her overbearing older sister, but here she was, treating Buffy with the love and respect meant for a mother. And now, as Buffy thought back to the burst of jealousy she had experienced when learning that the Buffy from this reality had had a daughter, she realized that she hadn’t needed to be jealous, because she already had one, and she was amazing.

“Summers?” O’Niell asked when he noticed she had stopped following them. She took a deep breath and looked up at him which allowed him to see that she was crying. “Uh, are you two going to be okay?”

With Dawn’s joy at hearing her thoughts burning into her like a warm hug, Buffy smiled warmly, and wiped at her eyes before saying. “Yeah, I think we’re going to be just fine.”

And she had no doubt about that.

Chapter Text

Communications Type Legend
"Text" = Normal verbal conversations.
"Text" = Disembodied Voice
[text] = Telepathic/Internal communication.
(Text) = A POV character thoughts to themselves.

Chapter 7 : Substance

Dawn stared at the television in front of her, marveling at the amount of information she was able to sense beyond just the usual audio and visual. There was the staticky taste of the low level EM field around the set, the feel of the vibrational and magnetic waves from the speaker, not to mention the flickering of frequencies within the cable that delivered the television signal. She could see/feel/hear/smell/taste it all.

Honestly, her new senses and abilities were a bit scary and overwhelming to her, but at the same time, she felt like the world was truly open to her in a way she could never have imagined.

This meant that even if she was afraid of the implications of her new existence as only energy, -even tethered as she was to Buffy- she found herself reveling in the possibilities… and ironically, the freedom.

And yet there was that unavoidable closeness to her mother to take into account as well. It had been about three hours since she and Buffy had been led to their new VIP suite and they had talked deeply for most of it. At this point, Dawn felt as loved and cherished as she had before Joyce had died all those years ago, if not more.

There was something so powerful about actually being able to feel the love and pride someone had for you, and Dawn was finding that she didn't want to give this up for anything, not even the possibility of being able to have her own body back. Maybe it was the fact that there was no longer any doubt if she was truly wanted, or that Buffy had been so accepting of her new status as Dawn's mother, but it made Dawn truly glad that this 'accident' had combined them as it had.

Of course, that's not to say there weren't downsides to this new existence as a tag-along in her mother's body. The whole inability for either of them to experience singular intimacy was something they would have to deal with as life went on. As it was, even on a simpler level, momentary privacy was an issue all on its own.

Dawn was still having trouble preventing herself from hearing Buffy’s internal thought processes, or feeling her emotions and physical reactions to stimuli. For example, currently her mother was in the shower within the suite's bathroom and Dawn -still in the bedroom- could feel the warm cascade of water on Buffy’s skin and the soothing act of Buffy massaging her own scalp as she washed her hair.

The younger Summers had stayed behind hoping to offer her mother a moment to herself, but even now it seemed like they were lying to themselves about being able to act separately. Or at least, from Dawn's perspective it was a lie, since Buffy likely was at least feeling a bit singular right now because Dawn was not actively interacting back. Heck, Dawn was even doing her utmost to not generate any strong emotions to give away that she was still ever-present, all in hopes to create an illusion for Buffy that she was alone.

That same illusion was likely to blame for the free flowing and unedited thoughts running through Buffy’s head about the whole intimacy issue. Dawn didn't have it in her to remind Buffy that she could hear what she was thinking. It was all still so new, so her mother could be forgiven for not avoiding straying into risqué thoughts about her past love lives, exposing Dawn to information that she really did not ever need to know.

The best Dawn could do was to focus on something else, anything else. While she did so, Buffy’s thoughts fell into the background, as if they too were like a television left on in another room. Sure it was still clearly audible, but it didn't come to the forefront of her mind if she wasn't paying attention. People the world over had grown accustomed to ignoring noise created by family members or roommates sharing their space, so she hoped it was possible to do it inside her own mind as well. Thankfully, with a three hundred sixty view of her environment and what seemed to be several hundred layers of sensual input to sift through, she was uniquely capable of sequestering her focus elsewhere.

As she shifted through her senses and the various ways she could alter them, the whole room became like an alien landscape to her, full of life, mystery, and history.

