Anya, Giles, Dawn, Spike and all other characters who have appeared in the syndicated series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, together with the names, titles and back story are the sole copyright property of Joss Wheldon, Fox and Mutant Enemy. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fan fiction. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Please contact the authors for permission to reproduce this story on any other fan fiction site.
LOVE/ GRAPHIC SEX DISCLAIMER: This story will depict love sexual relationships between all kinds of genders, races or species. If you can't deal, don't read.
TIMEFRAME: After the end of Season Six
PAIRING: Remains to be seen.
Part 1 - Revelation
"Why can't we go see him today?" The tall teenager complained.
"Dawn, I told you. The doctor said it's important for him to rest"
Buffy explained to her sister with an annoyed voice.
"Don't you think he'd rest better if he got to see us?"
"And if he asks about Willow?" The blonde young woman asked her younger sister sharply. "Do you think that would make him more relaxed? Or do we lie to him again?"
"He's a grown man, Buffy. He's, like, old. I'm sure he'd be happier if he knew what was going on." Dawn claimed while putting her breakfast dishes into the water. "And we can't keep this up forever. He will find out sooner or later."
"And if I have any say in it, it will be later, Dawn." She sighed.
"Now, don't you have school to attend to?"
"Fine, send Summers Jr. to Hellmouth High. But when I get home, we will have a serious talk. I'm your younger sister, not your minion. You can't make this decision for me." With the last angry statement, she hurried out of the door.
Buffy looked after her sister for a moment, then sat down and picked up the phone, her formerly calm face dropping to one of sorrow.
"Xander? Hi, it's me. We need to talk. I can't stall Dawn anymore." She softly admitted.
---
"Come on in." Buffy said tiredly as she opened the door and looked at her best friend.
"Buffy." He hugged her. "How bad is it? What does she know?"
"Nothing. But she insists on telling Giles about Willow." She avoided
his eyes as they sat down on the couch in the living room. "I think
we've run out of options. So far I was able to keep her at bay with the
whole 'Giles need to rest' line, but I think we have run out of time.
She insists on telling him."
"Then why don't we just tell her? She's not a child anymore, Buffy"
Xander suggested. "I know it's not what you wanted, but as you said, we
can't keep this up forever."
"How can I tell her that the man that has been, for the lack of a better term, our father for the past five years, is dying?" She yelled at him before jumping on her feet and pacing around.
"I hate this. I hate lying to Giles, I hate lying to Dawn, I hate lying to Willow. But I just don't know what to do. Whatever I do, someone is going to get hurt." She swallowed hard. "And by hurt I don't mean emotionally. Giles and Willow are so fragile, the truth might literally kill them. You heard the doctors."
"And with that, I believe, you have the answer. The only person you can tell without risking their health is Dawn." He stood up and pulled Buffy in another hug. "It's the only way I see."
For a moment, Buffy embraced the hug, shaking like a leaf. Then she pulled herself together, puting on her brave face. "You are right. I have to tell her."
She looked out of the window, then said with a tiny voice: "Will you be here?"
"Yes, of course. Do you want me to get her home right now?" Xander asked, knowing that once his friend made a decision, she wanted to pull through with it as fast as possible.
"Please."
---
"Ms. Summers, Ms. Dawn Summers to the principal office please." The voice of the principals secretary echoed through the classroom, making everyone look at the youngest summer.
"I guess that's me." Dawn awkwardly said as she hurried to gather her stuff. She was more than worried, because she knew that she had not done anything bad, so the principal calling her could only mean something bad had happened at home.
"Do you need me to take you to the office?" Her teacher asked empathically, sensing the young womans fear. The young teacher had been watching Dawn ever since she heard about her family, and made it a personal priority to care for her pupil in times of need.
"That ... that would be nice." Dawn confessed, evading the stare of her classmates. It was embarrassing to her, but she didn't feel like she could walk this walk on her own. A thousand possibilities went through her mind, none of them pleasant. She had only been pulled from class like this two times, once when Buffy was wounded so severely that she was taken to ICU, and once when Buffy came to the school to tell her about her mom.
"Read chapter 17 while I'm gone, and there will be questions about it
when I come back." Dawn's teacher adressed her class, knowing that the
moment she closed the door the class would go crazy if there wasn't a
threat of questions about the content of the book when she returned.
She put her arm around the tall teenager and led her out of the
classroom and down the corridor towards the office.
"I'm sure she's fine, Dawn." She said softly, knowing that the young girl next to her had only one living famility member left. "It's broad daylight." She added without thinking, which caused Dawn to come to a complete halt, looking shocked at her teacher.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't ..." Her teacher tried to cover, but after a look at the teenagers face she continued. "I've been living at Sunnydale for twenty-seven years, Dawn, and I'm not blind. That, and your sister once helped me out when I went for a walk after dusk. If something happened, I'm certain it would have taken days before the police contacted the school."
