Title: The Dying Roses

Pairing: Caroline/Angel(us)

Rating: M

Warnings: Language, Violence, and Sexual Situations

Summary: After moving to Sunnydale, Buffy is immediately swept up with her duties as a Slayer. She never dreamed her sister Caroline would go and fall in love with a vampire. Even if he was incredibly good-looking and had a soul.

Author's Note: In this AH/Crossover Caroline is Buffy's sister. Sorry for any OOCness. This is my first attempt at writing Buffyverse.

Stranded in this spooky town

Stoplight is swaying and the phone lines are down

Floor is crackling cold, she took my heart, I think she took my soul

With the moon I run far from the carnage of the fiery sun

Closer, Kings of Leon

I

"I wanna help her. I wanna become somebody."

Whistler had said helping this girl—the Slayer—the blond hair, green eyed beauty, would give him purpose. Help him to be somebody. Someone other than the useless rodent he'd been pegged as. And that possibility, a simple hope, meant everything to him. He'd spent centuries trying to make up for all the evil he had done, lives he had taken…such gruesome and unforgiveable things. And in all his darkness, there was suddenly a light, radiating with possibility. Buffy Summers, the new Slayer, was destined for greatness, there was no doubt in his mind about that.

But, she was simply not the light illuminating the doom and gloom that seemed to surround him.

"Buffy!" It was her. Like a sudden burst of sunshine on the horizon, the blond appeared. The mere sound of her voice was filed with sweet promises. "Who was that?"

She was staring after the retreating, stout form of Merrick—Buffy's intended Watcher. He knew the girl knew nothing of her sister's destiny. And if she was lucky, she would never know the horrific reality of the world they lived in. A world of vampires and slayers, demons. Any nightmare she ever had imaginable, come true. But if it had been up to him...he would have told her. Given her some inclination of the truth.

"I have no idea, Care." The Slayer spoke up quickly, turning to offer her sister a shrug. A blatant lie that could cost dearly in the future. The truth among family was an ever important thing. It could mean the difference between life and death.

That is why he wished to help, Buffy. To be somebody…that protected the innocent. Someone that could protect Caroline. A girl so sweet, innocent and pure—unknowledgeable about the truth to the world she lived in. She was a vampire's greatest fantasy. The perfect victim. He could not let that happen to her.

:}{}{}{}{:

The divorce papers had fallen through and it seemed that by the next morning they were packed and on the road to Sunnydale, California. Not even the promise of its name could have stimulated a positive reaction from either of the Summers girls, who'd been silent the entire trip. Buffy was engrossed within the pages of the latest gossip rag, lips set in a thin line the entire drive. Caroline stared ahead at the road, catching sight of the sign reading: Welcome to Sunnydale. She ignored the familiar twinge in her chest at the reminder that she had a new home and a broken family.

"Well, this doesn't look so bad, now does it?" Joyce Summers inquired brightly as the car pulled into the driveway of an unfamiliar residence: 1630 Revello Drive. It was a moderate sized abode. Charming in a way, but it wasn't home. They had left that place only a few hours ago.

"It's…nice." Caroline said softly as she climbed out of the car, closing the door gently behind her. It was almost too surreal, standing there. As if everything was finally sinking in. From here on out it was just her, Buffy and their mother. Their father was god knows where with his secretary, leaving them to take on the world by themselves. No father figure there to protect them. All they had was each other.

The girl felt the presence of her sister come up from behind her, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"This just screams Stepford," Buffy joked as their mother trotted up the porch steps and unlocked the front door. The blond slid a sidelong look at Caroline before adding as an afterthought, "Welcome to our own personal Hell."

:}{}{}{}{:

"This is so embarrassing." Caroline groaned. It was one thing to be the new girl at school; it was another to be driven to school by an overzealous mother encouraging her and her sister to 'think positively'.

"Shoot me now." Buffy mumbled as the two made their way towards the school. Sunnydale High, very original name. She looped an arm through Caroline's, directing them toward what was hopefully the front office for their class schedules. If they were lucky they'd have at least one class together.

They were greeted by the Principal's receptionist. The middle-aged woman offered them a pleasant enough smile. The plaque on her desk read Miranda Penfield.

