Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. Buffy is the property of Joss Whedon and company. No copyright infringement is intended so please don't sue.

AN: The first in what I hope becomes many. I have so many bunnies just lying around gathering dust and I know I'll never be able to do half of them justice ... or ya know - finish them. I'm really hoping everyone likes this idea and will adopt at least one of my bunnies. Stories can go many ways so I hope no one minds if I leave it open to all. You can use what I've written or just adopt the original bunny that will be written at the end of each story. Either way I'd like to know so I can read it. That's really all I ask for. It's a must! I repeat: If you want adopt a bunny leave me a review, PM me, rent a plane and spell it out over my house - I don't care, just let me know somehow. :)

Add in stutters where you believe they should be because I find them impossible to write them.

Forgive me if your favorite character doesn't have much screen time as I have a horrid time keeping track of all my characters and tend to forget they're there until I need something said that falls into their specialty.

Summary: Sweet, during Once More With Feeling, refuses to believe Xander isn't just trying to protect Dawn and takes her anyway. Now it's up to the Scoobies to rescue her ... but does she really need it? AU, Time Change (time moves differently in demon dimensions) ... I think that's all I can say without ruining it so on with the show ... er - story. Enjoy!

Art for this bunny can be found on my profile.

Child Bride

Sweet looked at the boy who claimed to have summoned him. If he had been any other summoned demon he may have believed it but he'd been summoned too many times in his long life. These humans had a way of protecting their young, even when the young didn't belong to them. He felt the magic in the amulet and the magic around the girl. It was much more powerful than that around the boy. In his mind that had to mean the girl summoned him.

With a decisive nod, his magic reached out for the girl as he held out his hand in true gentleman style. Sweet watched the girl's body jerk as his magic took hold. It wasn't a true thrall, if she had truly wanted her magic would have broken it but a smile stretched his lips as her hand settled within his grasp.

"Dawn!" He heard the Slayer yell but it was too late. The girl had made her choice, not once did she summon the magic that floated around her. She was his. Finally, after all these years, he had his Queen.

His powers surrounded them and with a funnel of magic they were gone.

---

Buffy felt the music trying to grab her in its hold again but she pushed it back. They needed to get Dawn back and this was more than likely the demon's way of keeping them busy.

She turned to the others as they began to line up and sing. "Snap out of it! That demon has Dawn and we need to get her back." She yelled at them.

Once she'd gotten everyone back in the present and out of the music's thrall they gathered in the Magic Box. Buffy began barking orders as soon as everyone was in the door.

"Willow, computer. Xander, Anya, books, see if you can find anything on Sweet specifically. Tara, I need you to look through the magic books; find me something to bring Dawn back. Giles, those books you think we don't know about - get them."

Willow spoke hesitantly. "What about you and Spike?"

"We're going to go out. There has to be a demon somewhere in town who knows about Sweet. We're going to find them and they're going to tell us everything they know."

With that the Scoobies got to work. The bell above the door jingling as Buffy and Spike left.

---

Hours later, they had gotten no where. Buffy and Spike had come back only an hour before with nothing new. There were only a few demons in town who had gotten anywhere near Sweet, as apparently he affected them just as badly as mortals. There was a reason his minions had been puppets after all.

Buffy collapsed in an empty chair with a heartbreaking sigh. "Has anyone found anything?"

Xander shook his head. "There's nothing in any of the books beside the spell to summon him and that takes the necklace ... which is on Dawn."

"Willow?"

Willow bit her lip. "There's nothing online beside stories and folk tales of suspected sightings."

Buffy's gaze flicked between Giles and Tara desperately. "Giles?"

"I'm sorry Buffy but there's nothing in the books. I even checked the Watcher's Journals I have here."

Buffy could feel tears building in her eyes. "Tara?"

"There might be something but it's risky."

"What is it?" Buffy demanded latching onto any sign of hope offered.

"It's a very general summons. We could pull Dawn or, or we could bring about the end of the world by pulling the devil himself."

"Buffy, you can't possibly be ..." Giles began.

"Shut up! Get the ingredients."

"It, it won't be that easy. While the spell is very generalized the ingredients more than make up for it. They help focus the spell along with the witches intent. There are some very rare plants here and, and even one animal part that's now on the protected species list. These aren't things you can just walk into any magic shop and pick up." It was a very rare thing to see Tara become agitated.

"We'll find them Buffy." Willow was already clicking away on the computer. "I have a few sites saved, groups and boards for covens and lone witches. I'll need to be discreet with the spell's purpose but I'm sure I can convince some of them to call in some favors."

