Author: Lash_Larue
Title: "Fading Dawn" Chapter 1 'Relationships'

Pairing: Faith/Dawn, Buffy/Willow, mixtures thereof, others
Rating: R

Summary: Mr. and Mrs. Blake begin. So does some other stuff.

Warnings: References to what some would consider incest. Language
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Joss Whedon

A/N: This is the sequel to "Fruition", part 2 of 'The Dawning of Faith' universe. I decided to rework it to include more of what was hinted at in the last story concerning the very complex relationship between Buffy, Dawn, Faith, and Willow. It is not going to be very pr0ny, but if the thought of Buffy/Dawn squicks you, skip this one. Other warnings by chapter.

'Fading Dawn'

Chapter One

"Relationships"

"Stand still, Ricky, honestly," Lisa sighed in exasperation as she tried to tie Blake's bowtie.

"This rig is worse than a straight jacket," he muttered.

"Look, boss, in less than a half-hour you are going to have a slayer of your very own, to have and to hold from this day forward. Quit whining like a fucking bitch and let me make you presentable, okay?" Blake grinned sheepishly.

"You're right, Lisa. For Amanda I should be able to stand still if you were nailing the thing on. I guess I'm just a little nervous, truth to tell," he admitted.

"I'm honored, don't get me wrong," Lisa said as she started over, "but why on earth did you pick me to be your 'best man'? Why not Rupert, or Dr. Hough?"

"Rupert's doing the music, Hough is a colleague, and a good doc, but we aren't really close. Lisa, you're one of my oldest friends. You've put up with me for years, and you're the finest nurse I've ever heard of. Fuck, you really are the best man I know, even if you are knocked up," he said with a grin. Lisa's eyes flooded with emotion, as did Blake's.

"Thanks Ricky," she said hoarsely.

"You're welcome, thank you too. Now let's get back to picking on each other before I start crying. I'm gonna have enough trouble getting through the ceremony as it is."

"Thank you for coming, Barry," Giles greeted his old friend.

"Glad to help out, Rupert. Where is the lovely Mrs. Giles?"

"Stuffing William into his tux. He's normally quite well behaved, but I suppose that no six year old likes formal wear."

"I did when I was six, but I was cool then too. Where's my chorus?" Barry asked.

"Come on then, they're well rehearsed, never fear," Giles lead the way down the hall to his office, where several slayers were waiting, all dressed in blood red choral robes. "Girls, meet Barry White. Barry - Renata, Ryuki, Candace, and Leanne," Giles said as he identified the women.

"Charmed, ladies," Barry greeted them. "Let's run through it a time or two, shall we?"

They had seen Barry White before when he came to sing with Giles at the club, but actually singing with him was another thing entirely, and they were the least bit nervous.

That only lasted until they started singing, however.

"Outstanding!" Barry said when they had finished. "Damn, Rupert, I might have to steal these ladies from you."

"No poaching, Barry," Giles cautioned him.

"Relax, I was only funning," Barry said, throwing his arm around Gile's shoulders and heading over to the bar. "Call me," he mouthed over his shoulder to the slayers.

"How come you get to put the garter on her?" Buffy asked Dawn.

"Because I'm the one who told her she was a slayer," Dawn said reasonably as she slid the garter up Amanda's leg.

"That's high enough, Dawn," Amanda said as she jumped a little.

"Sorry, force of habit," Dawn replied slyly.

"Too late now, Dawnie," Faith told her, "you should have felt her up earlier."

"Maybe you could wear more than one garter," Willow said hopefully.

"Thanks you guys, I appreciate the thoughts," Amanda told them all, "I just hope I don't sweat through the dress. I've been less scared in nest fights."

"Don't you dare!" Buffy commanded. "At least not until after the pictures. God, but that dress is beautiful!"

It really was, it had been made for Amanda by Vera Wang, and it was an absolute miracle of handmade lace and satin. The train was embroidered with red roses that matched her bouquet. Otherwise it was so white that it was hard to look at.

"Five minutes," Kennedy announced, sticking her head into the room.

"Deep breaths, Mandy," Buffy advised.

"Time," Kennedy announced, and Amanda made her way through the French doors and started down the long red carpet leading to the arbor set up in Dr. Blake's back yard. As soon as she appeared, Giles began to play, and the gentle melody carried through the early evening air as Amanda followed her matrons of honor to where Ricky, Rachel, and Lisa stood waiting for her. The guests gasped at the sight of her, and Dr. Blake was too busy grinning and crying silently to be nervous.

"Here, Ricky," Lisa whispered, handing him a handkerchief, "nose…"

William followed Amanda solemnly, carefully balancing the velvet cushion holding the two rings, trailed discretely by his proud and watchful mother. All of the slayers, as well as Buffy and Willow, were dressed in black tuxedos, except for the four in the chorus, and all of them other than the members of the wedding party lined the pathway holding their scythes at port arms.

It was a singularly impressive sight, but Amanda only had eyes for the man about to become her husband.

Buffy, Faith, Dawn, and Willow moved to the side, and Amanda stepped up beside Richard.

Giles began to sing the song that he had been playing.

He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts,
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.

The union of your spirits, here, has caused Him to remain,
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name,
There is Love,
there is Love.

Well a man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home.
They shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now and til the end,
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.
And there is Love,
there is Love.

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that brings you life?
For if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before?
Oh there is Love,
there is Love.

Oh the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain.
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is Love,
there is Love.

Giles set aside his guitar and stood smiling before them.

"Dearly beloved…" he began.