"You two must be the new girls." She surmised with a far from pleasant tone. She'd obviously read Buffy's file. Caroline did not think her sister was crazy…sure she'd burned down their school gym and had come up with a cockamamie story about her having to kill vampires—okay, maybe she had sounded a bit loony. Their parents had even put her in an asylum to get her head examined.

The blond had wanted to believe her sister…but she hadn't been there. And there was about a zero chance in hell that vampires existed outside of Anne Rice novels and Twilight. But she would never hold that against Buffy.

"Principal Flutie is ready for you." Mrs. Penfield informed them as they both moved for the door, "Not you Miss Summers, just Buffy."

Caroline froze, sending her sister a fleeting glance before she disappeared into the Principal's office. The woman motioned for Caroline to step forward. "I have your schedule right here."

She held out a simple sheet, offering it to the girl with a tightlipped smile. She had never had an adult visibly dislike her before, and so obviously. It was almost difficult to keep the frown from etching its way onto her face.

"Thank you." Caroline got out as she accepted her schedule. Mrs. Penfield's caught her hand before she could make to leave.

"I do hope that your sister's past…transgressions at your last school do not in any way effect your ability to contribute positively to our school's community, Miss Summers." The woman said eyes narrowed as she stared down the blond. Caroline pulled her hand away a quick and politely as she could manage.

The blond gave a curt nod before turning and exiting the office, schedule in hand. Her eyes caught sight of a bulletin board covered with a myriad of colorful flyers announcing the school's latest events. Drifting towards it her eyes caught sight of a pink one. It was for the school's cheerleading team, marking the dates for upcoming try-outs. She recalled when she'd cheered at Hemery High with Buffy. It had been a simpler time in her life. When there were no secrets between her and her sister…now the girl didn't even want to talk about anything that had happened. She'd just completely shut out the past few months from discussion.

Her mom would just love for them to go back to how they'd been. Happy, normal girls ready to flounce around in a cheerleading uniform. Get back into the swing of things in the social scene of their new school. Caroline wondered if she was ready for that. Or, for that matter, if Buffy was.

"I wouldn't stare at that board for too long," A voice broke through her train of thought. "People might start to think you're weird."

The girl suppressed the urge to laugh, because the last thing she needed was for everyone to think she was weird on her first day. She turned on her heel, coming face to face with a shaggy haired boy wearing a grin.

"And why would they think that?" Caroline asked, raising a brow at him as he approached her slowly. He was cute, though not her cup of herbal tea.

"Well, it is a known fact that people find people who stare for too long at inanimate objects kind of strange." The boy informed her, stopping a full arms length before her.

"Ohhh," She nodded as if she'd been enlightened with a feigned look of understanding. "I did not know that. Thank you for educating me on the dangers of staring…"

"Harris." He offered before realizing his mistake; the façade of ease suddenly beginning to dissolve. "Xander, my name is Xander. Not that Harris isn't my name, too. I'm Xander Harris. But, friends call me Xander."

"Nice to meet you, Xander Harris." She smiled in turn at him offering up her own name.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could manage to get a word out he found himself staring down at the clutter of girly items that had managed to fall out of the purse of someone who'd bumped into him from behind. Buffy quickly dropped to her knees to collect her things, hands moving quickly over her things and returning them to her back. But not quick enough for Caroline not to catch the piece of chiseled wood that had managed to roll by Xander's feet, who'd bent over and picked it up.

"Is that a—" The blond's question was cut short as Buffy appeared at her side, pulling her away from the bulletin board, Xander…and the stake that had fallen out of her purse. Why would Buffy be carrying around a stake? After everything their family went through…her short bout of irrationality. Claiming to be something called a 'slayer'. Buffy couldn't still think that vampires were real. Her mind had to have been playing tricks on her.

:}{}{}{}{:

Buffy had been acting strange ever since the incident outside of the main office with Xander. It wasn't until she ran into the boy again that he told her about overhearing her sister having an interesting discussion with the school librarian, Mr. Giles about being something called a Slayer. Just hearing the thinly veiled layer of excitement from the boy's voice was enough to make her heart jump. This was crazy…there was no way that Mr. Giles would actual be encouraging Buffy to be a—a slayer. And if the dead body that had been found in some girl's gym locker was any indication, it didn't look to be a very promising start for their new lives in Sunnydale.