To start with, there was some dust behind the legs of the bed that contained a strange odor that reminded her of her old friend Janice’s pet snake. Then there was a spot on a wall that -while freshly painted- had a campfire-like aftertaste tinged with ozone. The rattle of the loose screw in the fan within the vent above her made her wonder how often maintenance got into this room. The deep aromas coming from the empty tray of food that had been delivered to and devoured by Buffy were enough to make her realize that even the faintest traces were enough to give her a clear picture of what had been there earlier. It was also hard not to take notice of the humidity that escaped from the bathroom through the tiniest gaps around the closed door as it battled with the dryness already present, all in a slow dance of airflow and pressure. And then there were the electrical fields coming from the outlets and lights in the room that created a beautiful and dangerous aura, one she found that she could allow her form to ebb and flow with so she spun like she was on a ride at the amusement park.

All in all, the room -generally empty and quiet to any normal observer- seemed more like it was alive, simply because she was there to experience it.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to see it, does it make a sound?

Hell yes. Probably makes a pretty interesting smell and taste too.

As it was, the whole ‘taste anything and everything’ thing was the hardest part of her new reality to get a handle on. Measuring out how much to allow herself to taste, or mainly how to direct it where she wanted, was a strange series of tests to perform, because YUCK. But the fact was that this was one of her senses, -a potentially very useful one- and she needed to learn to control it if she was going to learn to live like this and make the best of it.

Now, she wasn’t sure about things like contamination or contagion or whatever, because as far as she could tell she wasn’t leaving behind any traces like saliva, and she had no body to absorb anything into. There hadn’t been any kind of transfer of germs to Buffy’s body while Dawn had been ‘tasting’ everything -at least that she was aware of- so she wasn’t too worried. So far, the only connections she and her mother seemed to actually have were electrical in nature, with nothing physical passing between them. The sharing of emotions, thoughts, even the gravity-like tether itself, all seemed grounded (heh) in the realm of energy.

This probably meant that as long as Dawn avoided overloading electrical stimuli, her presence and actions wouldn’t endanger Buffy ‘physically’, unlike when she had when she had touched that light while Buffy had been unconscious. The only curiosity to her was when O'Neill had zapped Buffy with that electric gun, it had all gone straight into Dawn, bypassing Buffy completely and not harming her at all. It made dawn wonder if she had somehow in that instance acted like a magnetic field surrounding Buffy, protecting her.

Hearing wasn’t nearly as difficult to get a handle on as taste was, but had different dangers involved. While taste could make her feel nauseous -more due to the idea of what she was tasting than the actual taste itself- too much sound on the other hand could daze her. She had attempted to expand her hearing and listen to the entirety of the room at every point at once, and the overwhelming nature of hearing so many minuscule sounds in concert had nearly stunned her to deafness.

Buffy had been in the room at the time and hearing the woman's heartbeat, blood flow, gurgling digestive and respiratory systems, and even the smacking of her gums against her tongue as she idly mulled something over, it had been overwhelming and a bit gross.

Dawn determined with that test that parts of her form were inside Buffy, and her hearing extended to those parts of her as well. Which meant she could hear inside, outside, around corners, through walls, basically anywhere a single particle of her form was.

Again, overwhelming, but awesome.

As she was currently testing moving her form into different shapes and also seeing just how far she could expand and stretch herself before the tether started to pull at her, she found herself in position to detect someone coming to stand outside the VIP suite door beside the guard already stationed there.

She shifted her vision, causing the walls to fade into wireframes, and the person on the other side appearing as an outline with a visible nervous system inside. It sadly wasn't anything like Superman's x-ray vision had been depicted in comics, but perhaps if she practiced she would be able to keep the walls see-through but allow the person to remain normal looking. For now though, it did the trick, as she could make out that the person there was male, around six feet tall, and about to knock.

She coalesced some of her form on the door knob and twisted it open before he could follow through, the door swinging open.

Shifting her vision again, she found an unfamiliar man standing there with his hand up -still appearing as if he was planning to knock- a surprised look on his face. He was older, maybe in his late thirties. He had a learned look to him, or as Buffy called it ‘bookish’, and his eyes betrayed both his intelligence and his empathy by further being colored with uncertainty and nervousness.

Of course, that could just be due to the ghost-lake nature of her opening the door the way she had.

