Closer to Fine

Chapter 4 Closer to fine

Cheyenne Mountain


Colorado Springs, Colorado

It was a day that Airman Peter Clements would never forget. It was very rare that the chopper pad was used and it was never a good thing when it was. Today was no exception. He heard the chopper before he saw it and when the med team appeared he got nervous.

It got worse when General Hammond appeared. The moment the chopper touched down the med team was running out towards it, he almost gasped in shock as the doors opened to reveal the base CMO Dr Janet Fraiser, bruises discoloring her face, along with a line of blood down one cheek. He didn’t recognize the woman they loaded onto the stretcher or the man who bolted for shade with a blanket over his head.

The next to get out was Teal’c; he immediately lifted out Major Carter, who was protesting being carried. As they passed him, Airman Clements could see the knife in her leg, he nearly cringed at the thought of how much pain she must have been in but still claimed she could walk.

Lastly came Jonas Quinn and Colonel O’Neil, neither sporting major injuries but both looking all the more worse for wear. Although exactly what condition they were in he couldn’t tell.

He expected to hear all about what happened to them eventually.



SGC Infirmary


Cheyenne Mountain


Colorado Springs, Colorado.

It had been three hours since landing, Mac and Sam had been taken straight into surgery nearly all the others had all been checked over and fixed up, so they sat in the waiting room, anxious to hear from either Jacob or the General.

As far as injuries went, they got out fairly lucky. Other than those two there was nothing else major, unless you counted Janet’s dislocated shoulder that she didn’t tell anyone about until the Doctor passed out when one of the medics had grabbed her by the arm as she tried to follow Mac into surgery.

Jack didn’t want any needles within spitting distance of Janet when she woke up. She would be one very unhappy camper.

"Any word?" Jack asked, as General Hammond walked into the waiting room. They still hadn’t heard from Jacob or Faith.

"Actually yes…" A frown marred the Colonel’s features as the General related the news.



Hyperion Hotel


Los Angeles, California


2 Weeks later

It was a warm early summer day in Los Angeles when Sam Carter limped into the Hyperion Hotel. Looking about her surroundings she couldn’t see anyone in the lobby, but that didn’t mean that there wasn’t anyone there.

From behind her a soft Texan voice sounded, "Can I help you?" Turning she saw a slim young woman with long brown hair regarding her with curiosity and wariness.

"Ah, yes. I’m looking for Dawn Summers"

The girls eyes narrowed "And who’re you?"

Holding her head high and schooling her features Sam prepared for an inquisition "Sam…"

"Miss Carter" Rupert Giles’ soft English accent echoed through the lobby "It’s alright Fred, she’s a friend…" he smiled at the young woman "of sorts"

Leaning heavily on the cane she was forced to use Sam slowly walked towards him. "I’m glad you regard me so highly" stopping a meter in front of him, she met his piercing gaze steadily "Is Dawn around?"

"Why do you wish to see her?" He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, took his glasses off and proceeded to polish the lenses meticulously.

Sam shifted her weight off the injured leg slightly "There are things she needs to know. I made a promise, and I always keep my promises"

"You promised me that you’d look after my Slayer…" Giles started but trailed off as Sam’s face darkened with anger.

"Tell me where she is" Sam threatened her voice dropping dangerously "Or do I have to call in Child Services and tell them, that you are refusing to let me see the minor who, is in fact by law, my charge" seeing the shocked look on his face she continued "I don’t think either of us wants it to come to that."

"You would forcibly take a 16 year old girl from the only family she has left?" Giles finally found his voice again, hoping he was calling a bluff he could call her on.

Sam had to keep herself from rolling her eyes "No I wouldn’t" she shifted her weight again, finding it difficult to stand so long "but don’t you think Dawn deserves to be able to choose what she wants to do"

Staring at the woman, he tried to work out if she was telling the truth or not. However her face was unreadable. Finally he nodded his assent, "Her room is up this way." He led her towards the back of the lobby, taking in the cane and her obvious limp he skipped the stairs and went straight to the elevator.

"What happened down there?" His curiosity got the better of him.

Turning to look at him as they waited for the elevator "We beat the First’s Army"

A single eyebrow rose questioningly at her short succinct and uninformative answer.

