Title: Find Your Way Home
Author: Ally
Disclaimer: With the exception of my own creations, no Buffy or Angel
characters belong to me. They belong to Joss Whedon, Fox and UPN.
Rating: G to R
Keywords: Alternate Universe/Futurefic
Pairings:
Main: D/X, B/S
Others: J/G, W/V, A/Fr, A/G, F/T, W/O, C/D
Distribution: You want this? Take it; just tell me where it's going.
Author's Notes: Did you ever have a story you can't get out of your head? Well, this is mine. Hope you like it.
Feedback: Always appreciated.


Dawn stood there, just looking at her sister. At first, she thought she was
dreaming, but that was disproved when Buffy came over and hugged her. She
instinctively put her arms around Buffy. She was skinnier than Dawn
remembered, but that didn't seem to matter. Her sister was here and alive!

They broke apart a few minutes later and Dawn had to wipe her eyes. She had
imagined this moment so many times over the past 10 years. She imagined how
she would react, what she would say. The scenarios had always been different,
ranging from anger to sadness to happiness. Now that Buffy was here in the
flesh, it seemed to be somewhere in the middle. She was happy that Buffy was
back, but she was angry that she was gone for so long. It all happened within
moments, but she felt everything.

Dawn then realized that she was blatantly staring at her sister, but she
couldn't help it. Her hair was a dark brown now, almost black and fell past
her shoulders. She looked like she lost some weight and her eyes seemed to
have lost some of their glow. She wore a plain black, long sleeved T-shirt
and a pair of ratty sweats that had seen better days. She truly wondered if
Buffy was homeless and felt a pang of sadness at that thought.

Buffy, meanwhile, knew Dawn was still in shock and so let her sister stare
for as long as she wanted. She was doing her fair share of staring herself.
Buffy couldn't believe her little sister was all grown up. Her hair was blond
and a little shorter than Buffy's and put up into a ponytail. She was wearing
a simple pair of jeans and a UC Sunnydale sweatshirt, but she still looked
radiant.

They finally broke the stare and Dawn said "What are you doing here?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I was sitting in my apartment, looking at old
photos and I just felt I had to come here" she said, sheepishly.

Dawn noticed she was fidgeting and rubbing her arms. He also wasn't looking
right at Dawn, but anything else she could focus her attention on. This
worried Dawn, but this was her sister and she had to trust her, whether she
was lying or not. Then again...

Buffy noticed her sister's discomfort and said "Listen, I know that this
doesn't make sense and I understand you don't like me too much right now, but
this is something I felt I had to do."

Dawn was about to answer, when Joyce entered the room. Her face looked drawn
and tight. "So how is everything going in here?" she asked, nervously.

"Great, Mom" Dawn said, with a fake smile. She looked at Buffy who also
nodded.

Joyce's face visibly relaxed. "Oh good." Then she paused, just looking at
Dawn and Buffy. She suddenly started crying, the sobs racking her body.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked in a concerned tone.

"Nothing. It's just...my two daughters in the same room. I never thought I'd
live to see this moment" she said, breaking down again.

Buffy immediately went over to her and they embraced, tears running down
their faces. Dawn smiled, but couldn't help, but feel anger and confusion.
Anger at Buffy leaving in the first place and confusion at her return.

A few minutes later, they broke apart, wiping their eyes. "I set up the couch
for you. It's not much, but it's comfortable" Joyce said, blowing her nose.

"OK, but what's wrong with my room?"

Dawn and Joyce shared a look. Her mother hadn't told Buffy about Justin and
for that Dawn was grateful. When she realized Buffy needed an answer, she
said "It's a....surprise"

"Oh, I like surprises."

"Well, we'll see about that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few minutes later, they all said good night and Dawn collapsed on her bed.
It had been a very long day and Dawn was extremely tired, yet, she couldn't
sleep. She felt wired and it was all Buffy's fault.

Sighing, she got up and checked on Justin, who was sleeping peacefully. She
smiled and shut the door. Then her gaze fell on the phone and she felt like
calling Xander. He was her rock and he could make things better. Still, the
subject matter would not go over well with him. She needed to tell someone
though and she knew the perfect person.

So before, she could change her mind, she picked up the phone and dialed the number. " Please be up, please be up" she muttered.

After three rings, she heard "'ello."

"Spike? It's Dawn."

Hi, Bit" he said.

"Hi, listen. Something happened tonight, but you have to promise not to tell
the gang."

"Okay, never really liked the wankers anyway." She laughed, a little of the
tension draining away.

"Anyway....Buffy came back." There was total silence on the other end and
Dawn thought something happened. "Spike, are you there?"

"Yeah, pet. I'm here. Just a little surprised is all."

"Join the club."

"So, what, she was just there?"

"Basically. I came home and she was just there. She's actually sleeping on the couch now."

"She doesn't know about..."

"No, but she will tomorrow."

"Wow, so what are you going to do?"

"Right now, I don't know. I'm just really confused right now" she said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Do you need me to come over? Kick her ass?"

She laughed. "That's sweet, but no. I just needed to get that out of my
system."

"Not a problem, pet. Glad I could help."

"Thanks again. Bye."

"Bye" he said, as she hung up.

After she hung up the phone, Dawn sat in the dark for a minute, collecting
her thoughts. She was still suspicious about Buffy's appearance, but she was
too tired to think about the ramifications now. So she changed and slipped
under the covers. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep and
dreaming.

~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dream
~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was a bright and sunny day and Dawn was in the park with Justin. Xander
was sitting on a bench watching mother and son play. She was truly happy for
the first time in her life.