"Thank you." Dawn said sincerely as she continued towards the principals office. "I didn't know you ... knew." She lost some of her tension, realizing that the teacher was right. If something had happened to Buffy, it would have taken the police at least a day to contact her school. "It's just that ... with my mom ... and two of our best friends are in hospital." She stammered while continuing to walk.
"If something had happened to either of them, I'm sure your sister would have picked you up herself." The young woman next to her ensured her. "And we already established that your sister is alright." She tried a cheering smile towards Dawn.
"Thank you, Ms. Larryn. Really, it means a lot to me that you care."
"Don't you worry, Dawn. You know I am always there for you."
"I guess you better get back to class now. Unless you want to come in with me?" Dawn said, silently hoping her teacher would stay.
"Of course I'm not going to leave until I know you're alright." She said. "Come on, let's face the heat!"
---
Xanders voice on the principals phone didn't do much to calm Dawn down,
but at least it confirmed that in fact nobody died. A short coverstory
about her dad not being well ensured that Dawn was allowed to leave the
school early to go home. With an apolegetic look at her teacher, who
knew that the Summers women had no relationship at all with their
father, she left the office.
"Buffy? Xander? Is everyone really alright?" Dawn blurted out as she stormed into the Summers house through the front door.
"Yes, Dawnie. Come here, sit down. We just decided to have this serious talk a little earlier." Buffy said calmly. "There is something you need to know about Giles."
"Is Giles OK? Oh my god, please tell me nothing happened to Giles!"
"Calm down, Dawnster. I promise you nothing has changed since you and Buffy visited him yesterday. We just ... we didn't ..." Xander lost his focus while awkwardly patting the couch next to him, motioning Dawn to sit down.
"We just didn't tell you the whole truth about his condition." Buffy swallowed, then straightened her face and continued. "We didn't want to worry you until we knew more, but clearly, you are not a child anymore and we decided that you need to know."
"Go on." Dawn said quietly, not liking the way this was going at all.
"We told you that he was in the hospital because of the damage Willow did to him when they fought." The younger sister nodded. "That's only part of it. The reason why he is still there, and not home with us, is what Willow did. Because she took the magic from him."
"But it was just borrowed magic, he told us, that's why he didn't die,
like that Rack freak." Dawn tried to argue.
"Yes Dawnie. That's why he isn't dead." Xander took over the explanation. "I'm not big on the scientific details, but just because he didn't die doesn't mean it left him unharmed. The doctors with their prodding and poking aren't entirely sure themself, but it seems that Giles' body is too weak to live on its own."
"That's why all these machines are in his room." Buffy cut in again.
"His heart can't beat on his own, his lungs need help, all of his
organs need support."
"So what are you saying, is he like, dying?" Dawn ask, worried and confused by what she heard. Up until now, she thought that the only reason Giles was in the hospital was because of the broken bones and concussions he suffered when fighting Willow.
"No, Dawnie, no." Buffy moved closer to her sister, hugging her lightly for comfort. "He's not dying. But he's not well, and he isn't getting any better. The doctors don't know how to fix him, and if he doesn't improve, he will have to stay at the hospital, hooked to all those gizmos." She swallowed. "Permanently."
"Well, then we have time to fix it, right? Find a cure, find out what did this to him ..."
"Dawn, we know what, who did this to him. But yes, it gives us time to find a cure. It's been done to him magically, there has to be a way to undo it. This isn't like mom, it's not natural, we can fight it."
"So this is why you made me lie to him about Willow. You are afraid if he hears ..." She swallowed. "That it would be too much. That he would get worse."
"Yeah Dawnster. The doctors said we must absolutely not upset him, he has to stay calm at all times."
"Why didn't you tell me? I had a right to know!" Dawn asked angrily,
now that her primary fears were adressed.
Xander opened his mouth, but Buffy stood up abruptly, motioning him to let her talk and turning away from Dawn, looking out of the window.
"That was my call, Dawn. I asked Xander to be with me on this, so don't be angry with him. When Giles' doctor first talked to me, he knew even less than what we know now. He didn't know if Giles ... if he'd even wake up after the first operation. I didn't want you to be in a constant worry about him. I hoped he would get better after a few days."
"You had no right to ..."
"No, I didn't. I tried to protect you from the world as if you were a child." She turned to her sister, her eyes asking for forgiveness. "I'm sorry. I'm just not yet used to you being a little woman." She walked back to the couch. "Can you forgive me?"
"Still taller than you." The teenager stood up, hugging her sister.
"And of course I forgive you for trying to protect me. But you better
get used to it fast, this better be the last confession I hear from
you. And you too, you big doofus." She added as she pulled Xander into
the hug.
