First of all, I'd like to correct something in part six. I wrote that there were four Police officers at the end of the story, whereas there should only be three. This was only noticed until I came to write this part, annoyingly :unsure:

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Part Seven – Daybreak

Ian took the keys out of the gate and released Dawn and Willow from their cells. As Dawn was let out, she saw the wall of Vampires sneering at her from behind the locked corridor gate. When Willow was freed, Dawn saw that Willow’s hands were still bound by the handcuffs.
“Anyone have the keys for these cuffs?” Willow asked.
“Sorry” replied the female Police officer “I’m afraid we don’t keep them on us”

As if to add insult to injury, Zeladin appeared at the end of the corridor brandishing two sets of keys. One set was identical to Ian’s and the other contained two small keys. The other Vampires parted as he walked towards the gate.
“Looking for these?” he asked evilly.

Noticing the large bunch of keys that Zeladin had in his hands, Ian rushed towards the gate and inserted his bunch of keys into the lock in order to stop Zeladin unlocking it from the other side. Zeladin laughed.
“You think that will stop me? I’m prepared to let you rot in here. You can’t do anything whilst you are trapped in your self-made prison” he said.
Dawn and Willow looked at each other fearfully, but said nothing in reply.

“Zeladin is right!” thought Dawn “We’re trapped and they can leave us in here forever”
Dawn made up her mind – she had to do something. She didn’t want to wait for something to happen and, furthermore she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life trapped in a Police Station. She gathered Ian and Willow and asked them to talk with her in what was her cell. The Police officers stood guard by the gate.

Ian was the first to speak.
“Sorry I ran upstairs” he said apologetically “I didn’t think about what I was doing. I didn’t mean to do it”
“That doesn’t matter now!” snapped Dawn in reply “We can’t stay here. We’ve got to find a way out”
Ian recoiled at the remark.
“But how, Dawn?” replied Willow “We’ve only got one weapon and there are about fifty of them”
Dawn thought about this for a moment and then she had an idea.
“Lay your hands on the floor” she told Willow “I’m going to break your cuffs”
Willow did as she was told, but she felt nervous at the prospect of Dawn doing it – especially as Dawn was tired and afraid. Nevertheless Dawn swung at the floor and broke the chain binding the two cuffs together. Luckily, Willow was still in one piece!

“Ian: help me move this bed” Dawn told Ian.
It was no use; the bed had been welded to the floor, which frustrated Dawn. Ian asked her to tell him what she was planning, but she ignored him and told him to move out of her way. She then swung the Axe at the nearest metal leg and created a small diagonal cut in it. A second swing finished the job. Then, she did the same further up the leg, thus creating…
“A metal stake!” said Ian enthusiastically “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Dawn continued to ignore him as she acquired two more stakes from that bed, leaving it stranded on its sole remaining leg and then obtained a further two from the bed in Willow’s former cell. There were now enough weapons for the six of them to fight the Vampires with.

The Vampires looked apprehensively at the five metal objects that Dawn was carrying as she handed them out to the Police officers and then to Ian and Willow.
“What are we going to do with these?” asked the female Police officer in confusion.
“Fight” replied Dawn, simply.
Everyone assembled at the gate; wielding their weapons as Ian unlocked the gate.

As soon as he had done so, the Vampires charged through it. The group of six were now faced with a wall of blood-thirsty creatures out to kill them. Dawn stood at the front of the group swinging the Axe frantically around her shoulders, which, despite the others having to stand well clear to avoid being decapitated themselves, worked quite well. The gate was only wide enough for two vampires to squeeze through it at a time, which helped Dawn to keep them back.

Zeladin oversaw the proceedings from the back of the horde as per usual. He watched as his Vampires made little headway into the corridor beyond the gate until they realised that, because Dawn was swinging the axe above her head, the best idea would be to tackle Dawn below the waist. Three of them managed this and pinned Dawn to the floor. Her axe was no use to her now!

Seeing Dawn’s predicament, the five others came forwards and, by careful use of a semi-circular formation, managed to free Dawn in time and keep the Vampires pinned at the gate.
“Thanks!” said an exhausted, but thankful Dawn as she resumed her axe swinging, albeit a little less frantically.