She saw the others, scattered around, including Spike and Ange, which was
weird, since they were vampires. Still, she shook that off and enjoyed the
day.

Justin was on a swing. "Higher, mommy. Higher!"

She complied as Xander came over and wrapped his arm around her waist. "I
love you, honey" he whispered.

Dawn closed her eyes and sunk into his embrace. She was surrounded in warmth
for who knew when, when it was taken away from her.

She opened her eyes and the park was dark, smoke billowing from burning piles
of trash. Dawn looked around, seeing no one, the swing rocking helplessly in
the breeze.

*Where'd everybody go?* she wondered, walking.

She didn't have to walk far, as she saw Buffy putting her stake in Angel's
chest. "No!" she screamed, running towards her.

"Dawn, glad you could make it" Buffy said, her eyes gleaming with malice.

"Buffy, what are you doing?"

"Making things right. You got to have the perfect life, while I was begging
for food on the street!! Well, tonight it ends. Tonight, I take the one thing
away from you that you always wanted!"

She lifted Xander up by the hair, his face a bloody mess. "I'm sorry" he
whispered.

Dawn couldn't believe what was happening. Her friends lay dead around her and
Justin was in a cage cowering in a corner.

"Buffy, please. Let him go. Let Justin go!"

"No! You don't get to have the perfect life. I'm sorry. I really am" she
whispered, burying the knife she held, into Xander's stomach.

His eyes got huge and he sunk to the ground. Blood was gushing everywhere. He
then looked up at Dawn, his eyes shining with love, then he whispered "Dawn"
and fell to the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
End Dream
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dawn bolted up in bed, her body covered in sweat. She could feel the tears
streaming down her face and her heart was beating wildly.

After a couple of deep breaths, she calmed down, the dream leaving the
recesses of her mind, but leaving an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She
got out of bed and quickly checked on Justin. He was still sleeping
peacefully, his breathing deep and easy. She sighed with relief and quietly
shut the door.

As she walked back into her room, her eyes spied the clock. It was blinking
7:50 am. *Maybe Xander's up* she thought, grabbing the phone and dialing his
number.

After a few rings, she heard "Hello?"

"Did I wake you?" she asked, nervously.

"No, I just got up. Why, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice rising in panic.

"I just had a dream and it scared me" she said, her voice cracking.

"What was it about?" he asked, soothingly.

"You died."

"Honey, trust me. I'm alive and well and wishing I was with you."

She smiled and said "Me too. I'm sorry I worried you."

"Don't be sorry. Are you sure you're OK?"

"Now that I'm hearing you? Yeah."

"Well, I gotta get ready for work. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

"Bye" he said, hanging up.

Like the night before, Dawn sat in the silence thinking about things. Was
Buffy okay or was she just being paranoid? Now that she was back, would
things change? Too many questions and not enough answers. She felt tempted to
call Spike, but he was probably still sleeping, something she badly wanted to
get back to. She glanced at the clock again. She had to be at the alley and
nine and it was eight now. In the beginning, when Angel first bought the
alley, that the schedule was flexible, but Dawn felt her guilt kick in. So
she grabbed her stuff and took a quick shower. The dream was still lingering
in her mind and she shuddered in the morning air. She felt something was
coming, but she wished she knew what it was.

Dawn sighed and went back into her room to see Justin sleeping in her bed. He
sometimes did that when he got scared or lonely, grasping Buffy's pig Mr.
Gordo in his hands. She smiled and kissed his forehead. He was her pride and
joy. He made the days worth living and she was proud to be his mother.

Knowing that time was of the essence, she dressed quickly in a pair of khakis
and a green AE shirt. She remembered a time when she wanted the best looking
clothing, but she realized that there were more important things in life and
one of them was sleeping in her bed. She didn't want to wake Justin up, but
she had to get him to Willow. She was baby sitting him 2 days a week, while
she was on maternity leave and she did it for free which helped Dawn out a
lot.

Just as she was about to wake him up, she heard a knock on the door. She
opened it up and said "Buffy!"

"Yeah, Mom wanted to see if you were up" she said, a little sheepishly.

"Oh, OK" she said, blocking Buffy's view of the room.

Buffy smiled and said "Is my surprise in there?"

"You could say that. Come on in" she said, opening the door wider.

She walked into the room and stopped at the bed. Dawn saw Buffy's face fall.
"Who is this?"

"This is my son Justin."

"S-son?"

Mmhmm. He'll be four in August."

"Wow."

"That's what I said." They shared a smile and then Buffy looked back at
Justin. Dawn saw her face change into a soft smile.

"You know, if you don't want to wake him, I can watch him."

"I don't know..." she trailed off.

"Hey, I understand. Just thought I'd help out" she said, her voice sounding
hurt.

Dawn sighed. "You know what? It would help me out a lot if you would watch
Justin. I can call Willow and tell her."

"NO! I mean I'd like to keep this a secret from others for a while. If you
don't mind."

"No, no, I don't. I'll just make something up."

"Thanks" Buffy said smiling

Dawn smiled back and said "I gotta go. See you later?"

"Yeah, hey, why don't I get a couple of videos to watch and have a girls
night in?"

Dawn didn't really want to, but Buffy's face looked so hopeful that she said
"Sure. I'll be home about 7."

"Great! I'll be ready and...thanks" she said, hugging her little sister.

Dawn felt her resolve melting and hugged her sister back. "See you later."

Buffy waved and soon Dawn was in the car and driving to the alley. Her mind
was full of conflicting thoughts and emotions. As she pulled into the parking
space, she hoped that she could trust Buffy and that all this wouldn't all
blow up in her face.