"Ok, Willow is doing so bad that I don't think you've been lying about her either, have you?" She asked with a casual voice, but the undertones betrayed her feelings. She wanted the full truth now.
"No, you are right. But she can't know about Giles, Dawn." Her sister explained as the three of them sat down. "You know how she is. Hearing that she did that to Giles would finish her."
---
"Couldn't we call those stupid Council guys? They have so many
ressources, perhaps they could find a cure for Giles. I don't like
them, but I could go on a buisness trip while they are in town, maybe
china, there's a lot of open vengeance demon positions over there"
Anya asked while sipping her coffee.
"Buffy said they already tried, the Council has, as usual, no clue.
They have given us a contact to a coven somewhere in ireland who is
researching for us, but apparently it's never happened to anyone
before. To survive something like this, I mean." Dawn explained while
stirring her cocoa.
Since Tara died, and Willow being out of comission, Anya had quickly
became her lady-friend of choice when needing someone to talk to. The
vengeance demon's unique view of the world would usually cheer her up,
and Anya was one of the few people that she could tell anything without
having to worry about upsetting her. She was also one of the few people
that didn't treat her like a child, and would openly discuss more adult
issues like sex or death and loss with her. Adding to that the fact
that Anya could instantly teleport to whereever she was, and apparently
could drop whatever she was doing at any time Dawn needed her, made the
two spend more and more time together.
"Well, that's no big surprise. If it weren't for all those machines,
Giles would be dead already, and medical science has only been around
for a few decades. If this had happened even a hundred years ago, he
would have just died, so obviously there can't be ancient texts about
how to treat someone for this." Anya mused. "And since his body isn't
broken, no healing spell could have saved him."
"I guess you are right. I just wish we could talk to Willow about it. I mean, she did it, perhaps she could undo it."
"Yeah, but for once I have to agree with the local slayer. If we told
Willow, she'd lose it completely." Anya considered for a moment. "On
the other hand, there's not much to lose. Perhaps we should try to tell
her, I mean, maybe she can fix Giles before turning into a vegetable.
Then we would have a functioning watcher at least."
"Willow can't even tie her shoes anymore. I wouldn't let her within a mile of Giles!" Dawn pointed out aggressively.
"Yes, I suppose you are right." Anya confessed. "But you, look at you,
you don't seem too hot today either. Are you sure you are dealing ok?"
"Yeah, I guess. It's a lot to take in, you know?" Dawn said sadly.
"I could cheer you up, tell you about some of my more funny vengeance jobs. Or I could let you do a little vengeance!"
The tall teenager looked at her shocked.
"Now, now, not life and death stuff, but you know, maybe you could wish for some warts on Buffys nose for lying to you, or some funny non-fatal diseases on Xander." The vengeance demons face brightened up. "Or perhaps some really harmless vengeance on a classmate that pissed you off, like making her always forget her homework or scratching herself in embarassing places in public!"
Dawn actually laughed at the suggestions, picturing her older sister with a huge wart on her nose.
"Thank you Anya, that's really sweet of you. You have come a long way,
you know that, right?" She added in a more serious voice. "I know you
joke and you act all big and tough, but Hallie told me that you don't
do the life and death kind of vengeance anymore."
"Halfrek visited you?" Anya asked shocked, knowing that her best demon friend was a lot less harmless than her.
"You know she visits me from time to time, Anya. It's ok, don't worry.
She always tries to bait me into wishing something big, but to be
honest, I don't think she's really serious about it anymore. She is
taking after you." Dawn smiled.
"What do you mean, taking after me? Halfrek is dangerous, Dawn, you shouldn't talk to her."
"Oh, she always goes like 'Dawn, don't you wish Willow was never born'
or 'Don't you sometimes wish your sister wasn't the slayer?' when we
meet, but then I poke her shoulder with my index and say no, and she
lets it drop completely. Last week she even stopped me from accidently
making a wish."
"Wow, Hallie joining the soft leage, who would have known." Anya pondered the thought for a moment, very surprised by what her young friend said. "Did you know that D'Hoffryn officially made a new job description for me?"
"What do you mean by that? I thought you already had one, vengeance demon." Dawn said, slightly confused.
"Oh, yes, but he realized that I'm not doing any of the big bad stuff
anymore, so he changed it. I'm now officially a 'justice demon.
Basicly he said that I can keep my powers and not kill people, as long
as I use my powers selfishly enough and not to fight demons." Anya
proudly explained. "Reduced powers." She added a bit grumpily.
"That is so cool, Anya. I'm really happy for you. I know how bad you felt without your powers and how worried you were that D'Hoffryn would take them away again. And how awesome is having 'selfishness' being a job criteria?"
The two women laughed, and ordered a new round of drinks, for a moment forgetting all the horrible things in their lives.