The Prince and his Children
Part 1 – Dreams and Nightmares
Chapter 1 – Restless Dawn
Disclaimer: Joss, you left your toys out. I do not own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Angel. And I have received no profit from the writing of this story. It is for entertainment purposes.
Summery: Crossover with Angel - S6/S3 - Buffy is dead, Faith is in jail, the Scoobies are devastated, and AI is barely holding it together - And now the Council has gotten involved - Oh dear! This will be an epic (or at least that's what I have planned) so quite a few pairings.
A/N: I would like to thank my co-author, Lisa Collins, as well as my beta readers Amanda Brown, D.M. Evans, and HonorH. Chapter 1 was loaded on July 1, 2003, reloaded July 15 2003. I also want to thank both Joss Whedon for writing The Gift of which I used parts and Buffyworld.com for their transcripts.
Chapter 1 – Restless Dawn'I am going to die tonight', Dawn Summers thought as she watched the carnage continue below her.
Which is not to say that the 14 year old particularly wanted to die. Admittedly, her life was no bed of roses, what with the revelation about her origins, her mother's recent death, and her sister's 'chosenness'. Indeed it was a lot to handle, but beyond that, Dawn knew she had a sister and friends who would move heaven and earth and face all of hell's minions (and in point of fact were doing that right now) to save her. Still, Dawn knew the consequences if Glory's ceremony took place. And although there was hope that Buffy and her friends could hold off Glory, Dawn knew that she would have to die if a portal was opened, since only her death could close it. And chances were not good. Still, Dawn mused, 'It doesn't help to lose hope now' and went back to struggling with her bonds. Just then Dawn realized she was not alone.
She looked up, and suddenly the possibility of her survival seemed much more realistic – in the form of the demon Doc. Dawn was rather nervous about the seemingly elderly man she met with Spike, but Doc had been very kind and understanding that day – maybe Spike had seen fit to call him and ask him to help out.
"You. You can help me. Untie me. Please. Help me, she's coming." Dawn looked at him pleadingly.
"Well, it seems she's running a bit late, is the thing. And, uh, if her Splendidness can't be here in time to bleed you…" and with those words, Dawn suddenly felt her hope drain, and her fear return in full force. Doc wasn't here because of Spike, but rather, he was here because of Glory. She looked down, and could see none of the Scoobies were close by, and were in fact not even on the tower.
Doc leaned in and whispered "Hey! Kid. Wanna see a trick?" And with a smile, he produced a large, shiny, knife. And Dawn felt a whole new level of terror. Doc glanced around, and then pulled out a pocket-watch, and checked the time.
"Well. What do you know? It's just about that time." As he spoke, Dawn saw movement behind him, and there was Spike –
"Spike!" Dawn cried, and instantly regretted it. Doc spun around as Spike slowly swaggered forward to Doc and Dawn.
"Doesn't a fellow stay dead when you kill him?" Spike asked.
"Look who's talking," Doc replied.
"Come on, Doc. Let's you and me have a go," Spike said, all business.
Doc started tapping his knife in his hand, and said, "I do have a prior appointment."
"This won't take long."
"No", Doc answered, "I…..I don't imagine it will."
Spike lunged forward, intent on stopping Doc. Dawn watched in horror though as Doc easily sidestepped Spike's attack, and proceeded to grab Spike and shove the knife into his back. Twin gasps escaped, one from Spike a gasp of pain, the other from Dawn, a gasp of fear and horror. Doc let go of the knife, and the two demons brawled for a moment, before Spike shoved Doc away from Dawn, and then Spike pulled the knife out. Spike looked Doc straight in the eyes.
"You don't come near the girl, Doc."
"I don't smell a soul anywhere on you. Why do you even care?" Doc asked
"I made a promise to a lady."
"Oh?" And suddenly Doc struck, his long tongue shooting out at Spike. Spike dodged Doc's tongue, but Dawn saw his mistake – in the moment it took Spike to dodge his tongue, Doc knocked Spike's legs out from under him. And then, with lightning speed, Doc had pinned Spike's arms behind him
"Then I'll send the lady your regrets." Spike and Dawn's eyes met, and they both knew he had failed.
"No," Spike pleaded in a whisper, and with that Doc shoved him over the side of the tower. Dawn screamed in terror. Doc slowly approached her and picked up the knife. He tested it on his thumb.
"Good, nice and sharp" He walked up close to Dawn, and traced out a path on her with his finger. Dawn realized with a sickening sensation that he was planning how he was going to cut her. She saw the knife inch closer to her, and turned her head and closed her eyes in terror. And then, from nowhere, she felt a presence behind – which in of itself almost seemed impossible since she was at the end of the platform.
Dawn opened her eyes, and saw an angelic figure, with blond hair, wearing a pure white gown. A blond angel – who was quite pregnant. 'A pregnant angel?' Dawn wondered – This was a whole new level of unbelievably, even for Sunnydale. Still, Dawn knew it was an angel, and knew she would protect her. Dawn turned her head back to face Doc, and found he was gone, and just as suddenly, so were her bonds. Dawn looked down, and gasped. Only moments ago, below the tower a battle for the very existence of the world, was taking place – and now it was no more.
Replaced with it was a fight between four figures. One of Glory's minions was still clearly there; only this minion seemed more capable than the groveling suck-ups that Jinx and the rest always seemed to be. He held himself in the stance of a fighter, but was clearly also the leader of the group. Dawn got the feeling that he was also quite confident, and intelligent.