"Spike, you with me?"

"Anything for the Bit. I've got some of my own favors to call in. I'll pop over to Willy's and send out the word." He was gone with a jingle of the bell.

Buffy turned a harsh glare at Giles. "Giles?"

"I don't think you understand the severity of this Buffy. The witches intent is all that makes this spell succeed. There's also the question of power. We have no idea where we'll be pulling Dawn from. If the witch doesn't have the necessary power she'll be drained dry. Who could you possibly ask to preform this, to risk their very lives and the lives of billions on Earth?" Giles fiddled with the glasses in his hand.

"I could do it." Willow piped up.

"I'm sorry to say Willow that while you may have the needed power you are by far not focused enough."

"Tara then," Buffy decided.

Giles sighed, shaking his head. "Tara may have the needed focus but not the power."

Buffy's brow furrowed. "Is there a way they can do it together? Willow provide the extra power and Tara the extra focus?"

"We also have some very nice focusing crystals that I'd be willing to sell you at below cost." Anya cut in proudly.

---

It took just over 3 months to get all the needed ingredients for the spell. Buffy had slowly gone crazy and with the mood swings she was now prone to she'd driven the others halfway insane as well.

"Buffy, sit down!" Giles snapped, glasses swinging from his hand. He'd taken to carrying them around with him in the past month. He'd rather trip over things than see Buffy's continued pacing, which had gotten worse in the hour since the final ingredient had arrived.

Buffy tossed herself into the nearest chair with a huff, staying still for only a few seconds before her leg began to hop, then her fingers began to tap on the wood research table. She shifted in her seat which creaked and groaned under her. Her other hand made its way to her mouth, chewing at already short nails.

Giles sighed, brow furrowing with pain. "Oh, very well." He gave her a vague wave of his hand and not a second later Buffy was back on her feet and pacing.

"We're ready." Willow's voice sounded from the door to the training room.

Buffy rushed forward, almost barreling into Willow who 'eeped' and jumped aside at the last second. The training room had been transformed. The mats had been rolled by Anya and stacked in the corners, the exercise equipment had been lugged out of the center of the room by Xander and Spike and now lined the wall. Tara had set up the candles which now gave the room an eerily ethereal glow and Willow had set up a cauldron near the center where she'd used the ingredients they'd waited so long to concoct the needed potion. Once the spell had been said the potion would be thrown. It would act to focus the spell and pull the summoned one through the smoke the potion created, the energy coming from the witch or in their case - witches performing the spell.

As Willow and Tara joined hands, potion bottle clutched in Willow's white fist Buffy mentally crossed her fingers and prayed to everything that might have been listening that they pulled Dawn and not the Devil.

Buffy listened with eyes closed, lulled by the lilting cadence of their joined words.

Buffy's eyes snapped open at the tinkling crash of the potion bottle breaking on the floor. Smoke began to rise from the ground, swirling and gathering. Buffy could see it growing thicker and she held her breath as her fists clenched. Her muscles tightened in anticipation. If it was anything but Dawn that stepped out of that fog ... but it was Dawn. As the smoke faded, Buffy saw a woman dressed regally in an elegant red dress, a crown graced her brow but Buffy would know her sister anywhere.

"Who dares to summon me?" The voice was deeper with an almost echoing quality to it.

"Dawn?"

Buffy watched as she spun around. A gasp escaped her throat. It was Dawn but it wasn't. She was older but Buffy had kind of been expecting that what with Angel and Hell - time ran differently in Hell dimensions. She looked as if it had only been a few years, though. She'd grown into a beautiful woman and Buffy felt a pang at not being there to see it. She was paler but it was the eyes that drew Buffy's attention. The left was a bright burning red that looked almost orange in the candlelight and the right reminded Buffy of the eyes of the wolves on that documentary she'd watched with her mom. Except this amber was even harder and colder than anything those wolves could have had.

There was no sign of recognition in either of those oddly colored eyes as they locked unfeelingly on her.

---

"Who dares to summon me?" Dawn tried to summon the magic to get her home but hit a shield. It was powerful, not powerful enough to hold her indefinitely but strong enough to hold her for a while. Too long for it to do any good but she set her magic to battering the shield down.

"Dawn?" A breathy whisper sounded from behind her, causing her to spin. None of the demons called her that anymore. They had only called her Queen since she had accepted the title centuries ago.

The faces that met her gaze were familiar, tugging at long buried memories. "How do you know that name?" She demanded coldly.

"Dawn? Is it really you?" The words were asked uncertainly. A look at the group showed it had been the blond who had spoken. Dawn's eyes narrowed on her.