Caroline had prepared herself the barrage of answers her sister would give her when she brought it up. She'd leave mom out of it, no need to have her worry over it if it was nothing.

Her sister had left for the Bronze, the local hangout, with Xander and Willow—his longtime childhood friend, in tow, leaving Caroline to make the trip by herself. It was a bit reassuring to her that the old Buffy was still there; the one that lived for nights out with friends and having a good time. But she still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't completely right…she'd been feeling like—something was coming their way. Like the calm before a terrible storm.

:}{}{}{}{:

The shadows seemed to be both a comfort and hindrance He watched as the blond walked under the light of the moon. Its white glow illuminating her delicately curled her and bringing out the uniquely porcelain hue of her skin. It was one of the more noticeable differences between her and her sister, who had more color to her.

His eyes trailed over her form in the cream colored baby doll dress she wore, a silky, red ribbon wrapped securely around its waist line. Angel's gaze drifted down, past the short hem of the dress, over the long, lean length of leg that the view offered; to the thick, crimson heels encasing her feet. She looked good enough to eat. He shook the thought from his mind as he followed silently after her. Where was Buffy? The girl should be watching her sister. Sunnydale was a dangerous place to be wandering around, dressed like that at night.

She was like a beautiful rose, bud beginning to bloom. Spike would have noted the poetry about her. Surrounded by a world of dark and evil things and not yet know of their existence. Any noble man would have died trying to protect a girl such as her when he'd been Liam. Someone riddled with innocence. The very thing he defiled when he'd been Angelus.

Not anymore. Not her. He had to protect her…and the slayer. And the only way to do that was for her to know the truth, to prepare herself against it.

He called out to her in a soft voice, shrouded by the mess of trees lining the street. The blond froze at the sound, turning slowly to look over her shoulder in his direction. He could taste her fear. It mingled in the air like a sweet perfume to him. He stepped forward, giving her a partial view of his face—his angelic face. He knew the calming effect it had on people, something he'd held over his victims. Now he hoped it was enough to put the girl at ease.

"Who are you?" Caroline asked as she stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. He was incredibly handsome. The way the light shown on his eyes, like an angel fallen from heaven.

"A friend. You shouldn't be out here alone, at night." The man said his voice low as she studied him.

"Why not?" She asked turning her body toward him as interest won out over fear. There was something about him that made her believe she could trust him. Besides, how many crazies could there be living in a place called Sunnydale?

"There are a lot of things you don't know." He informed her. "About the world you live in."

Caroline stiffened at his words, crossing her arms over her chest. "Wha—what are you talking about?"

"Your sister is the slayer." The man stated simply, as if it were the answer she'd been waiting for. "And right now, you're standing at the mouth of Hell…You're going to need this."

Her eyes caught a glint of white sailing through the dark toward her. She reached a hand out, catching the item before it could fall in front of her.

"What is th—" She paused as her gaze flickered to where the stranger had been standing only moments ago. He was gone. And the only proof she had that he had been there was clasped firmly in her hand. A small trinket of the event.

Her fingers worked at opening the small white jeweler's sack that had been left to her. Her eyes widened as she stared down at the delicate cross, hanging from its thin silver chain. She gasped at the sight of it. It was getting harder and harder to ignore the amount of evidence stacking up against her. She could no longer ignore what she'd seen come out of Buffy's purse—the stake, or what Xander had told her. Or the fact that some complete and total stranger had given her a cross and informed her that she was living on the mouth of Hell. What if Buffy had been telling the truth? Maybe she was a…slayer. But then that also meant another important part of her story was also true—vampires were—real.

Was that really something she was ready to even contemplate? And who was that angel faced man? What was his purpose in all of this? He'd called himself a friend…the moment she'd seen his face she knew she'd never be able to forget him. The way his soft lips were set in a somber expression as he'd stared at her. Caroline looked down at the cross, fingers running over the cool silver. What exactly had Buffy gotten them in to?

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