Directly facing him was someone with a stake – 'Buffy' was Dawn's first thought. Then Dawn blinked, and saw her sister morph into a dark-skinned girl with muddy dreadlocks – and Dawn realized it was the First Slayer. But instead of the rags that Buffy had described to Dawn, she was wearing an orange jumpsuit, but to keep cool, she only wore it to her waist – the arms of the suit had been tied in a knot at her waist. She was also wearing a very tight halter top – a halter top that was really little more than a sports bra.
Just to the side of Glory's minion, and a step behind him was another figure, which Dawn could not make out, and yet, Dawn knew the figure was as important as the Glory's minion. And off to the side, some distance from both the First Slayer or Glory's minion and his companion, Dawn saw another man – with long hair, a mustache and a beard, with a long overcoat on. He seemed troubled, and Dawn saw him look up, and suddenly Dawn knew she and the angel had been spotted.
"Quickly, we must leave", the angel said. She grabbed Dawn, and flew away. As they climbed, Dawn saw them pass a bat, and then suddenly Dawn heard an arrow fly towards them as they flew off. Dawn watched in horror as the arrow struck home, and hit the angel, and the two of them started falling towards the ground. Dawn screamed, and as she crashed into the ground…..
and felt herself roll into a forest. She looked around, saw she what was the beginning of a pasture, and saw the angel walk towards her – oddly though, without her wings, and no longer in white gown, but now wearing a Catholic School girl uniform. She walked up to Dawn.
"Are we safe", Dawn asked as the angel reached down and helped her up. The angel nodded a yes.
"For now anyway" she replied "You don't mind that I changed slightly, do you?"
"No", Dawn answered, "did you lose your wings because you took a roll in the sack?" The angel looked down at her belly, and rubbed it.
"This? No. In fact, this is the reason I am an angel. Without this, well, let's just not go there, shall we?" Dawn shrugged her shoulders, and the angel took Dawn's hand in hers. They walked forward into the pasture.
All around them were people. She saw Giles, and that other watcher who Buffy thought was a complete joke. The other watcher had a look of shame on his face, and also hurt, while Giles looked at him with a combination sadness, hurt, and forgiveness in his eyes. She saw Xander and Anya talking, a great big smile on Xander's face, and a pained smile on Anya's face. She saw a man who clearly was a vampire, but with incredibly unruly sandy blond hair, wearing glasses, and with tears in his eyes. Near him was a large, red, bleeding spike, which he was trying to wrap with a white sheet. Unfortunately, each time the sheet came in contact with the spike, it turned blood red.
"He's trying to stop the blood of the innocent", the angel said, answering Dawn's unasked question. "He can't, you see, but he needs to, has to try anyway." Dawn turned slightly, and saw two girls playing with balloons – Dawn recognized them, and realized it must be Tara and Willow. They both looked younger, and each had a balloon – Willow had a yellow balloon, and Tara a purple balloon. Dawn noticed a major difference in the way the 2 handled their balloons – while Tara held onto hers purposely and was very careful with it, Willow was playing with hers. Dawn watched as Willow tossed it around, did a drawing of a face on it, and started letting it go, and seeing how far she could jump up and reach it. Tara looked at Dawn and then back at Willow with an anxious look on her face. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind came up, and Dawn watched as her balloon flew away from her. Dawn watched as Willow chased after the balloon, a look of pure terror on her face – Dawn could tell Willow did not want to lose that balloon. At the last minute, however, Dawn saw as the wind died down, and Xander, Giles, and Anya were able to get the yellow balloon, and gave it back to Willow. Dawn watched with slight amusement as Willow clutched onto the balloon so tight Dawn thought it might burst.
Instead, there was a loud pop, and Tara's balloon burst. Everyone looked at Tara shocked, the horror evident on their faces.
"Here, take mine Tara", Willow said.
"No, honey, I can't. It's yours, and it's special. You keep it", the blond haired witch replied.
"No, I want you to have it."
"I can't. I want you to keep and treasure yours."
And suddenly Tara and Willow were bickering, something which Dawn couldn't believe, since they practically never fought. Willow was practically shoving the yellow balloon into Tara's hands, and Tara was trying to force it back into Willow's hands. .
"I can't let you not have it", Willow cried, practically in tears.
"Willow, this is beyond both of us, you know that – Don't try and force this." Tara responded, a pleading sound in her voice.
"Tara, please – Take it for my sake", and suddenly, neither of them were holding onto the balloon, and it lifted off into the air, and floated away. Dawn watch as Tara suddenly went very still and very quiet, while Willow started throwing a huge temper tantrum. She was crying and screaming. Dawn wondered if Tara was holding her breath, since she couldn't even see her breathing, while at the same time wondering if Willow would hyperventilate with all of her screaming – she had never seen Willow act like this. Well, she corrected silently to herself, not since Oz left.
"It's always a shame when that happens", the angel said. Dawn turned to face her.
"What?"
"Not really important. However, what I am about to say is – you are going to have to look at what happened directly, and honestly, and you have to face it. You can't turn away from it – any of it."
"What are you talking about?" Dawn inquired.
The angel sighed. "This," and with that, the angel's face become contorted, and turned into that of a vampire's face. While Dawn screamed, the vamped angel grabbed Dawn's shoulders, spun her around, and shoved her forward into….
a bed!
Dawn looked around, and gasped for breath. She sat up, and realized she was in her bed, in her pajamas. 'A dream' Dawn thought 'or else a nightmare.' She slowed her breathing, trying to calm herself. 'At least Buffy didn't die in my dream again' Dawn thought. Then she realized that part wasn't a dream – Her sister was dead.