"I’m not going to ask if everyone survived, I think I quite like the fact that I can live in denial and assume that she’s alive and well somewhere and cooling off that temper of hers"

Sam avoided looking at his face and didn’t respond. Dawn was the only one who needed to know the truth. If she wanted the others to know she could tell them.

In silence they got into the lift, neither comfortable with the situation they found themselves in.

As the elevator reached the third floor the doors opened and they found themselves face to face with Willow. She immediately scowled at the sight of Sam but didn’t say anything knowing the older blond didn’t like her.

Giles led her down a semi lit hall, to a room at the very end they stopped outside a closed door. He raised his hand to knock but stopped halfway "I feel I must warn you that Dawn has been rather anti-social, these last weeks. I don’t know what kind of reception you’ll get."

"I’ll be fine, I’m somewhat familiar with teenage girl trauma" Sam’s eyes dared him to contradict her.

Giles nodded and rapped sharply on the wooden door twice. They didn’t have to wait long for a young voice to respond to the knock.

"Piss Off"

Sam however was stubborn reaching around Giles she tried the door know only to find it was locked. Sighing she reached round into her backpack and after rummaging through it for a minute she pulled out a small black case. His curiosity peaked as the case was opened and he saw a lock picking kit.

"You’re a very interesting woman Sam Carter." He commented, as she struggled to get onto her knees to pick the lock. Gently reaching down he took the tools out of her hands and pulled her back onto her feet.

She stood to the side and watched as he expertly worked the lock until it clicked softly, rising with little difficulty he gestured for her to enter.

"Thank you" She twisted the doorknob and entered the room without giving him a chance to say anything else.

"I thought I told you…" Dawn started to call until she saw Sam standing there. "What’re you doing here?" She was slightly taken aback by the Air Force Majors presence in her bedroom. Sam was the last person she expected to see.

"I came to see you"



Willow’s Room


Hyperion Hotel

Giles closed the door quietly behind him, and looked over to see the redhead sitting at her computer typing furiously and staring intently at the screen.

"Anything yet?"

"Nope" Willow spared him a glance "They’re using a security system that I’ve never seen before. Every time I think I’m close all the protocols change, and I don’t think it’s even timed" The red headed witch slumped back into her chair "It’s totally random, I’ve never seen anything like it…" She trailed off and smiled sheepishly at the Watcher.

"Is there anything you do know?" Giles pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

"Just the stuff the Air Force lets everyone see. Major Samantha Carter PhD, current assignment is classified but she’s based out of NORAD."

Giles nodded thoughtfully "Can you get into anything else, medical records etc?"

"Nothing recent, anything from the last 6 years is classified and buried so deeply that, I can’t get into it with normal means, but I did find out she has an eight year old daughter, Bethuen"



Dawn’s Room


Hyperion Hotel


Los Angeles, California

Dawn stood there and stared at Sam for a few moments before turning round and stalking back to her bed flopping onto it sullenly.

"If you’re here to tell me that my sister is dead, don’t worry about it. I already know"

Sam moved over to sit at the chair by the bed, grateful to get off her feet "I guess that makes what I’m about to do slightly easier" She shuffled slightly, her leg still painful to move "Buffy made some arrangements, before hand." Sam pulled a folder out of her backpack "She said that she wanted you to have a normal life, if that’s what you wanted"

Dawn remained silent.

Flipping through the papers she stopped at a certain one and looked at it for a moment before pulling it out and held it out to Dawn "Here’s the deal. If you want to, you can come and live with me in Colorado. Go to a school that’s not on the Hell Mouth, live in a town that’s not full a demons and pretty much be a normal teenager." Sam took a deep breath and continued, "but, if you don’t want to, I rip this up and things remain status quo. You remain with Mr Giles and spend your life either fighting or running away from the demons."

Dawn reached a hand out tentatively and fingered the edge of the document lightly. Her eyes scanning it quickly, and her brain trying to process what Sam had just told her.

A normal life

What about the others?

