SERIES - When Angels Weep
PART - 1
TITLE: The Tear of an Angel
AUTHOR'S NAME: The Sorcerer Bard
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com
RATING: PG-13
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya
SUMMARY: It's Buffy's 25th birthday, and while some things change over the course of four years, Armageddon and demonic interruptions to the festivities stay the same.
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions], one small one for Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon'
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem.
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].
Major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing this story
_____________________________________________________________________
When Angels Weep 1 - The Tear Of An Angel
"Dawn!" Tara's voice interrupted my daydreaming.
"Yeah?" I turned my attention to my beautiful blonde girlfriend.
"I asked if you were ready to go."
"Oh, yeah I am," I said as I stood and took a step towards her.
"Um, sweetie, Spike and Xander survived planning this party together, the least we could do is show up with our pants on," said Tara, her amused gaze falling below my belly button.
I glanced down and noticed that I was only wearing a pair of purple lace panties, "Oh!"
I could hear Tara laughing as I rushed off to our bedroom. The denim skirt was lying on the bed, exactly where I had left it. I pulled it on and glanced in the mirror, just to make sure I looked presentable for Buffy's birthday. Satisfied, I headed down the hall to where Tara was patiently waiting.
"Oh honey," she said as she looked me up and down, "You look ... Wow," I smiled at that and pulled her to me.
She lightly brushed her lips across mine and the contact was like an electrical current crackling between us. I couldn't stand it anymore. I pressed my lips to hers as I ran my hands through her luxurious blonde hair. She melted into the embrace as my tongue probed into her receptive mouth.
I don't know who broke the kiss first, me or Tara, but it was broken and we both pulled back to stare into each other's eyes. It was at that point I noticed that we were floating about a foot off the floor.
"You know we should find a way to stop this from happening," I remarked as we floated slowly to the ground.
"I don't know I think it's kind of romantic," Tara smiled at me.
I responded with an almost identical smile.
___________________________________________________________________
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of Buffy's house in the car the gang had given me for my 18th birthday. Tara and I hopped out and made our way up the path towards the front porch.
As we approached the door it swung open and there standing in it was my sister, Buffy.
"Dawn!" she cried as she threw her arms wide for a hug.
I obliged and enveloped her in my best sisterly embrace, "Happy birthday big sis," I said, pulling back slightly so I could look her in the eye.
"Thanks," she said with a warm smile.
"You're late Niblet," came an English voice from further inside.
"Yeah sorry Spike but the traffic held us up."
"Well, traffic can be like that," said Spike, moving forward slightly, "Just like it can do that to your lipstick," he smiled knowingly as he pointed to my lips.
"I wasn't going to say anything," Buffy said matching Spike's smile.
"You could have said something," I said throwing Tara a playfully annoyed look.
"But you're so cute like that," she said with a smile that melted my heart. She looked to Buffy and Spike and nodded to them, "hey."
"Hullo Traffic," he smirked at her.
"Hey guys we moved the party from the doorway, to actually inside the house. Helped fill the 'none of us bursting into a vampire shaped ball of flame' requirement," came Xander's voice from just behind Spike.
"Xand," I giggled as I stepped over the threshold and gave him a quick hug.
"Xander," Tara said as she stepped in and gave him a hug too.
"So is Willow here?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's upstairs, Anya's helping her get dressed," Xander answered.
"So Anya's not working today?" I asked, I still had a problem with Anya, ever since she became a vengeance demon again she seemed to have been becoming less and less humane.
"Nope, she made D'Hoffryn swear on some ancient deity or other that he wouldn't send any work her way for the next 24 hours," Xander said, leading the way into the living room.
The room hadn't changed much since I had lived there, and there, still hanging above the fireplace, was the photo of Buffy, Mom and me that I had given Buffy for her birthday five years ago.
The furniture had been rearranged but that was a minor point. I took my usual seat on the couch, Tara sat down beside me and put her arm round my shoulders. Spike sat in his chair in the corner farthest from the sun and Buffy moved to sit in his lap, while Xander took a seat on the other couch.
