Fragile

When you're a mother, you realize how terribly fragile life can be. And how far you're willing to go to protect it.

Author's notes: Thanks for choosing to read "Fragile." If you haven't read my stories "Sunshine and Shadows" and "Maximum Entropy" then please do so now. This story will make a lot more sense if you do.

Disclaimer: I am borrowing all the recognizable characters. I just didn't tell Joss Wheedon or Mutant Enemy. Please don't stake me.

Flames will be used for vengeance spells.

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"I don't care what your book says, Giles. My daughter isn't a 'child of prophecy.' In case you've forgotten, the last time I was involved in a prophecy, I died." Buffy clattered down the ladder/stairs from the loft into the main room of the Magic Box. Her Watcher followed closely, his glasses in one hand and a book in the other.

"But the signs are all here," he protested. "'Born of the Chosen One, the one that stands alone.' And it even mentions both of the parents dying and being resurrected."

Buffy shook her head at him, unwilling to listen to his arguments.

"Caddie is the only child ever to be born of an active Slayer!" Giles said in exasperation. "That very obviously means something."

She stopped and tilted her head. "Really? The only one?" she asked, faintly curious in spite of herself.

"There's record of another Slayer having a son, but he was born before she was activated. Caddie, though, was born while you were a Slayer."

Buffy smiled wryly. "I was there, you know," she said. Then she sighed. "Giles, I don't want Caddie to fulfill a prophecy. I just want her to have a normal life, the kind I couldn't have."

"Well, considering her parents are a Slayer and a former vampire, somehow I doubt that will ever happen," Giles told Buffy rather bluntly. She crossed her arms but couldn't deny the truth.

"Fine. What else does this prophecy of yours say?"

"It's quite fascinating, actually," Giles said, his enthusiasm shining through his blue eyes. "As I said, it fits Caddie perfectly. Born of the Chosen one, father is 'cursed of the darkness, yet champion for the light.' And here it says 'a dark one pure of heart, rewarded for his service.' That can only be Angel. A vampire with a soul, becoming human again after fighting for good."

"Again, I know the story. I was there," Buffy said, sitting down at the research table. The round table was strangely empty, and looked rather unclothed. She looked around for Doyle, and heard someone rummaging around in the back.

"Yes, of course. Sorry." Giles slapped his glasses back on his face and consulted his book again. "Um…born of the Chosen One, the one that stands alone, yes, yes…Ah! Here we are. 'And she will stand at the end of days where darkness meets the light, and she will hold back the darkness and call the sun forth to vanquish the night.'" Giles looked up expectantly.

"Very poetic," Buffy said dryly. "And oh-so-surprisingly obscure. That's all it says?"

"W-well, no, it goes on at length about the Sun-caller, but—"

"Sun-caller?" Buffy interrupted in disbelief. "They couldn't come up with a better name than that? A thousand years of prophecy and Caddie ends up with 'Sun-caller.'" She shook her head. "Look, Giles. I know you mean well, but I'm not raising Caddie like John Connor because of a prophecy. So you can put the book away and we'll forget this conversation ever happened."

Giles deflated slightly and rubbed his forehead. "Very well. As you wish. Um…Who is John Conner?"

Buffy laughed and patted Giles' arm. "You really need to get out more," she told him. "I gotta blaze. Caddie's sick and by now Angel's probably frantic because he can't figure out how to make her better." She checked the clock behind the counter. "And I have to pick up Dawn from school. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?"

She got to her feet and grabbed her purse. Giles removed his glasses, stuttered for a few seconds, and then asked, "How is Dawn handling…things?"

Buffy stopped, her shoulders slumping slightly. It had only been a few months since their mother had died, and Dawn had lost her best friend on the same day. And if that friend happened to be a vampire, no one was saying so. Not after what Spike had done for Dawn.

"She's a little better," Buffy told him. "I actually got a complete sentence from her last night."

"That's good," Giles said sadly. "That's…good. And you? How are you holding up?"

Buffy sighed. "I have Angel," she said. "That's all that's getting me through." The bell over the door rang with innapropriate cheerfulness as she left the store. Despite what she had told Giles, her mind was filled their conversation.

It made sense. A terrible, forboding sense, but it was all the same. The Powers That Be had made it clear to Doyle that Caddie was meant for something big. They had even reassigned the seer to Sunnydale to keep an eye on her.

But this was her baby they were talking about. And Buffy had no intention of letting her baby do anything dangerous, much less "vanquish the night." Sun-caller. Please.

Buffy waited outside the middle school for Dawn to come out. Dawn would start high school next year, a fact that tended to wig Buffy out, mostly because high school had been when her life went, quite literally, to hell.

The brunette teenager walked across the lawn to join her older sister. "Hey," Buffy said, eyeing Dawn closely.

"Hey."

"How was school?"

"Horrible." Well, ya gotta give it the girl; she was honest.

"You ready to go home?"

"I guess."

Buffy didn't press her for more. Dawn would be ready to talk in her own time. The sisters walked in silence down the street until it was broken, surprisingly, by Dawn.

"How's Caddie?"

"Still sick," Buffy replied. "Doctor said it was a cold and gave us some pink goo. And of course she hates it." She glanced over at Dawn, who only nodded. Something around Dawn's neck caught Buffy's eye and she reached over and pulled it free of her blouse. Strung on a simple silver chain was a gold ring carved in the shape of a skull.

"That's not something you see all the time," Buffy said softly. Dawn gently took it back and slipped it under her collar again.

"It was Spike's," she replied. "I found it in his crypt."

"Oh," Buffy said, and left it at that.

Once they reached the house, Dawn went straight upstairs, where she would do her homework until dinner, and afterwards go to bed. It freaked Buffy out how good Dawn was being. It just wasn't natural.

Angel was sprawled on the couch, Caddie asleep on his chest. One hand ressted lightly on the infant's back to keep her in place and the other held some French existential novel he had been reading.

"Hey," Buffy greeted, stooping to kiss her husband. "She finally doze off?"

"Yeah," he replied, looking fondly down at their daughter. "I was going to start on dinner, but I didn't have the heart to disturb her."

"God, no. Let her sleep," Buffy said swiftly. "We have spagetti sauce in the pantry. I can boil some noodles and make a salad."

"There's some garlic bread in the freezer," Angel added a little hopefully. His year as a human paled in comparison to the over two centuries of being a vampire, so food still tended to be a novelty to him. And one of the ironic things was that he discovered he actually liked garlic. Must be the Irish part of him.

"Okay. We'll have garlic bread, too." Buffy kissed him again, lingeringly and headed to the kitchen.