“Uh.” The man muttered, looking into the room curiously. “Hello?”

Dawn made to answer, but then realized her mouth -more specifically, Buffy’s- was in the other room. This meant that she had to talk in her energy form, and she still wasn't sure how to properly do it. She knew that she had done it -somewhat- when she had first awoken, but that it had been sporadic and difficult to understand. Not to mention she was sure she had scared the bejeezus out of everyone present.

All she could really do was try again and do it less… ghosty.

“Please come in.” She said… or, maybe the better term was ‘projected’ as she heard her voice sort of echoed in from everywhere at once, but mostly the television, as her voice seemed to emanate from the speakers. It seemed that the particles of her form that were inside the magnetic discs inside the speaker had vibrated enough for them to project her voice.

The man jumped slightly at hearing her and she could literally feel his tension spiking as his blood pressure increased.

“Oh! You… you must be Dawn.” The man stammered, glancing about as he hesitantly moved into the room. “I’m Doctor Daniel Jackson. I was hoping to talk to you and… uh-” He looked around the empty room and then noted the closed bathroom door with the sound of the shower running behind it. “...Buffy.”

Dawn wondered if this was the civilian that Jen had mentioned the military wanted to have come speak with them.

“She’ll be out shortly.” Dawn offered, spinning herself around Daniel trying her hardest to keep any part of her form from entering his body. But it was nearly impossible. Wherever her ‘perception’ was centered, her form became like a gas and filled the area uniformly, including inside everything present. So far, the only way to really prevent it was to hitch a ride inside Buffy, and even then some of her ended up outside hugging Buffy's skin like an aura.

Thankfully, she was already practiced enough to not accidentally smell or taste the man as she focused on him. However it seemed her closeness was noticeable enough because he suddenly had goosebumps.

“So, Daniel, what is it that you do here? I assume it's related to the Stargate?” she asked, hoping to put him more at ease to her presence.

[Dawn? Did you say something?] Buffy broke in mentally as the shower cut off.

[Yes and no.] Dawn replied, giving Jackson another once over and found that he seemed to be hesitating as he chose where to address his response. [We have a guest out here. So you might want to get dressed before you come out.]

“I… uh… I'm an archaeologist and linguist.” Jackson finally answered after recovering from the strange circumstance of talking to a room at large rather than a point of focus like a face or body. “The nature of our work here brings us in contact with a lot of ancient artifacts and previously thought long dead languages. So I definitely not only enjoy the job, but it keeps me fairly busy. Hence why it took a while for me to be able to come speak with you.”

Dawn grinned, or, well, she would have if she had a face. She loved languages, hence her own doctorate in ancient languages, so it was nice to meet a kindred spirit.

“Oh, really? I'll have to pick your brain about what languages you know.” Dawn said, as she felt Buffy toweling herself off. As it was, her mother would likely be joining them in less than a few minutes, so probably best to get the more intellectual bits of conversation out of the way now before they bored Buffy to tears.

Now, it wasn't that Dawn thought her mother was unintelligent, instead it was that the Slayer didn't like to deal with stationary situations. Research, translating, solving a riddle inside a prophecy, it was all way too static for the warrior in Buffy. No, Buffy preferred to deal with puzzles on her feet and remain moving, where her blood could pump freely and she could be aware of her surroundings at all times. For that reason, battle strategy, and even social and political situations were more her mother's forte.

“You're interested in languages?” Dr. Jackson asked, perking up noticeably.

“Yes. I actually have a PHD in ancient languages. As well as an equivalent of one in Demonology.” Dawn replied and then considered how that might sound to someone uninitiated in their hidden world. “Of course, that's not really an actual doctorate, but more of a title bestowed through completing my apprenticeship. After all, no college where we come from actually has that particular course available. But one of the Covens out of Ireland actually offers accreditations in some fields that the world at large doesn't even know exists.”

“That's fascinating.” Daniel offered earnestly, and he really did seem in awe of everything she had just said. She could tell he was bursting with questions. “When the others told me about your origins, I couldn't help but find myself curious about your world at large. Demons and magic, it all seems so fantastic, but even here, our history is full of those who believed in such things.” He paused and frowned. “Of course, much of what we've discovered while traveling through the Stargate seems to indicate that most magic and demons in our history are actually due to primitive man misunderstanding alien’s and their technology.”

