Disclaimer: I don't own the rights, characters, locations or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Stargate Atlantis; they belong to their respective owners without whom this fanfiction would not have been possible. All reviews are welcome.

Unknown region of space; Pegasus Galaxy; two years ago.

Realities are a funny thing; one major change could, in one life, create an alternate reality that goes completely differently from how things would have ordinarily run their course. Ordinarily the walls between realities prevent them from interacting with one another; and when the walls do fail for even an instant, events that never would have happened otherwise, would have the possibility of changing the course of history. And put the alternate reality in danger.

As was the case this day.

Eight Wraith hive ships, along with their complement of cruisers and darts were heading for a culling on the world known as Proculus, a world that was only a hyperspace jump away. It was a world that hadn't been touched by the Wraith because the planet was protected by what they believed to be a powerful weapon capable of destroying a fleet of three Hive ships and it's escorts; this time thought, the Wraith hoped that with sheers numbers on their side, the weapon would not work as effectively as it normally does for this armada heading to the planet. The Wraith ships were currently on one of their stopover's since the ships could not stay in hyperspace for long, the radiation in the hyperspace tunnel would damage their organic hulls and the ships needed to stop every so often to regenerate. Once regenerated, which was due to be completed in another hour, the fleet would be on their way to Proculus to feed.

The Wraith on these ships were confident of defeating the weapon this time; they had eight Wraith hive ships, sixteen cruisers, and an untold number of darts that are responsible for culling planets. All that in addition to over a hundred thousand crew members, all Wraith… all creatures with the ability to suck the life forces of their targets through the palm of their hands.

It was while the ships were regenerating that a tear in reality opened and then almost immediately closed. A strong signal had come through, a signal that would get progressively weaker as it shot itself into each and every single reality. It contained a Wraith signal… a message for any Wraith ship that is able to retrieve it.

It had only one single location, and every information needed to be known about that location.

A location that excited the crew of all the gathered ships. They were the only ones that received the message, they were sure of it because there were no signs from the other hive ships within a hundred light years that they ever received anything.

Unknown to them, the only reason they received the message was because they were the closest; and because the signal was the strongest. It could be said that they were the 'neighbouring reality', the first reality to receive the information from whichever reality it originated from.

The Wraith salivated at the information they received.

A new feeding ground.

A feeding ground with the highest number of human beings they have ever seen; more than seven billion lives. Larger than any world in the Pegasus galaxy. And it was all theirs.

The information they received had everything on the planet's defences, what should be attacked first, who should be attacked first. It had everything to make the planet their personal cattle pen. This group of ships were not going to share this information. At least not yet; not until they've had their fill.

It was a few hours later that Hyperspace windows opened up in the emptiness of space; and then these ships zoomed right into them. The ships were going to work together on a plan to get to the new feeding ground. Therese ships were going to go off the grid, away from the other hives while still culling humans. They weren't going to risk Proculus when there was a greater pay off coming.

The Wraith Queen on one of the hive ships then gave an order. No matter what they do from now on, the other Hives were not to know the location of this new feeding ground. Then she ordered three of the hives to head to ten different planets, the locations of some of the Wraith cloning facilities. She wanted her underlings to retrieve some of the power sources that the Wraith had stolen from their greatest enemies, the technologically advanced race that they had fought a hundred year war with and won due to their superior numbers; the Lanteans.

The queen knew that the Hive Ships and the cruisers needed those power sources to even attempt the journey to their new feeding ground. She knew that they'd need time to interface the power sources to the organic nature of the ships.

But she could wait. She wanted to wait.

'Seven billion cattle' thought the queen to herself.

It would take six months to retrieve all the required power sources without the other Hives knowing what they were doing; the Queen knew that by the time the other Hive queens suspected anything, her armada would be gone. It would take another one and a half years for all of this queen's scientists to recalibrate their organic ships to the new power sources.

Once the power sources were stable. The Queen gave her go ahead. Multiple hyperspace windows opened up over the last world they would cull in Pegasus before the Wraith ships flew through the windows.

After nearly two years of preparing their ships, this Queen's armada was heading for their latest feeding ground.

A planet called Earth.

San Francisco, Dawn's Room, 0900 hours; two years later.

It's been nearly eleven months before magic was returned to the Earth. Dawn wasn't exactly sure of what happened in the Deeper Well, just that whatever Buffy and the others had done worked. Sitting up on her bed while just wearing a tank top and shorts, the young woman rubbed her face with her hands while stifling a yawn before she just sat and looked down at the floor, and then glanced at the left side of her bed.. the same side that she remembered Xander used to sleep on.

