"It matches the other handwriting, the one that's not Andrew's. It has to be hers. It has to be Cynthia's. And Giles, look at what it says," Dawn said, speaking quickly and pointing to the paper as she did.
As Giles read the notes, his face went ashen. "Good lord—this is about the Key."
Dawn nodded. "And I recognize it, too. It's part of a ritual that was in the stuff Andrew brought back for me. It allows someone to draw the power of the Key into themselves."
"Do you believe that Cynthia would try something like that?"
"I've had a strange feeling about her since the first time I met her, Giles," Dawn replied. She paused a moment, thinking, then added, "I've also been having dreams ever since right before Andrew came back, and after the last one, I knew someone was after the Key."
Predictably, this bit of news met with the removal of Giles's glasses. "And you think it's Cynthia?"
"Signs are pointing that way," Dawn answered. "Andrew's gone, and from the forged letter and paperwork, I think she's done something with him. And now she's got notes on how to get the power of the Key for herself? It could all turn out to be circumstantial, I suppose, but right now I'm thinking more along the lines of her being a prime suspect."
"Do you suppose she knows you're the Key?" Giles asked. "Perhaps this is some sort of revenge."
Dawn blinked. "Revenge? For what?"
"Well, I suppose most women would not be happy if they had a fiancé who was sneaking out to meet an old flame in the wee hours of the morning on a regular basis," Giles replied.
Dawn blushed brightly. "You know about that?"
The corners of his mouth twitched up in an almost-amused smile. "Dawn, my dear, everyone knows about that."
She shook away her embarrassment, deciding she'd have more time to worry about that later, when Andrew wasn't possibly in danger. " I don't know if she knows I'm the Key or not. And even if she does, this doesn't seem like normal revenge. Coming after one or both of us, sure, but going after the Key? That's a bit more revenge. She wants it for something."
Giles nodded. Dawn did have a point there. "I'll see if I can find Cynthia, and if she came into work today."
Dawn sat down in an oversized chair to the left of his desk. "I'll wait."
Giles picked up the phone and started making his calls.
*** *** ***
Cynthia had stopped outside of Giles's office when she saw Dawn go in. When she grabbed the little bitch, she wanted it to be something that didn't go noticed for a while, and that wouldn't be the case if she did it in front of the head of the Watchers' Council.
She listened in on their conversation, the beginning of it filling Cynthia with dread. Dawn was on to her, which was something that could seriously put a crimp into her plans. But then she heard Giles ask a question that would've made her burst out with laughter if she hadn't stopped herself just in time.
"Do you suppose she knows you're the Key?"
Dawn was the Key! It made so much sense to Cynthia now. Why Andrew had been relentless in his pursuit of information on the Key despite his seeming lack of interest in possessing its power as well as his refusal to tell her where she could find the Key even when she'd threatened Dawn became clear. By allowing Cynthia to go after Dawn yet not armed with the knowledge that Dawn was in fact what she was searching for, Andrew had actually been protecting his former lover as best he could. Furthermore, his need to find information on the Key had not been for personal gain, but to help her.
Suddenly, Cynthia didn't feel so much like laughing anymore.
Throughout their entire relationship, Andrew's heart had apparently still belonged to Dawn. It made her sick just to think about.
Cynthia shook herself. It didn't matter now. She knew where the Key was, so she could have her power. And then Andrew and Dawn would both pay for what they had done to her.
She listened in as Giles told Dawn that she hadn't come in to work that day, but she didn't care. She was so close now that she didn't need to remain hidden for much longer. Besides, they could search for her all they wanted and they wouldn't find her. She had seen to that.
A few moments later, Dawn came out of the office, and that's when Cynthia made her move. She grabbed her, and with the chant of a few words and a flash of light, they were both gone.
*** *** ***
Dawn sat up, ignoring the pain in her head as she did. She looked around, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light until she could see. She turned towards her right, gasping when she saw Andrew chained to the wall. "What happened?" she asked him.
"Cynthia's completely flipped her lid. She's trying to become all super powered by taking the essence of the Key," Andrew answered.
"I figured that much," Dawn replied. "Does she know that ritual makes you crazy? Or I suppose in her case, crazier."
"I tried to tell her. She didn't listen. All she cares about is getting power."
"Figures. If you could just logically explain to the psychos why they shouldn't be doing whatever it is they're doing, there'd be a lot less apocalypses. Where is she now?"
"I'm not sure," Andrew said. "She walked out shortly after she brought you."
"She must've expected me to be out longer, because she didn't bother to chain me," Dawn said as she stood. "Crazy and sloppy."
"From what I've seen, she's overconfident," Andrew told her. "That could work to our advantage."
"Here's to hoping," Dawn said as she pulled something out of her pocket.
Andrew squinted as he tried to see what it was in the dim light, but couldn't make it out. "What is that?"
"Lock pick," Dawn replied with a shrug. She pointed to his chains. "Do you want out of those?"
"Would be nice."