After only twenty minutes, the battle had been won. Stood at the opposite end of the corridor was Zeladin – the sole remaining Vampire. Just as he made to use his wormhole generator, Willow’s eyes turned a bright green again and shot a disarming beam at him. The generator fell to the ground, smashed into several pieces and disappeared. Zeladin had been thrown back against the wall and was now in a crumpled heap at the base of it. Dawn et al walked menacingly towards him.
“You!” exclaimed Willow angrily “You have some explaining to do!”

Zeladin had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. He was most definitely alone and defenceless – his master would have abandoned him since his loss of the battle and these humans were out for revenge. He would get what was coming to him!
“I didn’t mean to. I was told to do it. I had no choice” he muttered feebly.
“What’s he talking about?” the female Police officer asked Ian.
“I think these two young ladies have a score to settle with him” replied Ian vaguely. “Personally – I’d leave well alone”

The three bemused Police officers didn’t have to wait long for an explanation.
“You murdering scumbag!” shouted an emotional Dawn as she slapped him around the face.
“Traitor! Soon you’ll be turned to dust” added Willow.
Zeladin made a vain attempt at saving himself:
“If you kill me, I can’t tell you the Hell mouth’s main weakness. I could win you the battle” he said
Dawn and Willow looked decisively at each other. Dawn took a pace back whilst Willow thrust the stake angrily through Zeladin’s heart
“No second chances!” she said as he turned to dust and vanished.

The Police officers were gob smacked, but were helpless to do anything.
“He tricked them into a trap, which killed their friends” said Ian quietly in way of explanation. “We couldn’t have let him live – he’s a danger to us and to the public”
The Police officers nodded.

As Dawn and Willow turned around to face the others, they began to calm down after briefly recollecting the impact of Zeladin’s betrayal. The Police officers finally introduced themselves. The stocky blonde Policewoman was named Cassie; a short and muscled man was named Murray and the third was a tall, dark haired man named Jason.

After the introductions, they stepped sorrowfully out of the Police Station. Willow, Dawn and Ian got their possessions back, which made them feel much safer. The Sun was rising in the sky – the night was finally at an end.
“So what now?” asked Cassie.
“Could you take us back to San Francisco please?” asked Dawn who confirmed with Willow to make sure that this was what they both wanted.
“OK” she replied “I was heading in that direction anyway”
“I’d like to go with you, please” said Ian “I think we should all get some rest and start to make plans later on”
“OK. We’ll have to report back later” said Jason “Good luck”
Dawn, Willow and Ian got into Cassie’s car and they drove back to the house that Dawn and Willow had rented.

When they arrived, they looked at the house and found that there was no sign of a forced entry by the Vampires. It was as though they hadn’t touched it. Dawn, Willow and Ian got out of the Car and waved Cassie goodbye with a thank you.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Ian, who knew that this would be a very emotional moment for his two female companions.
“Yes” replied Dawn certainly. She took her house key from her pocket and unlocked the front door.

Once inside, they took a long look around for any signs that the Vampires had visited. Remarkably as with the exterior of the house, the interior had also been left as it was the previous evening. Dawn walked into the lounge and picked up the photo of Buffy and stared at it for a short while before replacing it back on the table that she picked it up from. Beside it was a photograph of Xander, which she also looked at. While she did so, she recalled his most touching words towards her.
“They’ll never know how tough it is, Dawnie, to be the only one who isn’t chosen; to live so near to the spotlight and ever step in it. But I know. I see more than anybody realises because nobody’s watching me. I saw you last night. I see you w**king here today. You’re not special – you’re extraordinary” he had told her.
She made a tearful exit from the lounge and headed to her room. Moments later she fell asleep and started to dream.

Dawn Summers was about to leave for her last shift at the nightclub at which she worked. Xander was waiting patiently in the Car for her – even though it meant that he would also be late for w**k. She ran out of the house and jumped into the Car; apologising to Xander as soon as they drove off.

