Summary- The Scooby gang have something to give to Angel before resurrecting Buffy.
Rated- PG-13 for slight language
Disclaimer- I own nothing but the one or two characters that are unfamiliar.
Pairings- B/A, W/T, X/A. Everyone else are pretty much just friends.
AN- I changed the ending to 'The Gift', and extended the time in between season five and season six. I never really watched Angel, so Im not basing this on anything other then what I know. Angel is living the in Hyperion. Cordelia, Connor, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne are the A.I team. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Spike, and Giles are the Scooby Gang–with minimal appearances from Giles.
Rain
"Buffy...no!," Dawn cries out as she realizes her sisters intentions.
Buffy knew what she had to do. There was no other way. She couldn't let her sister die. There was no way in hell. Dawn had so much to live for and so much to look forward to. But...then again, so did Buffy.
"Dawnie, I have to."
"No!"
"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen."
Down below, under the tower, a small figure wobble-ran, trying to find her mother. She was too tiny, her legs not being able to carry her for much farther. She just learnt to walk, but knew and could do a lot more then people thought. By way of logic, she should have fallen already, but skills from her mother, she picked up quickly and she used them to their full advantage.
"Mama!"
She yelled, looking around for the one she wanted. The loud noise made her jump, and she fell back. She looked up from where it came from and saw her there, standing with her aunt.
"Mama! Mama!"
She called again, tears springing to her eyes. Hearing the distressed calls, she looked down, her eyes also filling with tears at the prospect of her child being alone in the world. Spike, also hearing the yells of the baby, ran to her, snatching her out of the way of oncoming pieces of the falling tower. She fought against his hold, not wanting to be without her. The duo looked up, and watched as Buffy jumped into the portal.
"Mama!"
The child yelled at the top of her small lungs, unable to understand what happened, or what was going on. Spike knew. He knew it was the end of the slayer. He held the sobbing and screaming child as she kicked and beat on his overly weary body. How had she gotten here? Giles was supposed to keep her away. Or was it Xander's job? It didn't matter, she saw, and that made it all the more worse. Spike made his way back to the group with the wailing child, finding the body of their slayer on the ground. The child wriggled out of his arms and ran to her, and Spike fell to the ground in a fit of his own sobs.
"Ma?"
The baby asked as she wobble-ran her way up to her mother's 'sleeping' body. She smiled slightly and sat down next to her, tugging on her arm.
"Wake, ma, wake."
Her round green eyes began to fill with tears. Her mother wouldn't wake up. Dawn had finally made her way down the tower, and was watching the interaction between her niece and her sisters body. Oh, god, what had she done? Willow and Tara got close, so did Xander and Anya, all of them sobbing. Giles had failed his slayer, and also the child he considered his granddaughter.
"Mommy got to wake. Mama, boo-boo? Kissies make 'em go bye."
She was whispering, making her barely audible to any of the others around her. She didn't understand. She bent her head down and kissed her mothers face, putting small kisses all over her cheeks and closed eyes. She was cold; like Spike. Finally, Giles couldn't take it anymore, it was too much. As he cried, he walked up to the baby and picked her up, taking her away from her mothers dead body. She screamed, struggling to get away from him. She didn't want to leave her mother.
Dawn watched the scene unfold before her, watching her tiny niece try to wake her up. Her sisters words echoing in her head.
"Dawn, I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do. Let Braelyn know I love her, and that Im sorry. She deserved a mother that could be there for her, but I loved her with everything I am, and I always will. Let her get to know her daddy, and never let her forget that her mommy loves her very much," Buffy paused to sniffle, then continued on. "Tell Giles...Tell Giles I figured it out. And Im okay. And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world, is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."
Braelyn's screams echoed throughout the eerily quiet grounds as she tried to squirm out of Giles' arms.
"I wan' mama!"
- - - - -
Dawn sat with Braelyn in the Summers living room as the guests began to pile out, all of them giving their condolences on her sisters passing, then kissing the tiny child on the forehead and leaving. Dawn watched as Braelyn continued to stare at a picture of the four of them; Braelyn being held by Buffy, next to Dawn and Joyce. She was a little older then a year old, but she knew the concept of death; her mother and her grandmother were never coming back. She was smarter then a normal child, and that was proven. Braelyn looked at Dawn with big, sad eyes, which were identical to Buffys. Dawn almost cried out at the resemblance.
"Wan' ma."
"I-I know, sweetheart, but...mommy isn't here."
Braelyn balled her hands up into fists and punched the couch she was sitting on, pounding her small fists repeatedly into the cushion. Dawn saw the tears running down the child's cheeks, knowing the pain she was in. But now Dawn had to be the adult. Dawn was Braelyn's 'Guardian', since Buffy had it in her will that Giles and Dawn would take care of her, if the father was unavailable. Unfortunately, the father knew nothing about either Buffy's death, or Braelyn's existence. Finally, she stopped, and just resorted to crying. The remaining guests looked and stared at the small child, feeling sympathy for her. Braelyn chose that time, to climb into Dawn's lap and curl into a ball; she didn't want to be around the people she didn't know anymore, and she didn't like them watching her. She just wanted her mommy.
"Dawnie, that poor child," speaking of Braelyn. "Maybe you should bring her upstairs. It is too dreary and crowded for such a little girl," Dawn couldn't argue; she was right.
"Thanks great-grandma Rose."