No more monsters…



Looking up at Sam, she could see the blond was nervous "tell me about yourself"

Letting out a relived sigh Sam sat back in her chair and started to speak with a smile "Well, I’m a Major in the Air Force, currently based at NORAD in Colorado Springs…"



Cheyenne Mountain


Colorado Spring’s Colorado,

Jack O’Neill was pissed off; Carter was still on down time. That leg of hers was going to take a while to heal, he had a Vampire living in his basement and he had just been called up to the Mountain on his day off.

"What what what what what, the hell do you want" He barked at the nerds in the computer server room. "Don’t you normally call Carter for this kind of…" He waved a hand at all the equipment adorning the room "… stuff"

"Yeah we do" One of the men said "but we thought you’d want to see this before we called her."

Jack leaned over and looked over his shoulder as the technician tried to explain what was going on.



Dawn’s Room


Hyperion Hotel


Los Angeles, California.

Conversation was kept light and easy as Dawn and Sam attempted to get to know each other.

"I got injured badly a couple of years back, it scared me lot. I had a four year old at home, and here I was gallivanting around the gal… world… but," Sam tried to keep the blush off her face at her near slip up. Luckily Dawn didn’t notice, "I had to make a choice, I chose to leave the field and work in the Lab." she sighed

"Do you miss it?"

The ringing of her new cell phone cut off Sam’s answer. Rolling her eyes she muttered under her breath as she reached to answer it "He knows where I am, he knows why I’m here, so why the hell is he calling me? Carter"

‘Hey Carter’ the voice of her ex-CO floated over the phone ‘listen, I know this is a bad time but we’ve got a little problem’

"Sir" Sam tried not to sound to exasperated with him "I’m not the only person qualified to pull your files out of the recycle box when you accidentally delete them"

In the background, despite herself Dawn smirked.

‘Not that kind of problem, someone’s attempting to break into the computer systems and they’re damn close. We’ve traced them to Los Angeles but that’s as close as it gets. Any ideas?"

Sam started to head out to the hallway to continue the conversation when a laptop in the corner caught her eye. "Are they looking for anything in particular?" She paused at the door waiting to hear the answer.

"Um" She could hear muffled voices in the background "Yeah personal files… Yours in particular"

"Hold on a sec Sir" Sam covered the mouthpiece hoping that Jack wouldn’t hear what she was about to say.

"Dawn?" The teen looked up startled "Is there anyone you know of who is particularly good with computers, say a hacker"

By the way Dawn’s face paled Sam knew that the girl knew exactly who it was "Because," Sam continued "There’s someone in California trying to get into the files at the base. Any ideas"

Dawn finally crumbled under Sam’s intense gaze "Willow…" The teen shrugged "She’s probably trying to find out about you. If anyone can do it she can"

Uncovering the mouthpiece again, Sam brought the phone back up to her ear "Sir, tell the boys to wait 10 minutes and then send out a pulse that’ll literally stop them in their tracks… yes Sir… I have a fairly good idea… wait another 10 after that then call me back… thanks Sir"

She turned around and grinned at Dawn "Can you show me where Willow’s room is?"

Willow’s Room


10 minutes later



Dawn looked at Sam curiously as they stood outside Willow’s room at the Hyperion hotel. Seeing her questioning gaze Sam simply shook her head, from inside they heard a cry of frustration pushing the door open they saw Willow sitting at her laptop typing furiously trying to save whatever it was she was doing.

From the door Sam smirked "You know you shouldn’t try to hack into a classified military installation when the person who designed, implemented and updates the system is in the same building as you"

Willow turned a glared at her "What the hell did you do to my computer?"

"Me? I didn’t do anything, it’s a security failsafe…"

Dawn stood in the background not really paying attention, her brain and heart trying to reconcile what she had been told and what she wanted.

No more monsters

A normal life

No more monsters

A home

No more monsters

A new start

No more monsters…

"Sam" a quiet voice came from the door way, startled out of what was about to become a full blown argument with Willow the blond Major turned to face the girl.

"I wanna go with you" The words were so quiet that Sam thought she may have heard wrong.

