The Sidekick

TITLE:	The Sidekick (1/1)
AUTHOR:	-Andy- ( see2go4me@yahoo.com )
RATING:	PG
STATUS:	Posted
DISCLAIMER:	All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, Marvel and others. I don't own any of this, just the words gluing my story together.
SUMMARY:	Dawn, Bucky, England, Christmas
SPOILERS:	All seasons of BtVS.
DISTRIBUTION:	TtH and my blog fanfic pages. Anyone else, e-mail me please.

FFA #146 Dawn/Bucky

It was only two days until Christmas and she just wasn't in a holiday mood. In her opinion the London Council compound had been over decorated with all of the Christmas accessories her sister could find, ably assisted by her current partner in crime, the annoying Kitty Pryde. The last straw was almost certainly the mistletoe they'd attached to almost every surface above her head. It felt like they were rubbing in her single state with a little too much holiday glee.

When the temptation to give her sister and her constant companion a slight shove through a portal to the world without shrimp and leave them there until after Christmas became almost too much to resist, Dawn packed a bag and fled London. She didn't stop heading east until she reached the Channel, and then she drove north along the coast until she felt compelled to stop.

Walking along the rocky beach, kicking the occasional stone into the surf, she stared bleakly at the crashing waves. The first few years they'd spent in London she'd done all of the traditional English Christmas activities but this year was different. She could only deal for so long living vicariously off of the happiness of everyone else. She wanted someone of her own to spend the holidays with. Someone to cuddle with. Someone to buy those special Christmas gifts for. Someone to drag underneath the mistletoe at every opportunity.

Her morose thoughts and foot scuffing were interrupted by a jabbing pain in her stomach, the kind of pain she felt when someone else was opening a portal nearby. She could almost feel the air tearing itself apart in an attempt to make room for something that didn't belong. With the distant dull thud of a heavy explosion the horizon briefly lit up and the pain disappeared. She wasn't sure what it was but she knew something was out there. But unless she called her sister or Giles for help there was no way she could do anything about it. And she wasn't ready for that just yet. She hadn't been exactly complimentary to either of them when she'd stormed out of the office earlier that day.

She stood there for an hour, watching and waiting, before she became aware of the descending sun at her back. Finding some place to stay for the night and coming back in the morning seemed like a good idea.

----

Throwing a mat on a large flat rock, Dawn climbed up, and coffee cup in hand, settled down to wait in the early light. Before going to bed she'd called Andrew and asked him to let Giles and her sister know she was okay and after swearing him to secrecy she'd asked him to bring a few things to her location. He'd been excited at the chance to do field work once she explained why. She really hoped he wouldn't tell anyone what she was up to. She was perfectly qualified to do this kind of field research and needed the excuse to stay away from the Christmas activities for as long as possible.

The sun was just coming up over the horizon when she heard the distinctive sound of the horn on Andrew's 'geek-mobile' as it shattered the comfortable silence along the beach. Grimacing, she climbed down from her rock and headed towards her car.

"Have you found anything yet?" Andrew excitedly asked her as soon as she reached him.

Sighing, she wondered if it had been a good idea to ask him for help. "No, not yet." she told him. "I was waiting for you to bring my things."

"Cool!" he exclaimed, grabbing a large rucksack as he got out of his car. "Where did you want to do this?" he asked, swinging it around as he tried to take in their surroundings.

Taking the rucksack from him before he drop it, Dawn point back the way she'd come. "On the beach as soon as the sun comes up all the way."

"Okay." He grinned like a little boy and quickly followed her down the path.

----

As Andrew watched avidly, from her position on the flat rock Dawn spread out the ingredients for the tracking spell he'd brought her out on the mat. If she did it correctly they would be directed towards whatever had caused the explosion she'd heard and hopefully some explanation for the portal she'd felt just before it had happened.

Mixing the ingredients together and pricking her finger to add a drop of her own blood, Dawn mumbled the words she'd learned from Willow.

"Are you sure that will work?" Andrew asked. Before she could reply the small bowl she'd been using started to glow.

"Yes." she replied with a slight smirk.

A small green ball of light rose to eye level and hovered in front of them before it started drifting slowly away from them up the beach. Dawn scrambled off the rock, shoving everything back into her bag. Andrew excitedly followed her as she trailed behind the glowing ball.

The ball moved at a slow walk. They followed it for an hour over the rocky terrain along the coast. Several miles from where they'd started it suddenly darted forward and came to a stop, hovering over a vaguely man shaped object bobbing in the water.