“Yeah. The creatures we've encountered are definitely not aliens back where we come from. I mean, there was a demon that came from a meteor this one time, but… according to my research, most demonkind in our reality are more akin to trans-dimensional travelers rather than interplanetary ones.” Dawn explained. “Most arrived in our plane of existence through dimensional breaches known as hellmouths. Trust me, you don't want to find yourself on the other side of one of those. You see, Hell isn't just a singular place, it's a whole spectrum of dimensions ranging from dank hum-drum caves filled with creatures from every nightmare imaginable to places where you'll be screaming ‘oh, god why are my insides on the outside now?’.”

Daniel’s eyes were wide as she finished her lecture and Dawn snickered, the sound of it reverberating oddly as it came from everywhere. Her barely contained laughter must have vibrated the air itself because he jumped slightly as if he had been touched.

“Dawn, let's try to not frighten the poor man right out the gate.” Buffy’s voice cut in, causing Dr. Jackson to jump again as he had not likely heard the Slayer slinking quietly out of the bathroom like the predator she was. “Hi, I'm Buffy Summers.”

“Dr. Daniel Jackson.” He replied as he offered a hand for her to shake, clearly trying to regain his composure.

“Doctor?” Buffy bristled as she stopped herself just short of shaking his hand and looked at it like it might burn her.

“Oh, uh, not medical, but linguistics and archaeology.” He replied before Dawn could. It was clear he had been briefed on Buffy's dislike of medical doctors.

[Oh goody, a bookworm.] Buffy said dryly, and then tilted her head as she finally accepted his handshake. [Kinda hunkish though.]

[How did I know you were gonna say that?] Dawn replied with a giggle that Buffy seemed to have to fight to not let erupt from her own mouth. Of course, Dawn didn't mention that Daniel himself showed many signs of returned attraction toward Buffy, mainly because there was little doubt that her mother hadn’t noticed some of the signs with her Slayer senses as well.

[Because you know me so well.] Buffy said as-a-matter-of-factly and then continued aloud. “So, Dr. Jackson. Besides the chance to listen to Dawn's riveting campfire stories about our life back home, what brings you by?”

“Well, the General was hoping that you would be open to having me as your intermediary with the SGC and the air force. While I do technically work for them, I'm not beholden to the same command structure as the others are. So if you feel you are being mistreated or even just uncomfortable, then I'm in a better position to advocate for you.”

Buffy hummed a non-committal ‘mhmm’ as her gaze wandered out into the room, likely looking for where Dawn was currently centralized. Her general thoughts providing Dawn with the unspoken question.

[He’s being earnest. Although whether or not he actually holds sway with the higher ups is the real question. It could just all be a show for our benefit.] Dawn surmised.

[Yeah, somehow I doubt an archaeologist can hold off a well armed squad of soldiers and scientists hoping to run tests on us.] Buffy replied thoughtfully. [But so far -at least with those we've met so far- they don't seem like bad people. Even if they are military.]

[I agree.] Dawn said. [I say we just go with it. Not like there's any better option seeing that they aren't likely just to let us go.]

[True.] Buffy agreed and then Dawn felt a burst of amusement flow through her that didn't originate from her. [Although, I would have assumed you would have preferred working with Jen? I mean, I'm sure we could ask-]

[Ha-ha. You are soooo funny.] Dawn replied sardonically and then returned her focus to Dr. Jackson. “What exactly can we expect from the military? I mean, what is it that they plan to do with us if they find out we can't return to our own reality?... That is, if we aren't killed by that cascade failure thing.”

Daniel reacted to the question in a couple ways. Consideration and even a bit of hope at first to her question of what might be done with them, then fear and sadness to the question of their survival. He was probably surprised by how indifferent she sounded, as if possible impending death wasn't something uncommon. Because hey, what do ya know, for them it wasn't.

“That depends on what you would like to do, really.” Dr. Jackson offered. “We’ve had a few individuals who sought asylum on Earth after they could no longer return to their homes for one reason or another. For example, one of them -a man named Nyan- became a research assistant in my department. After six months he’s earned full citizenship and even lives off base in his own home.”

