Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: I’m ignoring cannon for Angel season four at this point. They are still at the Hyperion, Cordelia is fine and not possessed. Connor is in the picture. Once again much thanks to the fab BTL for the beta.
___________________________________
Chapter 17: Sleepy Key

Buffy picked up the phone with purpose and dialled a familiar number.

“Sunnydale High School,“ responded a female voice at the other end of the line.

“Robin Wood please,“ asked Buffy, twirling the phone cord between her fingers.

She hated to have to do this but if she didn’t at least tell the school that Molly and Dawn weren’t going to be in class for the week, Social Services might get involved, again.

“Hello? This is Principal Wood,” came Robin’s voice.

“Hey, Robin, this is Buffy Summers,” Buffy answered. “I’m calling to tell you that Dawn and Molly won’t be at school this week.”

“You could have left that message with the school’s secretary tomorrow morning,” he noted bitterly, as if this was a complete waste of his time.

“Yeah, I could but if I leave it with you, I know that Social Services won’t get involved. This isn’t a family vacation; this is slayer business.”

“End of the world?” he asked with sarcasm.

“Not quite, but close,” Buffy answered. “Hopefully if all goes well, they’ll be back by next week.”

“I’m not exempting them from any projects or tests.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to,” Buffy replied.

“Let me know if I need to get out of town,” he added.

“Oh ya, you are like number three on the list. I’ll talk to you after we get back. I believe you have something that belongs to Molly,” she continued before she could stop herself.

“Beg your pardon?”

“Something you kept that was your mother’s, when she was the Slayer. It didn’t get passed to the next chosen one.”

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Buffy had to suppress the giggle in her voice.

“Ooooh, gotta go!” Buffy hung up the phone with a bang.

She loved making others perplexed.

“Buffy!” shouted Dawn into the office over the counter. “I’m going. I’ll be back soon.”

“What?” screeched Buffy. “You’re... what?”

“Going. Now. Be back later.”

“What? No! You can’t!” Buffy replied, concern in her voice, possibly bordering on hysteria.

“Why?” Dawn asked. “And please don’t play the health card. I won’t be holding open any portals. Well, that’s a lie. I will but I’ll be careful.”

“Dawn!”

“Buffy...You know I have to do this!”

“No actually, you don’t. You can stay here and not be in danger.”

“We have to know. There’s no other way.”

“We’ll think of something!” Buffy exclaimed.

“Sure, and I’ll graduated from a LA high school,” noted Dawn with sarcasm. “I’m going to whether you say yes or not. You can’t stop me.”

Buffy’s eyes flashed. “Is that a challenge?”

“Hardly,” noted Dawn, her arms crossed, her typical Dawn stance.

“I’ll worry...” Buffy said, backing down.

“You wouldn’t be a good sister if you didn’t,” Dawn responded with a wry smile.

“Be back soon?” asked Buffy.

“You know it.”
___________________________________
Dawn stepped out of Graham’s closet and into his bedroom. Once again he was lying on his bed, a sheet covering him, hiding from view whether he was marginally clothed or not.

She had chosen the middle of the night to abduct him. As she stood there, thinking out how she would get him to follow her into the portal, unwelcome thoughts kept creeping into her mind, like: God, he’s gorgeous, and scum bag invaded my house, and why hasn’t Anya offered to exact vengeance on him? and last, the most confusing part, was the fact that she could feel tears at the corner of her eyes. Damn him!

Dawn picked up the nearest object, a combat boot, and threw it at him.

“Hey!” the soldier shouted into the dark. Dawn hadn’t bothered to turn on any lights. “Who’s there?”

Dawn debated whether or not she should make him suffer by not answering right away, but the soldiers who were on duty were probably on their way there right now, or Graham would find his side arm in the dark and take a few shots at her.

“Who else breaks into your bedroom in the middle of the night?” she asked calmly.

“Dawn?” he asked with a yawn.

“Well, I hope you haven’t had other girls in your bedroom so soon after our break up.”

There was rustling of sheets. Dawn assumed he was sitting up in his bed now.

“You know that wasn’t my choice!” he answered.

“Maybe you can explain it to me again. How about we talk it over?” she suggested, clenching her fist in anger, but hoping the emotion didn’t find its way into her voice.

“Now?”

“Yes, now. Do you think that day time is good for me, with the whole you and your army buddies out looking for me?”

“Dawn...”

“You probably need clothes,” Dawn interrupted him. “Let’s just open the closet here and get you some clothes.“

Dawn opened the closet door and stepped aside silently, holding onto the door handle, keeping her portal open to Arashamahar. She hoped the darkness of the room with hide the fact that the inside of his closet really wasn’t the inside of his closet.

“I usually get dressed in the light, Dawn,” he muttered.

“Ya, and I usually don’t get my house invaded by the military during parties,” responded Dawn.

“Dawn, I said I’m sorry...”

“Just get in the closet!” she said, gritting her teeth as she shoved him into the closet and followed in after him.

“What the?” he inquired looking around him into the muted grey of the Arashamaharian daylight. “Where are we?”

“Arashamahar,” sighed Dawn, sitting down on Anyanka’s bed. She looked at the soft quilt and rubbed the fabric longingly. She really wanted to curl up and sleep. Apparently, she wasn’t as fully recovered as she thought. “It’s the dimension where vengeance demons live.”

