Like shadows in the faded light, we're invisible.

[the_dawnster]

As if not being home wasn't bad enough, Dawn has been getting sicker and sicker by the day. She'd barely even been out of bed in a week. This morning she had rolled out of bed feeling just a little bit better after having slept for twenty-four hours straight. She had shuffled her way through a shower that only added to her feeling better. Wearing a white tank top with a purple glittered star on it and some purple pajama pants, she combed through the tangles in her hair and picked up a blow dryer to start working the heat through her hair. Today would be a straight hair sort of day, no curls because she didn't have the energy for it. As her hair dried, the steam slowly filtered away from the mirror, giving her a better image of herself in the reflection.

She dropped the blow dryer. Blinked. Looked again. Blinked again. Squinted her eyes. How could she see things behind her? Through herself? She looked behind her, just to check and make sure that she was seeing what was behind her through herself. Then she looked back to the mirror. She lifted her hand, seeing the bathroom counter through it. Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her chest. So loud that she swore she could feel it throughout her entire body inside and out.

And this is what had her barreling barefoot through the hotel hallways looking for Buffy or Angel or Peter or yes, even Faith who had no idea who she was. The ghostly see-through girl calling out as she ran from one place to another until she couldn't run anymore. "Buffy?" Each time she rounded a corner or hit a new floor or corridor of the hotel she called out. "Buffy!" She might run into people and apologize before she hurried on her way to find her sister. Or she might stop to talk if anyone wanted to.

Eventually, tired and spent, she would end up plopping down on one of the couches in the lobby, a box of kleenex beside her and a book in her lap. The couch could be seen through her and every once in awhile she lifted her hand to look through it at things, trying to gauge whether it was getting better or worse. Her eyes were puffy from crying. Her nose was red from sniffling. She was generally a train wreck of a person right now. But she figured anyone would be if they were slowly disappearing.

Comments

[whattingawhat]

Buffy had been doing her job as hotel security, which so far had seemed to boil down to patrol. She was in and out and around the hotel, somehow missing Dawn at every turn. She had been concerned lately because Dawn had been sick, but she'd managed to chalk it up to a flu, a bug, a virus. Something that wouldl be better with enough soup, rest and OJ. She'd been cramming all three of those down Dawn's throat at every turn. She'd also been on the lookout for a door back home and contemplating Angel's advice.

They had to reinvigorate the seed of magic. Somehow. It had got to be restored and if that didn't work...well then Buffy was at a loss. Also, had she mentioned that she had no idea how to reinvigorate the seed of magic.

When Buffy first came upon Dawn, she didn't notice anything except that Dawn had been crying.

"Dawnie, what are you doing out of bed?" she asked concerned as she sat down on the couch next to her. It was then that she noticed the state that Dawn was in. She swallowed hard, her arms going around her sister automatically.

"I will fix this, Dawn."

She didn't know how, but she would.

[the_dawnster]

When Buffy sat down next to her, Dawn looked at her wide-eyed and so glad that she'd been found. Somewhere along the way when she hadn't found Buffy, she'd decided that sitting in one spot was the best way to be found. She waits for Buffy to notice that she can see through her. And when she notices that realization hit Buffy, she's pulled into a hug and she doesn't protest.

"What's wrong with me?" She asks, trying to control herself and keep herself from crying. She's cried enough for everyone and it isn't helping. Every crazy scenario is going through her head, too close to it and traumatized by it to see the truth of what's happening. "What's happening to me?"

[whattingawhat]

"I don't know," Buffy answers honestly. Dawn is too smart to take platitudes and they've been through too much for Buffy to give them to her.

"I will find out though. I will fix it and you'll be okay." She pulls back to look at her when she says this. She wants Dawn to believe it for the measure of comfort it will give her. She hopes that Dawn knows she will turn over the entire world if that's what it takes to figure this out.

[the_dawnster]

Buffy knows that when Buffy says she's going to do something, she does it. So seeing and hearing the resolve in her sister's voice helps to make her feel a little better. With her sister trying to figure this out, she knows that if anything can be done about it, then it will be. She takes a deep breath and nods. "Research. Is there any research we can do? We need the internet back home. I uploaded all the Watcher's books of mustiness to the database."

[whattingawhat]

"Yeah, we'll do some research; we'll talk to people. I've already started talking to Angel about this, about what might be going on. I started when Faith couldn't remember you. We're going to find a door and we'll get access to that database. We'll find Giles, we'll find Wesley. We'll find someone, Dawn and I will fix this."