Dawn stood on her tiptoes, her body pressed against Andrew's as she worked with the lock of the manacles on his wrist. She tried to ignore how she was responding to him, even in this situation they had found themselves in. He was all hard muscles against her, and Dawn trembled, the pick almost slipping from her hands. She took a deep breath, getting a grip on herself. She could think about sex later, when they weren't in immediate danger.
The first manacle fell open, and Dawn moved to the other side, her breasts rubbing against Andrew as she did. He unsuccessfully tried to stifle a moan, and blushed when Dawn looked at him.
"Sorry. Maybe it's just the chains, but this is sorta hot."
Dawn smirked. "Don't worry. It's not just you."
Andrew's eyebrow arched. "Oh?"
Unable to resist, Dawn gave him a quick kiss before she promised him, "We'll talk later."
Andrew nodded, conceding that later was better when a psychopath could come back and try to kill them at any moment.
Dawn worked the second manacle open, and Andrew sighed in relief to be free. He simultaneously rubbed his wrists for a moment, trying to get his blood flowing again.
They both glanced around the cavern, realizing in the same moment that there appeared to be no way in or out. They shared a look, and Dawn sighed. "This really sucks."
"She said some chant to leave, but I don't know what it was," Andrew said. "It was too quick for me to memorize it."
"I heard her say something, too, when she grabbed me, but I don't know exactly what it was either," Dawn added.
"So what do we do?"
"Sometimes I can open a doorway, with my Key powers," Dawn admitted. "I just don't have a lot of control over it. I've tried to get better, but I'm worried to practice much, since one wrong move, and I could tear down the fabric of reality. Not really something you want to apply the 'if at first you don't succeed' principle to. Besides, I don't know where we are right now at all. We could be in a completely different dimension, or just a hidden level of our own. It's hard to tell when this is all there is to see."
Andrew started to say something in response, but before he had the chance, there was a bright flash of light, and they both knew they wouldn't be able to escape before Cynthia returned—she was already there.
"What are you doing unchained?" Cynthia screeched angrily at Andrew. "You weren't supposed to do that!"
Andrew frowned. "Um, sorry?"
Cynthia's eyes narrowed for a moment before she waved her hand, bolts of energy coming from it as she did. The bolts slammed into Andrew, knocking him across the room, where he fell against the wall, unconscious.
"Andrew!" Dawn screamed, watching in horror as his body hit the ground. She ran to him, kneeling beside him, and checked for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she did, though she knew they were far from out of the woods yet.
Dawn turned towards Cynthia, her anger barely kept in check. "How can you do this?" she yelled at the other woman. "Obviously, you already have some sort of power. Isn't that enough for you? Can't you just leave us alone?"
"It's not enough!" Cynthia yelled. "I want the power that's in you! I want full control over time and space!"
"You won't get that! The Key won't even stay in you. I know the ritual you're trying to perform, and it isn't what you think. The Key will leave you shortly after you pull it into yourself, and at best you'll be completely insane."
"You're lying! The power is in you, and you're not insane! If you can handle it, so can I."
"But I'm different!" Dawn replied, frustrated. "I am the Key, Cynthia. I didn't just take the essence into myself. I am the Key, made flesh. I've always been the Key."
Cynthia shook her head almost wildly. "No. I will have this power, and there's nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. I've searched my whole life for power like this. It's meant to be mine."
"I won't let you do this."
"Then I'll kill him." Cynthia raised her hands, energy crackling around her fingers as she pointed them towards Andrew.
"No!" Dawn screamed. "Don't hurt him anymore!"
"You can't have it both ways, Dawn," Cynthia said, a smug smile on her face. "What's it going to be—your power or his life?"
Dawn was choked by a sudden rush of tears as she looked down at Andrew, slumped unconscious against her. She pressed a tender kiss against his forehead before she lowered him down to the ground and rose to her feet. "Just don't hurt him," she implored Cynthia softly.
Cynthia's wicked smile grew. "I'm glad you're finally seeing reason. Come now, let's get this over with."
Dawn nodded, then followed Cynthia to a circle she had drawn. "In the middle now," Cynthia told her, her voice disturbingly calm for all that was taking place. "Stand right there."
Without argument, Dawn went to the center of the circle and stood with her back straight. Cynthia followed her and regarded Dawn for a moment, her head cocked. "Now comes the real question. If the Key is inside of you, then how do I get it out?"
Dawn's shoulders slumped. "My blood. It's in my blood."
Cynthia lit up at that, and she left the circle for a moment, then came back with a large knife. "Do I need much?" she asked Dawn, a gleam in her eye.
"No. Just a drop will get it going," Dawn replied, her voice hitching.
"Then I suppose more will get it going faster." Cynthia struck quickly, thrusting the knife into Dawn's stomach. Dawn gasped, lurching forward for a moment before she slid to the ground and off the blade.
Cynthia left Dawn there and walked across the room to take her place in another circle. Dawn clutched at her wound as she heard Cynthia begin to call to ancient powers, asking them to allow her to draw the Key into herself.
Energy crackled around them, and Dawn screamed as she felt something tearing at her, the pain in her stomach almost forgotten from the intensity of what was hitting her now.
Across from her, Cynthia laughed, a green light surrounding her.
Dawn slumped down further.
*** *** ***