All Dawn could think of when she looked up at the old woman was, 'how in the world is she still living?', and then 'when did I get so negative?'. She sighed and picked up the small, weeping child, and headed towards the stairs with her. Giles came from down the stairs, running into the two girls as he descended.
"Dawn," he acknowledged her, then looked down at Braelyn. "She's not doing well, is she?"
Dawn shook her head, a lone tear trickling down her cheek. She couldn't hide her fear, or her pain, especially from Giles. He was like the father that she once had. He brushed her tear away and tried to smile, but failed, taking his glasses off and retrieving a handkerchief from his pocket; cleaning his glasses in the nervousness of the moment.
"G-pa?"
Braelyn whispered, picking her head up from the safety of Dawn's neck. Giles stopped his compulsive cleaning and put his glasses back on his face, looking at the child he considered one of his own blood.
"What is it, dear?"
"Why ma leave?"
Giles' throat constricted and his mouth went dry. What could he possibly tell this girl? This baby. Swallowing hard, he prevented his tears from falling and lean towards her, kissing her forehead. She wouldn't understand, and she didn't need to know. He was going to seriously sugar coat it.
"It was her time to be an angel, I suppose. Dawn, bring her up. I'll see to it that your guests are provided with a host."
"Thank you, Giles. For everything."
She let a small smile of graciousness slip and made her way to the upstairs bedrooms with Braelyn. They were silent. Too silent. When Joyce died, Dawn had taken her room, because it was bigger, and Braelyn had taken Dawns, because it was closest to Buffy's. Dawn headed with Braelyn to Buffy's room, knowing the little girl wanted nothing more then to curl up with Mr Gordo and pretend everything was going to be better in the morning. Dawn pushed open Buffy's door with her foot, and the two girls were assaulted by the smell of vanilla and sunshine; the smell of purely Buffy. Braelyn couldn't help but have mixed feelings about the smell. Should she embrace it and be wrapped in comfort or be resistant and stay in reality, where mommy would never return and everything was dark and full of monsters? Braelyn squirmed from Dawns arms and landed on the floor with a soft plop. With a hurried wobble, she made her way to the bed, climbing up slowly and perching herself right next to Mr Gordo. Looking around, she reached over to the picture frames that were on Buffy's night stand.
She took the two that were there and examined them. She didn't smile. She didn't blink. She almost didn't breathe. They were of her and her mother. She knew that's how it used to be, but now that her mother was gone, how would it be now?
"I love mommy," she stated a fact, then looked up at Dawn. "I wan' mommy."
- - - - - -
//Take the photograph.
It'll be the last.
Not a dollar or a crowd could ever keep me here.
I don't have a past.
I just have a chance.
Not a family or honest plea remains to say.
Rain, rain, go away.
Come
again another day. Is
it you I want, Safe to say from here, Rain, rain go away, Rain, rain go away, To
lie here under you, Rain, rain go away,
Rain, rain go away,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
Or just the notion
Of a heart to wrap around
so I can find my way around
Your
getting closer now,
We are never sad cause we are not allowed to
be
Come again another day,
All
the world is waiting for the sun.
Come
again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
Is all that I could ever do,
To lie here
under you is all,
To lie here under you is all that I could ever
do,
To lie here under you is all,
Come again another day,
All the world is waiting for the sun.
Come again another day,
All the
world is waiting for the sun,
All the world is waiting for the
sun,
All the world is waiting for the sun.//
Braelyn sat on Buffy's bed with Mr Gordo, moving his ears to the slow music. Her mother had sung this to her and she had been trying to remember the words. It had been two months, and the only things she said to anyone who spoke to her, other then the people she trusted or 'liked' more then others was 'I want mommy', or 'I love mommy'. And, surprisingly, she only spoke to Dawn, Spike, or Giles. Nobody else was worth her time, or at least that was what they thought. A knock at the door made Braelyn turn, holding Mr Gordo to herself in sadness and love. Mr Gordo was Buffy's favorite, and now he was Braelyn's favorite. Spike opened the door a crack, peering in and seeing her on the bed with the pig. He smiled slightly and walked in, looking over at the C.D. player that had been playing the same song for three hours straight.
"Hey, pet."
"Hi, Spi'."
He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge; it looked as if the poor baby hadn't slept in days. Looking towards the window, he saw the sun peaking in from behind the curtains, and reminded himself to stay away from it.
"When's the last time you slept, niblet?"
She held up two fingers.
"Two hours ago?"
She shook her head.
"Two days ago?"
She nodded and laid her head on the pillow, holding Mr Gordo close. He had a feeling she wasn't being completely honest with him, but who was he to judge her? He took off his duster and draped it over the bottom of the bed. It had been a while since he'd been in Buffy's room, but he could tell Brae had been through her things. Mostly all clothing, and her perfume had been recently sprayed. Braelyn wanted to keep the smell...alive. Spike choked back a sob and turned his attention back to the small girl laying in the bed; she was fighting sleep.
"Do you want me to lay with you?"
She nodded and moved over, even though there was more then enough room without her moving her small body to the edge of the bed. He smiled slightly and took off his boots, placing them at the foot of the bed and scooting to lay next to her. When he was beside her on Buffy's bed, she rolled over and snuggled up next to him. She wanted to be held.
"Don' leave me. Not like mama do."
Spike blinked a few times before realizing what she meant. She didn't want him to leave. To die. Holding her closer, he petted her head, wanting her to feel as loved as possible.
"I wouldn't do that to you, niblet. Never."
- - - - - -