“And if we don't feel like working for the SGC?” Buffy asked, warily.

“Your future isn't limited by that kind of requirement.” He replied, clearly seeing her question for what it was. Buffy was uncomfortable being forced into anything. After the way the old council had treated her, she was determined to always have a choice in her own future. “If you want to just live your lives, go to school, or get a civilian job, then there is definitely that possibility. But there of course will be caveats.”

“Like what?” Buffy asked, her eyes narrowing.

“All things that you will hopefully agree make sense in this situation.” He placated, holding up a hand to forestall her mother’s anger. Dawn could feel the tiny wire that was keeping Buffy from snapping defensively against the possible threat to their freedom. It was taut. Very. “For one, we’ll need you to sign NDA’s that state you won't speak about the Stargate or your own origins and that you will try to live as inconspicuously as possible. We can't -after all- have the world knowing that you're somehow two people in one body. There would be no way to explain it without the program itself becoming known as well. Not to mention such discretion would ensure to keep you far from the attention of other organizations that might not hold you in the same regard we do.”

Buffy’s tenseness eased some, but only slightly.

“I'll probably agree to everything except the inability to talk about who we are and where we come from, especially if we deem fit to.” Buffy replied and Dr. Jackson seemed concerned by her words. “Look, what I am… what we are, it comes with certain truths that we can't deny even to ourselves. We've always kept our secrets hidden from the world at large, so you have nothing to fear there. But, if we encounter a demon, magic user, or fellow demon hunter, then we need to be able to discuss things with them to prevent possible disasters, and I'm not going to take the time to worry about some paperwork I signed.”

“Do you really think you'll encounter such situations?” Daniel asked. “As I was telling Dawn, there is no way to know if our reality has the same threats as yours did.”

“I don't like leaving things to chance Dr. Jackson.” Buffy replied, crossing her arms. “If I need to act to prevent the world from ending, I'm going to do it without worrying about politics or law. It's my duty to protect humankind, one literally built into my soul which I've already died twice fulfilling. As you can imagine, seeing that death hasn't stopped me from continuing, I won't let little things like rules and regulations do so either.”

Daniel seemed surprised by her declaration, and Dawn couldn't blame him. They hadn't mentioned that Buffy had died while explaining their origins earlier. Heck, they hadn't even outlined what a Slayer was, just that it was Buffy’s title and that they both worked for an organization that fought demons. Still, even with Buffy’s deaths being mentioned, he seemed to honestly mull over her words before nodding slowly. “I'll definitely bring up these points with the people in charge and make sure to impart on them your desire to… uh, continue with your duty . But to be honest with you, I think the greatest threat to humanity that you'll find here is from the Goa’uld.”

“Jack mentioned those earlier. What are they? Some kind of alien?” Dawn asked. While she and Buffy had spilled their beans about demons -as it were-, the SGC was still keeping a lot of what they faced close to the vest. Beyond what she had overheard while spying through the wall earlier, the Summers women had only a basic idea of what was going on around here. They knew it all had to do with aliens instead of demons, and that the Stargate was how these people got to other planets, but beyond that, bupkis.

“Well, yes they are aliens, but honestly, if you want to consider them demons you would probably not be far off.” Daniel replied, anger radiating off him in waves. “They are parasitic snakes that burrow into a person's body and supplant control over it. The host’s consciousness becomes trapped inside, watching their own body commit terrible acts completely out of their control.”

“Oh… no wonder you guys thought we might be one.” Dawn said, finally understanding about that particular bit of confusion which happened upon their arrival. She then considered the implications of the kind of enemy he was describing. “So, you're fighting against alien body snatchers, or… maybe it's better described as a possession. Either way you look at it, I assume that makes it hard to fight them without also being forced to harm the host, huh?”

Daniel's posture shifted to one of great pain and sadness that indicated a personal loss, and Dawn wasn't the only one who noticed.

“Who was she?” Buffy asked softly, her eyes seeking his. “Who did they take from you?”

Jackson’s eyes widened and he actually took a step back, where he allowed himself to sit on the edge of the bed because it seemed he no longer had the willpower to stand.

“My wife.” Daniel whispered, and then cleared his throat. “How did you know?”

