Dawn Summers leaned against the railing of the balcony, the windy night swirling her brown hair around her head. The air was beginning to take on the crisp scent that hinted at the beginning of autumn. She loved the fall in New York, it was perfect. Winters were too cold for the native Californian in her but for some reason the summers made her feel a little sad. The full moon peeked out from behind some patchy clouds and for a moment she thought of Oz, wondering where he was now.
She could probably track him down if she really wanted to but she never bothered. Nothing was the same and there would just be too much bad news to tell him. Buffy was dead, for real and permanently this time. Angel was gone too. Both of them had been lost at the battle in Los Angeles. She remembered that night well because it was one of the worst battles she'd ever fought. The obliteration of Sunnydale paled in comparison to the gruesome memories of L.A.
They had come to Angel's aid when he challenged the Circle of the Black Thorn and the Senior Partners threw everything they had at him. Everyone had come but a little late. The fight was heated already and blades were swinging wildly, blood and other ooky things splattering all over the place. Dawn wasn't supposed to be there. Only the potential slayers, Xander, Willow and Faith had been allowed to accompany Buffy. Her sister had actually locked her in the Greyhound bathroom to keep her safe, however she'd been too distracted to think of barring the window.
It was a tight fit through that window but she'd made it out and it'd been easy enough to find the action. Dawn had slipped into the fray undetected; two minutes later she was almost done for. Something huge and vaguely slimy had her pinned against an alley wall, its claws descending toward her face when it made a strange grunt and dropped to its knees. Her terrified blue eyes had met the calm blue ones of a boy about her age. He'd tossed her a sword and they fought together, watching each other's backs.
More than once they'd saved each other's lives that night. In the end they had triumphed… but not without losses. Over half of the potentials were dead. Xander's legs were broken. Willow's hair and eyes were black with the magicks; she lay in a twitching heap at Xander's side, shielding them both. Dawn had seen Angel explode in the cloud of dust. Spike was nowhere to be found and they assumed he'd went the same way as his grandsire. After awhile Faith uncovered what was left of Gunn. Then Illyria had carried Buffy's ruined body to her.
It had torn Dawn's heart out of her chest to see her sister dead when she had, once again, survived. It didn't seem fair. Didn't the world need Buffy more? Faith slapped some sense into her and they managed to round up the survivors. They burned the evidence of the demons that had attacked the city of angels with a controlled magical fire. It was almost cute how people had explained away the destruction with earthquakes and gas explosions. People really went to great lengths to delude themselves. They were probably happier that way.
Something about mortal danger brought people together. When she and Connor had a chance to talk they realized that they had a lot in common. Turns out that he had defied orders as well by coming there. There were other things too, like the fact that she had never really existed and he never should have. It was incredibly easy to fall in love with him. They were undeniably perfect together.
Dawn shuddered to think what might have happened to them if they didn't have each other. It was his strength and her hope that got them through the worst of things after that night; their love healed. A whole slew of potentials were called to replace the ones they'd lost and it had been quite a scramble to find all of them. The girls had to be trained and it became a project they all lost themselves in to stave off the grief. Eventually they got organized and had a whole system going.
Dawn had turned 25 this year and by this time they had quite the slaying operation set up. Sometimes she felt a little like Xavier in their converted school in the woodsier area of Poughkeepsie. The place even had it's own little plaque beside the gate that read 'Summers Academy' because it was easier to pose as an exclusive, all-girl boarding school. Willow had taken care of all of the logistics. They were completely legitimate and taught regular things like math and history alongside the slaying and demonology.
There were so many slayers in the world now that no one had to do the job full-time. Most of the girls lived relatively normal lives with slaying taking a secondary role. There was a slayer in almost every major city across the United States and a few internationally in the places that needed them most. They were finally seeing the peace that the Scooby gang had envisioned. For once good was not just holding its own- it was kicking some ass.
She really wished that Buffy was here to see it all. Xander had settled down with one of the slayers, Valencia; they had a young son together. He and Val both taught at Summers Academy. Illyria also helped at the school, mostly with combat training. Willow had ended up meeting a woman named Sarah whose gentle spirit reminded Dawn so much of Tara. Those two owned a beautiful home in New Jersey and were frequent visitors to the academy. And Dawn was not without her own happy ending.
The wind picked up and the cold sliced through her pale green shirt, cutting her reverie short. She rubbed her arms to dispel the goosebumps that rippled across her chilled flesh and stepped back into her office, shutting the French doors behind herself. Dawn lived and worked at the Summers Academy with a good deal of her time spent in this office lately. She wasn't sure how she'd ended up taking control of things but she had. The others deferred to her just as they had with Buffy. She'd been surprised to find out she had a knack for this sort of thing too.
A loud chime came from the screen that took up almost one whole wall. It displayed a world map that was scattered with glowing red dots. It was a marvel of magic and technology that Willow had whipped up to keep track of all the slayers. Each dot represented a girl. One was flashing and that meant a new slayer had joined the fold. She'd been wondering who was going to replace Heather; she'd been killed yesterday by a Nam'tok demon.
Dawn crossed the room and touched the dot which called a small pop-up window containing information on the girl: Alisha Vargas, college student in California. Her college id photo was included in the file. The girl was sweet-looking and reminded her of a younger Willow. Soon enough they would meet in person to begin her training. Dawn only had to send someone to collect her.
"Heather's replacement, I take it. Who are you going to send?"
She turned, a smile already on her face. Dawn was always acutely attuned to her husband and though she never heard him because he was as stealthy as a cat, she always felt when he was near. Connor was behind her, holding a towheaded 4-year-old girl who was falling asleep against his shoulder.
"Faith. She's in San Francisco right now so she's closest," Dawn replied softly as she reached out to stroke their daughter's silky hair. Tara Anne Summers was the light in her life. In those rare painful moments when she was overwhelmed with the anguish of losing so many she loved, Dawn only had to look at her child's beatific face to be grateful for the life she still had.
Her blue eyes blinked open at the contact and she smiled. "Hi Mommy," Tara murmured.
"Hey baby. Go back to sleep, okay?" She kissed the pale curve of her little girl's cheek. "Sweet dreams." Tara merely closed her eyes in acquiescence. Dawn didn't look forward to the day when her daughter would join the girls at the academy but she knew it would have to happen; Tara was already preternaturally strong.
Connor shifted Tara enough to free one of his arms which he slipped around Dawn's shoulder. "I'm going to tuck her in and then I'll give Faith a call about the new girl." He guided her firmly to the leather couch in the spacious office. "Why don't you lie down for a bit? I don't want you exerting yourself."
"Oh please," Dawn snorted. "Exerting myself? I haven't done anything but teach boring demon lore in a nice, safe classroom all day." The concern in his eyes was too genuine to ignore so she complied, sitting down on the couch. "I'm no more fragile this time around," she complained, absently rubbing her swollen abdomen.
"That's what I'm afraid of," her husband replied wryly. "I still remember the time you slayed those two vampires when you were pregnant with Tara. Damn near gave me a heart attack. This is why you're not leaving this house again until you give birth. Maybe not even then."
Dawn's blue eyes narrowed. "You're lucky I happen to be fond of you … You know I don't respond well to pigheaded tyrant's orders."
"I love you too, darling," Connor replied archly, brushing his lips lightly across her temple before going to put their daughter to bed.
She laid back on the couch and closed her eyes. Dawn actually was tired; carrying that extra weight really took it out of you and she was very close to her due date. Their son kicked again and a serene smile stretched across her face. The kid seemed to enjoy playing the conga on her bladder lately. He would be a handful just like his father. She could tell.
The End