Prologue
Category: D/J
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Everything up until the last ten minutes of ‘Two Gentlemen Of Capeside’.
Warning: This is a D/J fic, but P/J are together in the prologue and first chapter. Don’t worry, though…I fully intend to present them as the dysfunctual train wreck they are.
It was one of the worst storms since Hurricane Christopher blew through the area two years ago, but this time he was stuck in the middle. A smart man would have just stayed at home, curled up with a book. Or maybe with a person. A smart person wouldn’t be out here risking his life like this.
Then again, Dawson Leery wasn’t smart. At least he didn’t feel like he was. He was intelligent, to be sure. He did well in school, and trusted his instincts. However, every time a crisis reared its ugly head, he had to meet it face first.
That’s how he ended up here. Traveling out to sea with the love of his life, attempting desperately to rescue her boyfriend. Even though Dawson hated him right now, he couldn’t just let him drown. For no other reason that what the effect that would have on Joey.
At least that’s what he kept telling himself was the reason.
Once Jen had made the leap onto the ‘Artful Dodger’, the three of them awaited Pacey. Much to their surprise, he didn’t make a move. Instead, he began to untie the rope that held the two boats together.
“Pacey, let’s go!” Dawson screamed.
“Pacey, are you crazy?” Joey yelled over the howling wind.
“I’m not leaving my boat!” Pacey replied.
Dawson couldn’t believe it. He knew Pacey put way too much importance on that floating piece of wood, but now he was willing to risk his life for it?
“You’re not gonna make it!” he warned him.
“I’M NOT LEAVING MY BOAT!” Pacey screamed back, louder this time. It was almost fanatical.
“I’m not leaving you!” he yelled back. Then, without thinking, leapt across the chasm separating the two boats.
He thought he heard Jen and Joey attempt to stop him, but he ignored it. It was crazy, he knew…but Pacey used to be his best friend. He wasn’t going to abandon him, even though Pacey had himself not long ago.
“Dawson...” Pacey warned him. “Get off of my boat!”
“I’m not letting you do this!” he replied
But he wouldn’t listen. Pacey just stayed there, insisting that Dawson go save himself. This was getting them nowhere. Quickly, Dawson grabbed him and they struggled for a moment.
“People care more about you than you care about this damn boat!” Dawson insisted at the top of his lungs. “Pacey!”
However before either of them could make a single move, lightning struck Pacey’s boat. The mast caught fire, as the waves blew Joey and Jen farther apart. It was too late now. They couldn’t go back.
Or maybe…just maybe…
In seconds, Dawson had made a decision. He put his hand against Pacey’s back and started to push.
“PACEY…GO!” he screamed.
Pacey Witter leapt, knowing it was a gamble. He couldn’t possible jump that far. To his surprise, though…he made it. As if some unseen force guided him straight to the desk of the Artful Dodger. He collapsed for a moment, and then turned around.
Dawson could only stare wide-eyed. He thought he could maybe shove Pacey far enough so that Joey and Jen could pull him on board, but he wasn’t nearly strong enough to push him the entire way. Was the wind really that strong? If it was, then shouldn’t their boats have been turned to kindling by now?
“Pacey, get us closer!” Joey commanded, breaking everyone out of their surprise. “We’ve got to…”
Suddenly, everything seemed to go in slow motion for Joey Potter. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a second bolt of lightning strike Pacey’s boat. Saw it rock…saw Dawson lose is balance…saw him fall overboard…
…then saw him disappear beneath the waves!
“DAWSON!!!” she screamed with all her might. Her scream sounded inhuman almost, the worst sound you could possible imagine.
She lunged forward, trying to jump in after her. Pacey and Jen grabbed her, holding her back.
“Joey, don’t be stupid!” Jen warned her. “You couldn’t…he couldn’t have possible…”
“No…!” Joey cried. “Oh god…no…NO!!!”
Tears formed in her eyes. Dawson was…he was…
Her best friend, the person who knew her better than anyone, the most important person in her life had just died right in front of her and she was completely helpless. Not again…it couldn’t have happened again. She couldn’t lose him, too.
She never even had the chance to tell him how much she…
Joey collapsed to her knees, sobbing. She completely forgot where she was. The only thing she knew was that Dawson was gone.
“What the hell is that?” Pacey whispered.
Joey and Jen looked up at what he was referring to. In the middle of the water where Dawson fell, a small whirlpool had appeared. With each passing second, it became bigger…until they were caught in it as well. They started twirling towards the centre.
Then everything went black.
*****
When the three of them regained consciousness, the storm had halted. They found that the Artful Dodger was now on a solid surface, while Pacey’s boat was shattered a few feet away.
“Joey?” Pacey asked. “Jen? You guys ok?”
He leapt onto the ground, trying to see where they were.
Then suddenly he felt as if his jaw would hit the ground.
“No…flipping…way…” he whispered.
Jen and Joey joined him on the ground, seeing exactly what had him so spooked.
They weren’t on the shore. They were in the exact same spot they were earlier. Only somehow…the water parted. Like something out of the ‘Ten Commandments’, when Charlton Heston parted the Red Sea…only round. The exact shape and size that the whirlpool had been. Fish were flopping around, trying desperately to make it back to the water.
Most surprising of all was the figure on his knees in the very centre of the phenomenon. Even though his hands were covering his face, Joey immediately knew who it was.
“DAWSON!” she screamed in excitement.
She ran towards him, and swung her arms around him…hugging him as tightly as she could.
“I thought…” she whispered, a tear falling down her cheek. “I thought you were…”
Dawson gave a sigh of relief, hugging her back. Although he didn’t open his eyes to look at her.
Pacey and Jen walked up to him.
“I hate this movie!” Jen complained, referring to the creepy water thing.
“How did you…?” Pacey asked. “I mean, you’re still alive. Just how long can you hold your breath for, Dawson?”
“A long time apparently,” Dawson replied in a small voice.
“What’s holding the water back?” Joey asked, finally letting him go.
“Yeah?” Jen asked. “I’ve never heard of a whirlpool that could do THIS. What did this?”
Just then, Dawson opened his eyes. Jen gasped, and Pacey went wide-eyed at what they saw.
All Joey could do is stare, as Dawson’s eyes glowed a bright blue.
“I think…” Dawson whispered. “I think I did!”
No one said a word.
Mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet
This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia...
…Evolution leaps forward.