“We’ve lost some good people over the years.” Buffy replied, the pain of her words being duplicated in both Dawn and Buffy's heart at the same time, causing her to swallow thickly. “A couple of those to similar kinds of possession, actually. The signs are there, if you know to look.”

He nodded and there was silence for a few long moments. Dawn's mind was racing with the idea that they might have just found a purpose here, and from what she was hearing from her mother's thoughts, Buffy -and the Slayer essence within- seemed to agree.

It was strange, being connected to Buffy in such a way that she was finally able to experience the link Buffy had with the Slayer first hand. It was like a small voice, not inside her head, but under her skin. It vibrated outward, and Dawn could feel it even now, seeking something to hunt.

[What do you think? Sounds like our kind of gig.] Dawn finally prodded, and then she found herself having a startling thought. [In fact… no. It couldn't be… could it?]

Buffy frowned and didn't reply internally, instead she looked at Daniel and asked. “Is there any way you can get us whatever information you have on these Goa’fools?” She sighed, running her hands over her face. “It seems that we might not get to decide what we want to do with our lives here, because it's more likely that we already have a purpose laid out before us.”

Daniel seemed confused by her words, so Dawn -knowing that Buffy had come to the same conclusion and was suddenly distraught- stepped in to explain. “Back home, there are, let's call them higher powers… and they sometimes go out of their way to, uh… guide us toward where we need to be to save the day.”

Her words caused Buffy to snort derisively. “When you say it like that, it doesn't sound so manipulative.”

“Manipulative?” Daniel asked, seeking clarification.

“Think prophecies and destiny. Unavoidable, in all their glory.” Buffy groused. “For example, the first prophecy that I ever heard -at least about me specifically- said I would die that same night.” She paused and grimaced. “It wasn't wrong.”

“Oh.” Daniel reacted, blinking owlishly and then seemed to come to the same conclusion she and Buffy had. “So, wait, you're suggesting that your being here isn't an accident? That some kind of higher power played a part in it?”

Buffy shrugged.

“Tell me Doctor Jackson. How many experts on fighting creatures that possess people do you have in your reality?” Dawn asked. “And what would you say are the chances that such experts would suddenly appear right on your literal doorstep?”

He seemed to contemplate her question before shaking his head.

“I'm guessing you don't believe in coincidences?” He asked.

“No way. No how.” Buffy replied seriously. “That or leprechauns.”

Dawn flinched and then said, “Actually Buffy, I forget to tell you. Vi and her squad encountered a group of Leprechauns last week.”

“What?!” Buffy yelped in a high pitch voice, suddenly straightening, as if the act would keep her entire world view from collapsing. “You're messin’ with me right?”

“Nope.” Dawn offered, understanding how shattering this revelation was for her mother. After all, Buffy said that whole ‘Coincidences and Leprechauns’ line at least a few times a year, and she had definitely believed it every time. It was like the cornerstone of Buffy’s belief system, such as it was.

“So… if they are real, do you think that… I mean, who's to say…” Buffy stumbled to ask, her uncertainty clearly growing with every word.

“No, no, I agree that our being here is definitely not a coincidence.” Dawn declared. “Just because Leprechauns are real doesn't change that.”

“Okay… sure. Right.” Buffy stated as Dawn heard her mother's mind race and try to come to terms with her new understanding of reality. Finally, Buffy nodded to herself and looked at Dr. Jackson. “So, what do ya say? Mind getting us the info you have on the baddies? Chances are, we were sent here to join you in this fight.”

Daniel seemed conflicted. He was probably not in a position to allow them access to such information, let alone declare them as part of their alien fighting team, but at the same time, she could tell that he at least partially believed that they might be there for a reason. Honestly, Dawn was glad to see that at least someone here in this base full of scientists and soldiers could believe in something higher than science and fact. It made her wonder what he had encountered in the past if he was capable of accepting the existence of higher beings so readily.