“Looking forward to your last shift?” he asked her cheerfully.
“Not really. I’m looking forward to the flight out of here” she replied
“Already looking past the big fight, eh?” he said jokingly.
“I’m not looking forward to it. Every other time we’ve done this, I’ve been really scared”
“Me and you both Dawnie. I just wish Buffy would see it our way. We’ve become like the Ghostbusters, but without a larger bank balance at the end of it”
The Car pulled into the small Car park behind the nightclub and they both got out. Around the front were a few hundred revellers all waiting impatiently for the doors to open.

Much later into their shift, as per usual, Dawn was approached by some drunken eighteen year old boy, who tried to chat her up. This one was particularly annoying as he grabbed her and made an effort to grope her. Xander saw this and, with the aid of two bouncers, the boy was thrown out of the club. As he was thrown out of the nightclub, the boy responded.
“You’ll regret this. I’ll get you. You’ll get sued dry” he said angrily.
“Are you OK?” Xander asked Dawn kindly.
“Yes. I’m OK. I’m glad that I won’t have to w**k here again” she replied
The boy’s words did haunt Dawn for a short moment, before she regained her composure and got back to w**k.

Ten minutes later, the boy who had been thrown out had walked into a dark street. Standing in his way was a group of Vampires. They grabbed him, pulled him to the ground and took a bite from his neck. The boy was now a sober Vampire. He suggested, rather proudly, that they attack the nightclub and get revenge on the waitress. Despite the head vampire finding this a little foolish, they found a rear fire exit and burst into the building.

Xander heard a loud crash from the back and went to investigate. He didn’t get far before the Vampires ran onto the main floor room. The head vampire recognised Dawn.
“Summers!” he shouted “I have a message for your sister. Tell her we’re expecting her. If she comes near us, we’ll kill her. Stay away from the hell mouth”

The boy looked menacingly at Dawn and was about to strike when Buffy, Willow, Zeladin and Anya burst in.
“How sweet. Nice place to get some blood. Shame; it’s not the best club in town” exclaimed Buffy.
The lead Vampire turned and looked knowingly at Zeladin, but managed to avoid suspicion from the slayer.
“We won’t fight you tonight. We will delay the pleasure of killing you until your arrival at the Hell mouth tomorrow” he said
“I don’t think so” Buffy said as she advanced towards the horde of Vampires.

But before Buffy could do anything, the lead Vampire created a wormhole, which allowed him and his fellow Vampires to escape.
“Well – see you tomorrow then” said Buffy sarcastically as the Vampires left.
“Buffy?” asked a nervous Dawn “Everything will w**k out OK won’t it?”
“Of course it will Dawn” replied Buffy “They’re only Vampires after all”
Buffy’s posse left the nightclub via the fire exit and Xander followed them to sure it up.
“I hope you’re right” said Dawn nervously to herself.

It was now half past five in the evening. Dawn was suddenly aware at a looming presence in the room. She awoke with a startle as Ian stood at the foot of her bed.
“Sorry to wake you” he said carefully “We’ve just got a call from Jason. Inspector Perry wants a word with us. Cassie is coming to pick us up soon”
Dawn yawned loudly in mock contempt and said that she would be ready in half an hour. Ian left the room and walked downstairs into the lounge, where Willow waited for him.

“I wonder what it’s about” pondered Willow
“Probably just wants to rubbish our fight and charge us with murder or something” replied Ian jokingly.
“I don’t know” Willow replied “I can’t help thinking that something’s not quite right”

Forty five minutes later, Cassie arrived to pick Dawn, Willow and Ian up. They left the house, got in the Car and travelled across the Golden Gate Bridge again.
“Be prepared. You’re not going to like this” said Cassie “It’s not a pretty sight”

End of Part Seven

dawn saving the day :ponder:

still a very good chapter :thumbsup:

Thanks :)

The reason Dawn saves the day?... The answer is in the title :lol:

buffy or faith would have done a better job :snooty: :rolleyes:

But they're not here ;)

I'm hoping to progress the idea that Dawn is learning to think for herself and not to be scared and to run away all the time. The whole idea of the story is to change Dawn from a scared, weedy little sister to a stronger independent young woman. :)

:blink:

well good luck with that :rolleyes:

Thanks. I doubt that Joss Whedon will take the idea up though :(