Dawn knew that since the end of magic nearly a year ago, she and Xander were in a relationship; she remembered loving the man deeply; they connected over being the ones who were on the outside looking in while all their friends had powers. She remembered that he was always there for her and that their courtship began during the Twilight crisis. Then after magic was cut off from Earth because of her sister destroying the Seed of Wonder, the magic that held Dawn together slowly dissipated.

As Dawn sat on her bed, she remembered slowly losing her body; her grip on her memories of her sister, Xander, Willow, Spike… she recalled losing the memories of everyone she loved. Buffy would later tell Dawn that she and Willow started losing memories of her as well; that she and Willow would lose memories of Dawn… but they still pushed through in the Deeper Well to save her life.

"I knew I loved you, that's what made me and Willow keep going" Buffy had told Dawn after she returned from England, after Willow used the returned magic to bring Dawn's body back. Dawn recalled hugging Buffy tightly that day while in the present day, she got off the bed and then walked into the attached rest room. But the downside of Dawn's new body was that her emotions were reset; Dawn felt as if she just lost Joyce Summers to an aneurysm even though she knew that the older blonde died years ago, she had also lost the love she had for Xander.. instead it was replaced by that crush she had for the young man when they lived in Sunnydale before it became a crater and a tourist attraction.

She told Buffy about what she remembered about Joyce, that her feelings were reset. She also told Xander that her feelings had changed. Her heart broke when the man she knew she used to have genuine love for, looked at her with a downcast face; but she couldn't do anything. She didn't have those feelings anymore… the both of them tried to go on a couple of dates but the spark between them just wasn't there.

There was one thing however, that Dawn couldn't tell anyone. She walked into the restroom and washed her face before she looked up at the mirror when she remembered what she had seen when her body was failing her; when the body that the monks made to house the Key was failing her.

"A city of towers" whispered Dawn to herself, "I saw a city of towers."

She could remember the towers of a strange city she knew she had never seen before. Images flooded her mind when the magic holding her body together was unravelling; she heard a scream in her mind… a scream calling for someone.. a scream that felt like it was coming from her very soul.

"Athena" whispered Dawn as she looked at her reflection, "who's Athena?"

Dawn then closed her eyes as she recalled the screams.

"Help me Athena! Please Help! The Pain! Mother! Help!"

Dawn then opened her eyes and washed her face again. She recognized the voice, it was her own… but she remembered that her mouth wasn't moving. She remembered that Spike didn't say anything, neither did Andrew who was with her. As she took off her top after brushing her teeth, Dawn remembered she saw herself as little girl running through hallways… strange panelled hallways. She would follow the little girl until they came to a junction. She'd then see a shadow on the left hallway with the little girl laughing. She would then run after the girl who was shouting for Athena; Dawn would then look up but see no-one there in the hallway. She would then look around and found that the girl was gone too.

Dawn remembered that when she couldn't feel anything while sitting on the couch in the living room with Spike, when she saw her own hand vanishing while Spike looked on helplessly; she saw herself in a dark hallway. She didn't know where she was but she could hear screams coming from the end of the hallway, followed by a voice.

"Athena" said the voice as Dawn opened her eyes wide and began to run as fast as she could down the hallway, "sister, listen to me."

"No.. no…" Dawn recalled saying in her dream which was interlaced with images of her hugging Buffy, of playing with Joyce, and then being in the arms of a man she never met, and looking at what looked like a hologram of a red haired woman while holding the hand of a redheaded little girl. She then saw herself facing Ben and Glory, she saw Buffy's jump from the tower when the blonde Slayer sacrificed her life to save her sister. Then she had other images; she saw herself looking at Willow, she saw the same red-haired woman as the hologram holding on to the sides of Willow's head. Dawn remembered watching Willow starting to glow. That image was then interlaced with more images from her life with the Scoobies before she found herself at the end of the dark tunnel.

Back in her room, Dawn pulled on her shirt while she recalled seeing Willow stuck in what looked like a pod. Dawn remembered that the redhead was screaming while looking to her right side. Dawn looked at what the redhead was looking at and almost had a heart attack. She saw a red haired pale figure pull her hand back while Willow was screaming at her to stop.

"Goodbye"

Dawn walked around the pale figure to see someone who looked like herself crying. Dawn, the former Key, watched as the figure opened her eyes wide as the pale figure smashed her palm in the chest of the girl who looked just like. She heard the Willow look-a-like scream as Dawn saw herself being turned into a husk.