"So, Buffy, how's work?" I asked to break the ice.
"Fine, boss said I should be promoted in the next round," Buffy answered.
"Hey Dawny," came a weak yet recognizable voice from the stairs.
"Willow," I cried as I got up and walked over to meet her. Her skin had an unhealthy greyish tint and her hair was still returning to it's natural colour from the stained black it had been when she absorbed the Dark Magicks a few years ago.
"You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," I commented with a warm smile "Considering you looked like death slightly warmed up last time," I sadly thought to myself.
"Thanks," she said, she reached out to take my arm for support. "Wanna be my really tall walking stick?"
"Sure," I said with a smile, she leaned on me as I led her towards the others. Anya fell into step behind us.
After helping Willow to sit on the couch next to Tara, I moved to the armrest on the other side of Tara while Anya took the seat beside Xander.
___________________________________________________________________
It was nearly dusk and we were all reminiscing about some of the good times of the past five years.
"What about that soddin' sludge demon?" Spike asked with a smile.
"Eww, that was so gross!" I exclaimed.
We were suddenly interrupted by an excited knocking at the door. Buffy got up from Spike's lap and headed to answer it. Even as she approached the knocking became more and more frantic until it was almost a continuous noise.
As Buffy opened the door a young woman came bursting in. She looked about my age and the front of her was covered in blood as if she had been stabbed. Then she collapsed to the floor, Buffy quickly kneeled down to help her.
With the exception of Willow we rushed to join Buffy at the girl's side. There was a knife lodged into her back, below her right shoulder.
"Oh my god," Xander choked out.
"That's a ceremonial dagger," Tara softly said, her frightened gaze studying the weapon.
"How did this happen?" asked Buffy while eyeing the wound with much concern.
"Y-you ... m-must p-protect ... Zee-Ra," the girl gasped, there was a wet sound underneath her voice as if her lungs were filled with a thick fluid.
"She's lost a lot of blood," Spike said sniffing the air.
"Then we should ring an ambulance," I frantically suggested. Buffy and Spike glanced at each other, I realised they didn't need to say anything, it was too late and we were watching her die.
"Who's Zee-Ra, and who did this to you?" Buffy asked.
"T-the T-Tear of a-an A-Angel," she stammered, gasping still. There was a soft thud when her head dropped and body slumped forward. We watched helplessly as her eyes turned sightless and her breath escaped one last time.
No one said anything. Over the years we had seen our share of death, but this was a haunting reminder.
"What's that?" Anya asked as she knelt down beside Buffy. There was something in the woman's hand.
"I don't know," Buffy said reaching for it, "It's a photo," she took it out of the dead hand and looked at it
"There's some writing on the back," I commented.
"Zee-Ra," Buffy read aloud and turned it over, "hey there's an address."
From where I was kneeling I could see the photo, in it was a young dark skinned girl, maybe no more than 10 years old. I looked up at Buffy then at Spike, I noticed that he was frowning and sniffing.
"Spike? What is it?" Buffy said, she had obviously noticed the frown too.
"She doesn't smell human, at least not fully," he said.
"No, I'd say she's part demon," Anya added.
"How do you know?" Tara asked.
"Well, I think I recognise that dagger," Anya said, "I believe it is the only thing that can kill a ..." she broke off with a frown on her face.
"A what?" Buffy asked.
"I can't remember," she sounded vaguely embarrassed about it.
"We have to find this picture girl," I said as I got to my feet.
"And bloody well soon, I'd wager," Spike said as he glanced out the window, "It's dusk. I guess I can play detective with the lot of you."
As we stood the dead girl's body began to give off a crackling sound, I noticed that there were cracks appearing in her skin. Within seconds the body looked like nothing more than a pile of dry leaves.