She's glad her determination can be of comfort to Dawn. It helps her as well, wipes doubt from her mind and makes her productive, proactive and even more stubborn. Buffy doesn't know the word quit, especially when it comes to saving Dawn.

[the_dawnster]

She believes that. Or she wants to believe it. A part of her will always doubt that she's real enough. Which gives her an idea. "Hey there was a student from Sunnydale High that I read about in one of Giles's old watcher diaries who was disappearing and then the government picked her up? Could this be the same thing? Am I gonna turn into invisible girl?" Because that's better than disappearing into nothing. Although she does feel kind of weak. Weaker than normal. And tired. But she doesn't want to sleep again. She slept for twenty-four hours straight already. That was too long.

[whattingawhat]

"I...don't know," Buffy answers honestly. "Marcy. I remember Marcy and I hope not because she wasn't very nice." She'd sort of tried to disfigure Cordelia and kill Buffy. "You're not going anywhere, Dawn. You're not going to turn invisible and you're not going to disappear. I'll stop it before that happens, okay?"

And she wouldn't sleep until she'd figured it out.

[oneguyinaunitard]

Peter happened upon Dawn when she was frantically looking for her sister. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, worried expression on his face. "Whoa...what's going on?"

He reached out to take her hand, confused, concerned and curious. She felt solid. He laced his fingers with hers, squeezing her hand tightly. He knew she'd been sick. He'd sat with her and watched movies, brought her ice cream and things like that, confident that whatever she had, his immune system would kick without a problem. That was the nice thing about enhanced Spidy genes.

[the_dawnster]

"I... I..." Oh no. Peter would know all of the crazy that is her life and that was so not supposed to happen when they were only getting started with the kissing and whatever else was going on with them. Now he knew that where there be Summers, there be crazy. "Uhmmm..." She shakes her head. "I don't know."

[oneguyinaunitard]

He will accept the crazy better than she realizes and even welcome it, because if her life is crazy it makes him feel better about imposing his crazy on her.

"Okay. Let's--" Let's what? He doesn't know any sudden cure for acute disappearance. "Are you--" his brow furrows. "Do you still feel bad? Outside of the panic and worry. I mean like--like you did yesterday."

Because they'd sat and watched Mr. Ed yesterday on TV and laughed. She'd eventually fallen asleep against his shoulder and it'd taken a long time for him to decide to finally leave so she could sleep in peace.

[the_dawnster]

"I don't feel as sick. But sick would be better than disappearing by like... a million and five." Because sick she could deal with. Disappearing meant that something mystical was going on. Mystical. The though leaves her filled with dread. She was the definition of mystical, after all. A magic thing that shouldn't even exist.

Her features crumble and she shakes her head at Peter. "I'm gonna disappear. I won't exist anymore. Peter I won't exist anymore cause I shouldn't even be existing in the first place." If this isn't her worst nightmare, aside from losing Buffy, she doesn't know what is.

[oneguyinaunitard]

Peter glances up and down the hall before pulling her in the direction of his room. He wants a chance to talk to her where they can sit down.

"Shhhh, you're not going to disappear, Dawn."

The room isn't far and he opens the door with a key, nudges it wide and pulls her across the threshold.

"Come on. Let's sit down. You can tell me what's going on."

[the_dawnster]

Dawn's never been in his room before. And if she weren't so distraught she would be awkward and geeky over it. She might get there eventually once she calms down some. As it is, she isn't thinking straight and walks straight in to grab some kleenex from a box and then plops down on the side of the bed near the pillows. She dots at her eyes with the tissue and blows her nose.

"I'm not real." She says, her nose stopped up more from crying than anything. "I'm not real, Peter. I was created. From magic. And there's a whole ginormous amount of drama that comes with it. So you kissed a fake girl and I'm sorry."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He hears something - someone calling for Buffy. That name sounds familiar, though he's not sure he's managed to actually run into the person who owns it (given he spent who knows how long travelling in a strange blue box with a madman). Still, it gives him pause, so he stops where he is and looks down either direction of the corridor. Certainly whomever is calling will turn the corner at some point.

[the_dawnster]

She does round the corner, too quickly, barreling forward with a speed borne out of an internal hysteria that's hard to squash down. A half invisible nineteen year old girl will run right into him with such force that she could knock him over if he isn't expecting it. "Buff-! Umph." Their collision is not a pretty one.