Motioning to Andrew to stay where he was, Dawn walked out into the knee high surf towards the object.

"What is it?" Andrew called to her as she reached it.

"It's a person!" she called back. "Help me get them out of the water!"

Between the two of them they were able to drag the person up on the beach, away from the cold water. As soon as they stopped, Dawn desperately checked the obviously male figure for a pulse.

"He's alive!" she gasped in surprise, staring at the heavily charred clothing the person was wearing.

"What do you think happened to him?" Andrew asked, looking at the person they'd rescued.

"I'm not sure but we should probably get him off of the beach." She took off her outer coat and covered him up. "I'll stay with him. You go back and get my car."

Andrew nodded and grabbed the keys she held out to him. "Okay."

----

They got him into her car and to the Council compound outside of London with very little problem. He stayed unconscious the entire time. She'd decided to take him to London because of the portal he'd apparently come through. And the fact that he was male, good looking and seemed to be her age had absolutely no bearing on the issue. Or so she told herself.

They'd even managed to get him to the infirmary without her sister finding out. While the Council doctor checked him out, Dawn went looking for Giles.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her quizzically once she'd tracked him down to the garage where he was tinkering with the old Norton motorcycle the Scoobies had gotten him for his last birthday.

"Much better!" she told him with a small grin. "I just had to get away from the Christmas insanity."

Giles waved at the motorcycle. "Understood. Are you back now? Or just passing through?"

"I'm back." She shifted nervously. "Giles, you know how I can feel portals opening now?"

"Yes..." taking in her stance, he raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, I felt one late last night."

"Where?" He asked her.

"Along the coast. Andrew helped me check it out."

"And?"

"We found someone. I think they came through the portal..." she told him with another nervous movement.

"What did you do with them?"

"They're in the infirmary. Doc is checking him out." She leaned against the workbench next to the bike. "He's been unconscious since we found him."

"Him?" Giles watched her blush. "Any idea who he is or where he's from?"

"Not sure." She tried to shrug casually. "He had no id or anything like it. He did have some kind of costume on under his regular clothes. Andrew is researching it. He thinks he's seen it somewhere before."

"Okay. Make sure you tell your sister so she can assign a slayer to keep an eye on him." He told her firmly.

"Can you tell her?" she asked. "Please? And I'll watch him. Doc thinks he'll be asleep for a couple more days from the shock anyway."

"Okay." he agreed reluctantly. "Just make sure you tell me if anything happens."

"Thanks Giles!" She gave him a quick hug and headed back to the infirmary.

"I found it!" Andrew burst into the infirmary Christmas morning waving a piece of paper.

"Shush!" Dawn told him, looking towards the room where their find was sleeping. "You know who he is?" she asked him.

"Yes!" Andrew told her. "He's a sidekick."

"A what?" She asked him, confused.

"A sidekick! He's a Xander!" Andrew said loftily.

"And that means what?" She asked, still confused.

"He's the normal guy who wanted to help out the super-hero, like Xander helped out Buffy." He explained. "He was Captain America's sidekick during World War II, Bucky Barnes. They both disappeared briefly back in 1944."

"Didn't I just see something about Captain America in the news a couple months ago?" Dawn asked, not sure if she was missing something.

"Oh yeah!" Andrew said excitedly. "Willow looked him up for me and she says she thinks there were a couple substitute Captain Americas in the late 40's and 50's while the real one was missing. It's really cool stuff. Someone found him floating in the ocean back in the 60's. Frozen. He doesn't seem to get any older. If it's still the same person." He frowned. "The super hero guys are much better than Buffy at having a secret identity."

"So he isn't evil?" Dawn said, slightly relieved.

"Not that anyone knows. That must have been a time portal he fell through." Andrew shrugged. "Kitty said she can pass the word to Captain America through some friends if you want her to."

Dawn bit her lip and thought about it. She knew he really wasn't hers to keep. He wasn't a Christmas present. Before she could decide what to do, she heard a groan coming from the room Bucky was in.

Bucky groaned and tried to open his eyes. He succeeded after the third attempt, finding himself in a strange looking bed in a brightly lit white room. "Where am I?" he mumbled to himself. The last thing he remembered was Cap falling from the drone they were trying to stop and then a big explosion. Hearing footsteps he looked to his left and saw a beautiful, tall brunette dressed in a red sweater and black pants of some sort walk in through an open door.

"Merry Christmas." she told him huskily, coming over to the bed he was lying in.

© Copyright 2009 Andy Stoffel. Last update: 7/19/09; 10:56:46 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.