And then she was back. Dawn remembered finding herself in the living room behind the Scoobies after Willow had used the magic that returned to Earth to bring her back into a new body. The redhead had redone the powerful spell that the Order of Dagon had carried out years ago to create her. Dawn asked what was going on when the Scoobies, who initially thought that Willow's spell didn't work, turned around in surprise and hugged her.

"You're back" Dawn remembered Buffy whispering into her ear.

"Hey Dawnie" said Willow as she hugged the brunette tight. Dawn placed her hand on the back of Willow's head and recalled the screaming redhead in her dream. Dawn remembered the tears in the redhead's eyes, combined with the look of rage, the look of anger and hate in those same eyes. She pushed those memories of dreams to the back of her head and started to restart her life again. She didn't tell anyone about those dreams since she knew they'd think she was nuts.

'Even with what we face' thought Dawn to herself as she put on her jeans just as there was an excited knock on the door.

"Hey, Lil'bit" said Spike from behind the door, "get out here.. you gotta see this."

"Coming!" shouted Dawn as she brushed her hair.

"Dawn" said Buffy as she pushed open the door and pulled her sister, who was enraged at the intrusion of her privacy, out to the living room where everyone was looking at the television.

"What?!" shouted Dawn as she looked at her sister who was looking at the TV, "Buff… you can't just…"

"Dawnie" said Willow, who was standing next to her, as she turned Dawn towards the television while Spike, Andrew, Xander and the other Scoobies stood transfixed at the breaking news; burning oil fields, destroyed gas refineries, and smoking military bases… some of which looked like craters.

"What's going on?" asked Dawn as the image on the television changed to show an image of what looked like alien ships in orbit.

"We have had NORAD confirm that….." the reporter on the screen just as there was a bright flash of light, followed by nothingness… just picture snow.

Dawn saw the screen suddenly go off before the Scoobies looked at each other concerned. It was then that they heard the sound of thunder as the ground shook around them. The group ran to the windows and looked out of the apartment. They could hear people screaming in terror, followed by explosions in the distance.

"Oh Goddess" said Willow as she looked up at the sky, as did the others.

"No way" said Buffy in shock as she looked up and her eyes opened wide to see numerous blue bolts of plasma falling through the Earth's atmosphere.

"Willow" said Buffy as the redhead looked at her best friend who was still looking up at the sky with her arms trembling, "contact all the Slayers… telepathically, magically… contact them all. We need everyone on hand and…."

"Oh God, get down!" said Spike as he pushed everyone down onto the floor after a few plasma bolt hit nearby and caused numerous explosions. He covered Dawn and got onto the floor while Buffy covered Willow by pushing her onto the floor, with the others in the apartment jumping behind the couch as the windows were blown into the apartment; sharp shards of glass heading everywhere.

"Call them" whispered Buffy who was lying on top of Willow's back, "Will… call…"

"Li'Bit?" said Spike as he slowly got up while hearing more explosions in the distance, "you ok?"

"Yeah" said Dawn coughing, "Andrew? Xander? Everyone?"

"We're ok" said Xander as he helped Andrew stand up before running to Buffy who was bleeding from a head wound, "Buffy!"

"Buffy?" asked Dawn as she looked at her sister who Willow slowly turned to her back and started a healing spell to slowly heal the wound.

"She's gonna be alright" said Spike as he helped Dawn stand up after which he pulled out the glass shard the impaled his shoulder with a slight grimace, "her breathings ok.. and her heart's beating. Red's gonna fix 'er up."

"What the…" said Xander when he heard buzzing sounds and ran to the window.

None of them noticed Dawn looking worried at the buzzing sounds as she held her head in her hands.

"Call…. Call… everyone" said Dawn as she fell on her knees while holding onto the sides of her head, "Will…. Slayers, Faith, Angel… Vampires… everyone… call Deepscan. I… it.. it's the…. My head… Buffy."

"Dawnie" said Xander as he kneeled down and gently grabbed her cheeks, "Buffy's gonna be alright and…."

"No" said Dawn while she rubbed her head, "it was always… oh God… we're dead. All of us."

Andrew and Xander just looked at each other before he looked at Spike worried.

"I… how do I know.. why do I know" said Dawn as she closed her eyes and started to rock back and forth, "I… I can't know… why do I know…?"

"Dawnie" said Willow as she looked at the brunette while continuing to heal Buffy, "there was an explosion and.. and I think you may have had a concussion or…"

"The Wraith" said Dawn with fear in her eyes as she looked at Xander, and then Willow, and then at Spike, "we're dead… we're all dead."

TBC