"Ohmigosh. Still solid. Still solid is a good thing. And ouch."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He's not expecting it. This leads to a spin and a stumble and a hard landing on the floor. Sliding into first he can do; being tackled, less so.

On the bright side he broke her fall?

"Normally I'd be flattered, but I think you're a little young for me," he says of the strangely translucent girl.

[the_dawnster]

"I'm totally nineteen!" Which, yes, is young. But really, Dawn's perception of age difference is a little skewed given her close relationships with vampires. Spike and Buffy were a world of difference. And don't get her started on Angel and Buffy. And then there had been that one Slayerette, that girl, she had been younger than Buffy by several years. Just remembering the cougar jokes was enough to get a smirk out of her.

She slowly pushes herself up, rubbing the back of her hands over her damp cheeks. "I should learn not to run in the hallways like a good little hotel guest." She gets to her feet and holds a translucent hand out to help him up. "Sorry, I'm looking for my sister."

[notgivingyourmoneyback]

He smirks at her a bit. "And in most states of the union, that is considered an age of majority. However, I am forty, thus making me twice your age, but..." he trails off suggestively even as he's getting to his feet. He's almost entirely not serious about any of it; he just likes screwing with people.

"Is running in the hallways and bowling over lawyers going to make it easier for you to find her?" he asks. Clearly this is a quandray all on its own.

[the_dawnster]

Can you see a disappearing person blush? Because she's blushing and quickly lets go of his hand once she's helped him get to his feet. "Well you know sometimes a girl needs a lawyer. I mean, I don't. But it's good to know that one's here if I do get into trouble. Legal kind of trouble, not the mystical kind of trouble."

[chuisle]

A pair of hands reach out to take hold of her upper arms as she rushes past him in attempt to steady the speeding, panicking ex-key. He wasn't Buffy, but a voice he very vividly remembers shouting for her sister from the depths of the Summers' residence doing much the same now as it did then was enough to get his attention.

"Dawn. Dawn."

[the_dawnster]

Her entire body is trembling with the shock of her translucent self. Her eyes are wide and red-ish with tears threatening as she looks up at Angel. "Angel somebody did magic. It has to be magic. Look. Someone might be trying to get to Buffy through me. This has to be a spell. Look at me! Undo it. Please? Undo it." He gets all of her rambling anxiety as he caught her only just exiting her room to look for Buffy. She can't help the way it boils and bubbles and just spills overflowing out of her.

[chuisle]

Buffy jumps to spells and people trying to get at her through her sister, all too willing to blame Faith's penchant for head injuries and comas — but Angel is more of a realist than that, and from what Buffy told him about their version of the future, this has less to do with other people than it does who and what Dawn is and, unfortunately, what Buffy did. He understands her actions, can empathize with her plight to do The Right Thing no matter the cost, and knows that she didn't destroy the seed knowing it would inflict damage upon her sister. If she knew it would have this sort of affect on her sister, she likely wouldn't have done it at all.

(And this is where the difference between Buffy and Angel lies: Angel would've still done it. Because he could live with it. He's the type who does what needs to be done no matter how it makes him look, because nothing he does matters. All that matters is what he does.)

But you don't go telling the freaked out ex-key little sister of the woman who wouldn't do anything to hurt her, yet very likely unintentionally did, what you think about the matter. He's a realist, but he isn't callous.

Tactfully, he tells her, "First, you need to calm down. Come on, sit over here and I'll grab you some water from the vending machine."

[the_dawnster]

Calming down is hard when you've already been feeling not really real and then you wake up and are not really real. But she takes a few deep breaths because as far as plans go, she has none and Angel has one: water. "Yeah. Yeah cause water. It makes things grow and... like a plant or a sponge. I can try to be a sponge." She rambles as she sits back down on the bed.

[chuisle]

"As long as you don't go the Spongebob route." Of all the cartoons he could be aware of...

Water in hand, he twists the top off and passes it over to Dawn. "Slowly. Choking and drowning helps solve this about as much as a panic attack does."

[the_dawnster]

She does take only sips. Slow sips that do actually serve to make her feel just the tiniest bit better. Good plan, Angel. "Have you ever gone all translucent? It's panic inducing! And how what when how huh do you know Spongebob?"