Limping over to her Sam looked Dawn in the eyes "Are you sure"

"Yes"

In the background Willow opened her mouth to protest but closed it again. She couldn’t stop it so why try…

~@~



"You take care Dawn" Any wrapped her arms around Dawn awkwardly one last time as Sam loaded her things into the taxi "Remember if a boy or girl try’s any naughty touching kick them in the no no spot. It hurts no matter who you are, and Xander says no orgasm friends for another two years"

Dawn nodded seriously taking the ex-demons words to heart, and turned to face Xander, the young mans eyes cast to the ground hands shoved deep in his pockets, looking up he saw Dawns tear stained face regarding him, head tilted to the side eyes open and emotional. How many times had he seen that particular look on Joyce and Buffy? How many times had he seen it directed at him?

She walked over to him and he enveloped her in a tight hug. The kind of hug that makes you feel as though nothing in the world can touch you.

"Be good Dawnie, remember to come and visit anytime" He let go and held her at arms length "not sure where you can visit us yet cause that sister of yours had to turn our town into a hole in the ground, and if you see her around somewhere tell her I said hi" although Dawn got the deeper meaning of the words uttered to her. Stooping slightly he looked at her directly and seriously "You go be normal. One of us has to… It’s what she would’ve wanted"

She nodded as her lower lip trembled. Looking up she saw Willow watching from her room; the Wicca’s refusal to come down had hurt Dawn but she understood. They had spent the night before in Willow’s room; it hadn’t been easy, trying to convince Willow that it was what she wanted to do, but eventually… Willow understood.

And Dawn knew that she was making the right choice.

Her eyes met Giles’ unshed tears glistened there, despite what she and the others said; they both knew this was it. The chances of Dawn coming back after getting a taste for normal was slim at best.



Colorado Springs


Five hours later

It was a weary pair that arrived at Colorado Springs airport. There hadn’t been much conversation but on the same token neither of them felt like talking. As they entered the luggage pick up area Dawn stopped abruptly causing Sam to run into her back.

"Whoa" was all she could say as she saw a giant of a man standing there looking decidedly uncomfortable.

Following her line of sight Sam had to hold back a chuckle at Dawn’s reaction to Teal’c.

"That’s our ride"

Dawn gulped visibly; this guy would have been less scary if he was sporting pointy teeth and wrinklies.

Sam’s Home


Colorado Springs, Colorado

As they stood outside the Sam’s house Dawn was suddenly gripped with fear. It had seemed so easy up until now. She could hear the music and smell the barbeque cooking in the back yard and wondered how many people were actually at the house. How many people she would have to see? Speak with? Be nice to?

"T can you take Dawn’s things up to the spare room." The Jaffa nodded and moved to start pulling things out of the back of Jack’s truck.

"Don’t worry" Sam wrapped an arm awkwardly around Dawn’s shoulders and led her round the back of the house "none of them bite."

As they rounded the corner of the house she could see a group of about 10 people. None of them seemed phased at the new arrival. Sam took her around and introduced her to everyone, even a very pale Sarah Mackenzie who Janet had managed to spring from the Academy hospital for the evening.

Finally after the sun had set two familiar figures entered the backyard. Dawn’s face split into a grin as she recognized Spike and Faith.

Faith hung back for a moment taking in the sad stance of the 16 year old. Her mind flashed back to those last moments in the cave, when Buffy had re opened her eyes

"Go on"

"I ain’t leaving you here"

"I got the clean up, you go kick some Demon ass. It’s what you’re best at"

"Faith…"

"Yeah"

"It’s not your fault"



As they were talking about what they were going to be doing now a eight year old blond whirlwind came running over, wanting to play hide and go seek. As Dawn looked into the bright hazel eyes she felt something she didn’t think she had ever felt before. Peace.

There was something familiar about the smile of the young girl, Spike and Faith sensed it to. They relaxed more when the girl, Bethuen Carter Dawn was informed, was around. Dawn had seen the smile before, so many times, and it comforted her in a way that nothing else could.

Told her that everything was going to be ok.

 


AN: That’s it folks. The end of the story, I know I said I was going to do a sequel but currently I have no plans to do that. I do however have an idea boiling at the back of this disturbed brain of mine, itching to be written. That particular story was going to be the sequel but… the way it’s begging to be written just doesn’t fit in with how I ended this.