A tiny crack in the shield caused her to wince but at least a small trickle of her magic was free. Not nearly enough to do any good, whether in a fight or to call for help but it let her feel her surroundings so she wasn't walking around blind. What she felt caused her eyes to widen the barest amount. "This is the human realm." She stated with disgust. "How is it that you managed to summon me? Why have I been summoned? My husband will be looking for me." Though Dawn knew this to be untrue. Sweet could only move between realms when summoned. There would be no back up unless she could free her magic. She redoubled her efforts.

"Husband??" The shrillness of the voices almost caused her to check her ears for blood.

Dawn gave a disbelieving laugh. "You summoned me without knowing my husband? How ever did you humans last as long as you have?" She wondered idly aloud.

This seemed to confuse the group in front of her. "You talk like you aren't human."

Dawn raised a haughty eyebrow. "Human? Of course I'm not. How could I be Queen if I were human?"

All hell broke loose as Dawn forced another crack in the shield around her magic.

---

"Where is she?!" Sweet's scream was heard across the castle. Puppet-men and odd demons jostled and scuttled to get away from the voice. Those that were too near to run, within sight of Sweet himself, scrambled for an answer - they had none.

A small, lurid purple demon glided from the corner he'd been hidden in. He was an Askip demon, normally a very stately creature ... until you startled them. That was when they flitted to the nearest shadow and somehow, despite the colorful glow their purple skin radiated, managed to conceal their presence completely.

"She has been summoned, My King."

"Summoned? Why would anyone want to summon her? And how would they know how to do such a thing?"

"The Queen wasn't always the Queen." As an elder race, Askips tended to be very cryptic so the younger would learn to think for themselves.

Thankfully, Sweet had gotten used to this in the many years he'd had Perkus as his assistant. It took only a bare minute to decipher what the Askip was trying to tell him. His growl resounded off the walls. "The humans!"

He wondered why his wife had not called for him yet. At the very least she should have summoned the Puppet-men for her protection. How long had it been since he had brought her here? His eyes glazed in thought, calculations running through his mind. Almost 4 months in the human realm his Queen had come from. That may have given them enough time to find a way to block the connection. More than likely thinking to protect his Queen from being summoned back. Still, something like that would block the connection both ways. He wouldn't be able to summon her back just as she wouldn't be able to access her magic to summon either him or the Puppet-men.

"Find me a way to go to her!"

"But sire ... you know you must be summoned first. The laws ..." Perkus stated.

He grit his teeth. "I don't care about rules. Break any rule you must just find me a way to go to her!" The Puppet-men and Perkus scrambled to do his bidding.

Sweet settled back into his throne like chair with, what on a human might have been a pout and a sigh. He hated waiting.

Fin

ORIGINAL BUNNY

What if Sweet wouldn't take no for an answer? What if he knew enough about humans to know what they'd do for their 'young'?

He doesn't believe Xander when he admits to being the one that summoned him, thinking he's just trying to protect Dawn. He takes Dawn anyway. Time moves quicker in his dimension. What happens when Buffy and co. find a way to get Dawn back ... only to find her older and happy?

Sweet as a demon isn't so bad. Sure he has that pesky burning people up thing, but that's not really his fault, is it? If those silly humans wouldn't summon him he'd have no need to go to their realm, which seems to disagree with him. The people in his realm are perfectly fine when they sing and dance. No flames at all.

Buffy and co. rip Dawn from Sweets realm and she tells them she's happy and wants to go back. They try to convince Dawn that she doesn't really love Sweet, he's a demon, he's evil. It's Stockholm Syndrome! He kidnapped her and put a spell on her.

Will she cave to their pressure? Will they take a harsher route in convincing her? Will Sweet be able to rescue her, from the people who are supposed to love her, without a summons?

MUST HAVE
- Dawn/Sweet - Dawn as Queen (and acting Queenly)
- Dawn happy with Sweet - Sweet really does love Dawn - The Scoobs refusing to believe Dawn's in love and that Sweet loves her back - While Dawn may be calm and rational (she's a Queen and not the Wonderland Queen of Hearts type) everyone has a breaking point ... I'd like a huge blow up; where Dawn chews them up one side and down the other ... full out Queen C mode

WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE
- Dawn with a hint of demon (You can't be Queen of a demon realm without being at least a little demon, right)
- Sweet being determined (loves Dawn) enough, to be able to appear in the Buffy-verse without a summons ... though not right away (give the Scoobs enough time to try to convince her and Dawn enough time to blow a fuse)