An ordination was one of the many things Giles had done in his life, just in case. It had also turned out that both Amanda and Ricky had rather traditional views on wedding ceremonies, though there would be no nonsense about 'obeying' mentioned.

However…

"Who gives this woman to this man?" Giles asked.

"We do," chorused Buffy, Dawn, Faith and Willow. (Amanda was a "slayer orphan" her father had died when she was young, and her mother had simply been unable to deal with Amanda being a slayer. Here was all the family she had, or needed.)

"Who gives this man to this woman?" (Okay, not all that traditional, perhaps.)

"Me," said Rachel clearly. "Take good care of him, okay, Mandy?"

"I promise," Amanda assured her.

"The rings," Giles called, and William stepped up with the pillow. Amanda and Richard took the rings, and Amanda bent over and kissed William on the cheek. The blushing young man walked solemnly over to his proud mother.

"I gotta pee," William announced loudly.

This had been anticipated, and the nearby pool house was pressed into service while the company waited politely.

"Do you, Richard Blake, take Amanda Clark to be your wedded wife…"

"I do," Amanda said through her tears.

"By the power vested in me…"

"You may kiss your wife."

The happy couple turned together up the aisle, and the band began to play –

"Never,never gonna give ya up" sang Barry White, and the Slayer chorus backed him as Richard and Amanda Blake walked up the aisle beneath the crossed scythes of the slayers.

The reception was simple but elegant, and the food was of course first rate. Also abundant, since the majority of the guests were slayers.

"Here you go, boss," said Doctor Chastity Petty as she handed Blake a set of keys.

"Really?" he asked in wonder as he recognized the keys to Barney.

"Yup. Just remember that he's a hemi, not some shrieking Italian techno motor," Chastity cautioned him.

"Sure, sure," Ricky said excitedly. Chastity winked at Amanda, and leaned close to her to whisper to her.

"You're gonna love Barney, promise."

They weren't going far, in any case. Their real honeymoon was in a few weeks, in France. They were at last going to race Lemans, in the Bitch v2.0.

"Weddings make me cry," Dawn admitted to Buffy.

"Yeah, me too. This was a good one though," Buffy replied. She looked around to be sure no one was in sight before she pressed her lips to Dawn's. "Our turn tonight?" she said as the kiss broke.

"Uh huh," Dawn confirmed.

"Have I thanked you and Willow properly for getting the four of us together?"

"Not yet, but you can thank me later," Dawn promised, and she sucked gently on Buffy's lower lip.

"You always know what to do," Buffy whispered as she shivered.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm you."

"Oh. Yeah. Time to go back to the party," Buffy said, "but I look forward to me."

"Nest call, Buff," Kennedy announced when Buffy and Dawn rejoined the party.

"How many and where?"

"Four, at Oak Ridge. Simonson mausoleum," Kennedy told her.

"You know that place, right, Dawn?"

"Like the back of my hand," Dawn allowed.

"Who's on site?" Buffy asked.

"Megan and Sheila."

"Okay, they're sharp, if they say four then four it is. I'll just go in with the team, no need to spoil anyone else's fun," Buffy decided. "You seen Faith and Willow?"

"They're over at the punch. You sure you don't want another couple teams?"

"Yeah, if it looks bad Dawn will just get us out of there. I don't want to rain on Amanda's parade if I can help it," Buffy told her.

"Nice of you. Damn, but she looked good in that dress, didn't she?" Kennedy asked.

"You waited too long too, huh Ken?" teased Dawn.

"Nope. I got there first," Kennedy said smugly, "but I guess I just didn't have what it takes for Mandy."

"Yeah, see you later Kennedy," said Buffy as she dragged Dawn away.

"Did she really-"

"None of our business, Dawnie. Game face."

"What up, B?" Faith said, noticing the expression on Buffy and Dawn's faces.

"Little nest at Oak Ridge, shouldn't take too long. Why don't you grab our scythes while I go make our excuses to Ricky and Amanda?"

"Done," Faith agreed.

"We have a little nest to deal with," Buffy explained to the Blakes. "No big deal, but if you guys leave before we get back, just know that we love you and are very happy for you."

"Thank you, Buffy. I'll never be able to repay what I owe to you and the other slayers," Blake told her.

"I like to think we're fairly even," Buffy countered, and she kissed then each on the cheek before hurrying to join the rest of her team.

"Ricky," Amanda said coyly.

"Yes, Mrs. Blake?"

"Mama's horny…"

The nest team had scarcely disappeared when the night was shattered by the sound of Barney bellowing down the drive. Amanda was used to precisely balanced, sophisticated, and exotic engines. The raw and visceral power of the huge engine was something new to her, as was the deep and throbbing vibration in the old seats.

Chastity had been right. Amanda loved Barney.

Dawn seldom needed to tank up from Willow any longer; she was so intimately connected to the stream now that her power was not that much less than Willow's. Also she had decided that porting several people need not take that much more power than porting one if she thought of them all together as single unit. Because she was an Avatar, her believing it made it so, if only for her.

The hapless vampires at Oak Ridge had a brief treat before Dawn simply sent them everywhere. Two slayers and two witches clad in elegant tuxedos just wasn't something you saw every day. Dawn decided to do the honors and so spare their fancy duds the dust.

"You're amazing," declared Willow when it was done, and she kissed Dawn thoroughly.

"Incredible," Faith agreed, and she kissed Dawn as well.

"I'm awesome," Buffy observed as she took her turn.

"Well, well, well," thought the figure watching from the shadows, just before it turned to mist.

A/N: "The Wedding Song" by Paul Stookey. "Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up" by Barry White. Barry White appears by gall.