AN: I have NO idea what the heck happened to churn this out, but I'm pretty danged proud of it. Enjoy!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Xander? Can't you?"
Giles was the only one who knew the truth about him and the little wolf 'plushie' Dawn always carried around with her. That was intentional. If Buffy and Willow with their fray-adjacent ideas thought he was home safe he would have one less thing to worry about when it came to doing his job.
"No, something's blocking, me, blocking us. We can't pinpoint her."
"Don't worry, we'll find her."
"I know we will."
The cold look on the teen's face made the former watcher almost pity the ones who'd taken Xander's charge.
Almost.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
He couldn't believe it had come down to this.
Dawn had been taken, tied to a tower, and stabbed before either himself or LaVelle could get to her.
Doc wouldn't be a further problem though.
"Alexander?"
"I'm here, Dawnie."
"It hurts."
"I know. Go to sleep now, it'll be better when you wake up."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
A little extra help from Sleep and Dawn was limp in his arms. He swooped down to where Buffy and Spike were at the base of the platform, jaws slack as they viewed him.
"Take care of her. She's going to be upset for a while."
"But the portal…"
"I've got it covered."
Buffy held her sister tight, letting Spike hug the both of them.
"Thank you."
He nodded and took to the sky again, circling the growing portal.
-Are you really going to do this?-
-I have to.-
-I could do it.-
-No you can't. You're a purely magical construct. I'm a human plus. The spell made it so we're related by blood and by magic.-
-It'll kill her if you sever that kind of connection!-
-No it won't. I made sure. She won't even feel it. I've got to go before that thing gets any bigger.-
-I understand.-
Hovering next to him, white and gold wings spread in a nonexistent breeze, the guardian didn't have to imagine the look of grief on his canine face.
-Hey, no goodbyes. It's never the end.-
-I know. I'll miss you, brother.-
-I'll miss you too, brother.-
With that he folded his wings and dove straight for the glowing portal.
Tara and Willow watched, sharing sight, awed by the bright aura that bloomed around the falling angel.
The group winced as he hit the portal, bright light flaring out and temporarily turning night into day. A pulse of power rolled over them and when it was clear again the portal was gone, and the angel was falling to earth.
Buffy winced as he collided with a mound of building materials. She stepped closer, barely noticing the others doing the same. Even Spike couldn't help but shed a few tears for the beautiful broken form. Oddly enough the body started to fade from view, seeming to dim, and bit by bit just fade away into nothing.
She was glad Dawn was asleep, it would have broken her heart to see the dead angel.
None of them noticed the little golden wolf that tucked itself into Dawn's grip, a few silver and ebony feathers in his mouth.
~ two or three realities to the left~
"Hang on, I'll get you somewhere safe."
He didn't know who had pulled him out of the snow and cold.
He didn't know who had bothered with his worthless self, not when the woman he loved left him to die slowly in the cold of the Artic.
He didn't know why, but he wasn't going to argue.
Remy LeBeau passed out as what he'd later believe was an angel carried him to warmth and safety.
~a few years later~
"There's a portal opening up!"
"What!? I thought we'd shut those down permanently!"
"Only from inside our own reality, not outside!"
The assembled group could only stand in shock at the news that had just been delivered. All but one.
"We be fine."
"How the heck do you know that?"
Red on black eyes watched a small figure rising towards the portal. One clothed in dark blues with a long trail of black behind it, silver glinting off the wings.
"Just a friend getting called home."
'Safe trip, mon amie.'
-Good life, redeemed.-
The mutant stared as the figure rose to the portal and vanished in a flash of green light, finally, finally feeling like he might be forgiven.
'Thank you.'
"I'm sorry Dawnie."
"I'm not."
The First was coming, the girls were panicking, and everyone was waiting for the end.
But she noticed something no one else did. There was one person who never walked the halls, no matter how much guilt was felt over him being gone. It would have been their undoing in a heartbeat.
The First had never once taken his appearance.
The others never noticed, too lost in confusion and pain.
But Dawn Summers just smiled and clutched two black and silver feathers in her hand, grinning ferally as the little wolf on her shoulder howled. Willow gasped as power started to flow out from the younger Summers girl and one of the doorways in the house started to glow green around the edges. The knob turned and the scent of night time, clear skies and the muted spice of Magick flowed into the house.
Time for some payback.