Can’t sleep, can’t sleep, can’t sleep, she repeated to herself.

Dawn forced herself up off the bed and to a standing position.

“How did we get here?” Graham asked. “And are you okay, Dawn?”

“Just tired,” she answered, evading the hand that he’d reached out towards her. “We should get to LA before my sisters starts to panic. I can nap there,” she said, the last part more for herself than him.

“LA?”

“Well, we had to go somewhere when you invaded. Let’s go.” Dawn shuffled to the door they had just come out of and placed her hand on the doorknob.

“You still haven’t explained why we’re here, how we’re in another dimension,” Graham said, not having moved an inch.

“Don’t you get it?” she said annoyed. “The demons you’ve been tracking? The reason you had to break up with me? I’m it. The reason,” she sighed. “Come on, before I fall asleep.”

Dawn grabbed his hand and opened the closet, pulling him through along with her.

They stepped into the lobby of the Hyperion, the entire Scooby contingent looking up from either the office or the couch, the front doors slamming behind them.

“Hello salty goodness,” commented Cordelia looking up from the reception counter. Graham stood frozen, clad in her underwear, looking back at the group.

“Barely dressed salty goodness,” commented Anya, who was sitting casually on the couch.

From across the lobby, Giles cleared his throat.

“Sleepy now,” moaned Dawn sinking to the floor at Graham’s feet.

“Dawn!” exclaimed Buffy rushing to her sister’s side. “You silly...I knew that this would happen!” Buffy scooped up Dawn into her arms and lifted her up from the floor.

Before she could call out to him, Spike had Graham by the arm.

“You take the Nibblet upstairs. Me and the soldier boy will get reacquainted downstairs,” he explained.

Buffy nodded and headed up stairs again., Willow and Anya following behind.

Dawn hadn’t been gone long at all, just long enough that their father and step mom had decided that they could go home to their own house, rather than stay in the hotel owned by a vampire.

Army green boxers didn’t protect Graham from the cool damp of the Hyperion’s basement, goosebumps met Spike’s room temperature skin as he held on to the commando’s arm.

“Is Dawn okay?” Graham asked.

“You better bloody hope so,” Spike growled, throwing the soldier against a wall.

“I didn’t do anything to her!” Graham responded grabbing at his now bruised arm.

“It’s not what you did or did not do, you wanker. It’s what she had to do to get away to save her friends and family because you and your soddin’ military want to do experiments on more demons,” Spike explained.

“Dawn’s not a demon!” Graham exclaimed.

“No, she isn’t,” he growled, stepping closer to her soldier, staring him down. “Didn’t stop you pillocks from making her scared, even when she as fascinated with your regulation poofyness.”

“Hey!” Graham protested, raising his arms up as Spike advanced on him.

Suddenly, Graham felt manacles being placed on his wrists. Spike stepped away from the soldier and grinned.

“You’ll make it up to us, soldier boy. Telling us just what you know and how to make them stop,” he said stepping away from the soldier, who was attached to the wall, and heading back up to the lobby.

“Could you at least get me some clothes?” Graham said, softly into the darkness.
___________________________________
Buffy stepped down the stairs into the basement, Willow and Tara following behind her this time. Graham was still chained to the wall, his hands hanging above his head. He was asleep.

Buffy stopped at the foot of the stairs as she looked Graham over.

“He’s kinda cute,” admitted Willow, looking over Buffy’s shoulder.

Tara tapped Willow on the shoulder and cleared her throat. Willow ducked her head and started back-pedalling.

“For a guy… You are much cuter than him, sweetie,” said Willow with big puppy dog eyes.

“Will!” Buffy shushed her friend, hoping that the soldier didn’t wake up from the added noise of their voices.

“Are you sure you want to do a truth spell on him?” Tara asked, whispering.

“Dawn went to all that trouble to kidnap him, and she’s asleep. We gotta know if it’s safe for any of us in Sunnydale,” answered Willow.

Buffy nodded. Above them, the door opened and Xander walked down to their level.

“Spell done yet?” asked Xander, rubbing his hands together gleefully. “I have a few questions to ask Graham.”

“No,” Willow admitted, a glare in her eyes at the over eager boy.

“I don’t know if Dawn wants a truth spell done,” continued Buffy. “I mean, upstairs with everyone all grr and vindictive, did any of us take into consideration Dawn’s feelings? This is her ex boyfriend. I know I’d have problems with anyone doing a truth spell on Angel or Riley.”

“Or Nate?” suggested Xander.

“He doesn’t have secrets of mine to tell Xander,” Buffy chastised her friend.

“No, but wouldn’t you like to know if that old spark was there?” he continued raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“No, I don’t Xander. I’m marrying Spike! I love Spike!” she hissed.

“Wouldn’t you want to be there if we put a truth spell on Anya? Or Cordelia?” taunted Willow.

“No, I’d want to be far, far away from that embarrassment,” Xander responded.

“I don’t think Dawn would want a truth spell done without her knowledge,” added Tara, bringing them back to the topic at hand.

“So we have to wait for her to wake up?” asked Xander, whining.

“Yes, and you will not wake her up,” ordered Buffy.

“Fine,” Xander pouted as he headed back upstairs.

“God, he’s back in the same room with Cordelia for less that twenty four hours and it’s like he never passed grade 10,” commented Buffy.
___________________________________
Tbc…