“I think the only real question I have… is why you ?” He finally asked. “Why would a higher power choose you to come here to help us? I mean, I know you said you both worked for a worldwide demon fighting organization back in your reality, and that Dawn has a demonology degree, one that probably doesn't really mean much here. Besides, here it's just the two of you… and you won't have the same network or resources, so experts in your own world or not, I'm not sure how much help you'll be in our fight.” He noticed Buffy’s raised eyebrow and continued. “Okay, sure, combined as you are, you can apparently do some neat tricks. But… that still doesn't explain why these powers of yours chose you to begin with?” His brow furrowed as if he was puzzling something out. “Buffy, you mentioned that you have a duty, one attached to your soul, and that you have been talked about personally in prophecies… even died twice, but-”

“Why me.” Buffy finished with an understanding nod, and then breathed out before leveling him with a pained expression. “Well, it's simple Dr. Jackson. Fifteen years ago I was chosen , and on that day I stopped being just your everyday average teenage girl. Instead, I became Buffy : The Vampire Slayer. And no, that’s not just a fancy title within our organization, but an actual calling from those same higher powers. One that comes with certain… gifts, or curses, depending how you look at it.”

Daniel leaned forward, clearly intrigued. And for the next two hours, Buffy and Dawn explained what a Slayer was, their history, their relation to the watchers council and the PTB, the full story of the Key, the words of the last Guardian, the scythe, even the activation of all the Slayers. Dr. Jackson sat quietly in rapt fascination, absorbing everything.

“Okay, I'll see what I can do about getting you that information.” Daniel said when their explanation was finally finished. He then stood, and after one more long appraisal of Buffy -taking in her stoic but closed off stance- left the room.

Buffy waited a beat before she began to pace angrily, her head filled with long strings of very creative cursing, all directed at the Powers That Be.

Dawn was not surprised by her mother's reaction, after all, when she and Buffy had talked earlier, they had not been able to hide their excitement about suddenly being in a new world that might not carry the same dangers as the old one. And contrary to what Buffy had said to Dr. Jackson about her drive to protect the world, a part of her had clearly been hopeful for a quiet life going forward.

[So… it's pretty obvious we have a new destiny, huh?] Dawn commiserated and then sighed. [Guess things really are the same no matter where we go.]

[Pain in the ass is what it is!] Buffy replied harshly, halting her pacing to flop down on the bed face first so that she could scream into the pillows to free some of her rage.

[For what it's worth, I think telling Dr. Jackson the whole truth about the Slayer was the right choice.] Dawn offered after Buffy stopped screaming, but her mother didn’t reply, instead she buried her face further into the pillows as her mind was filled with both anger and grief at the weight of the situation.

Dawn sighed again. She felt for Buffy, she really did. It seemed that no matter what she did, gave up or lost, or how long she fought, there was always another burden for her to carry just over the horizon. And on top of that, there was no longer a way for Buffy to hide how truly tired she was with all of it, at least not from Dawn. It truly hurt the younger Summers heart to feel the weariness her mother felt.

Buffy startled slightly as Dawn manipulated the blanket on the bed so that both sides would fold up and over her mother to wrap her into a cocoon-like bundle. To an outside observer, it would likely appear that Buffy was using telekinesis to simply float it over herself.

“Aren't I supposed to be the one to tuck you in?” Buffy asked aloud, twinges of love and gratitude coloring her weary tone.

“Just rest for now, okay?” Dawn insisted. “I'll keep watch and wake you if someone comes.”

“What about you?” Buffy mumbled, already starting to drift, her exhaustion at the situation likely coupling with how long it had been since she had gotten a full night's sleep. If Dawn had to guess, that was about a month or two ago. As for her own tiredness…

“I don't know. Honestly, I don't think I need to sleep anymore.” Dawn answered. It was a guess really, because it hadn't even been a full day yet since she became what she was now, so who knew for sure. Still, she didn't feel any exhaustion at all, not even after exerting every bit of her form the way she had been since their arrival. In fact, she felt like she was bursting with energy, which technically she was, seeing that she was literally made up of it.

“Lucky…” Buffy whispered, and then Dawn felt her mother's consciousness recede into her mind in the same way it had been before Buffy had awoken in the observation room.

“Sleep well, mom.” Dawn whispered, brushing some of Buffy’s hair out of her face as if she were a breeze. “And don't worry. You’ll never have to face your destiny alone ever again.”

With that, Dawn rotated her form and focused her attention on the corridor outside, fully determined to let her mom sleep as long as possible without interruption.