___________________________________________________________________
Ten minutes later Spike, Buffy, Tara and I were in my car heading to the address on the back of the photo. Tara was in the passenger seat, hurriedly flipping through a book containing rituals that involved various daggers and athames. She had grabbed it quickly when we dropped Xander and Anya off at the Magic Box and I could tell by her frustrated sighs that she wasn't having much luck with it. Spike and Buffy were both sitting in silence in the back seat.
Buffy's cellphone rang and she scrambled to answer it, "Yeah? ... Oh good...She's what? ... You've got to be kidding ... Gee, because hurrying wasn't in full effect, Xander." She snapped the phone shut and turned to Spike, "Have you ever heard of the Ha'leth?"
"Yeah, nasty buggers," he said cautiously, "Why?"
"That's who's after the girl, apparently she's some sort of saviour."
"Who are the Ha'leth?" I asked, focusing on the street signs as I drove.
"The Devil's Bandits, most ruthless band of demon blokes in existence," he said.
"So what's the girl to them?" I asked as I turned onto the street we wanted.
"She must be the Oh-th'Maakem," replied Spike, there was a large amount of worry in his voice as he continued, "The Saviour of Humanity."
_____________________________________________________________________
To Be Continued...
PART - 1
TITLE: The Tear of an Angel
AUTHOR'S NAME: The Sorcerer Bard
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com
RATING: PG-13
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya
SUMMARY: It's Buffy's 25th birthday, and while some things change over the course of four years, Armageddon and demonic interruptions to the festivities stay the same.
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions], one small one for Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon'
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem.
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].
Major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing this story
_____________________________________________________________________
When Angels Weep 1 - The Tear Of An Angel
"Dawn!" Tara's voice interrupted my daydreaming.
"Yeah?" I turned my attention to my beautiful blonde girlfriend.
"I asked if you were ready to go."
"Oh, yeah I am," I said as I stood and took a step towards her.
"Um, sweetie, Spike and Xander survived planning this party together, the least we could do is show up with our pants on," said Tara, her amused gaze falling below my belly button.
I glanced down and noticed that I was only wearing a pair of purple lace panties, "Oh!"
I could hear Tara laughing as I rushed off to our bedroom. The denim skirt was lying on the bed, exactly where I had left it. I pulled it on and glanced in the mirror, just to make sure I looked presentable for Buffy's birthday. Satisfied, I headed down the hall to where Tara was patiently waiting.
"Oh honey," she said as she looked me up and down, "You look ... Wow," I smiled at that and pulled her to me.
She lightly brushed her lips across mine and the contact was like an electrical current crackling between us. I couldn't stand it anymore. I pressed my lips to hers as I ran my hands through her luxurious blonde hair. She melted into the embrace as my tongue probed into her receptive mouth.
I don't know who broke the kiss first, me or Tara, but it was broken and we both pulled back to stare into each other's eyes. It was at that point I noticed that we were floating about a foot off the floor.
"You know we should find a way to stop this from happening," I remarked as we floated slowly to the ground.
"I don't know I think it's kind of romantic," Tara smiled at me.
I responded with an almost identical smile.
___________________________________________________________________
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of Buffy's house in the car the gang had given me for my 18th birthday. Tara and I hopped out and made our way up the path towards the front porch.
As we approached the door it swung open and there standing in it was my sister, Buffy.
"Dawn!" she cried as she threw her arms wide for a hug.
I obliged and enveloped her in my best sisterly embrace, "Happy birthday big sis," I said, pulling back slightly so I could look her in the eye.
"Thanks," she said with a warm smile.
"You're late Niblet," came an English voice from further inside.
"Yeah sorry Spike but the traffic held us up."
"Well, traffic can be like that," said Spike, moving forward slightly, "Just like it can do that to your lipstick," he smiled knowingly as he pointed to my lips.
"I wasn't going to say anything," Buffy said matching Spike's smile.
"You could have said something," I said throwing Tara a playfully annoyed look.
"But you're so cute like that," she said with a smile that melted my heart. She looked to Buffy and Spike and nodded to them, "hey."
"Hullo Traffic," he smirked at her.
"Hey guys we moved the party from the doorway, to actually inside the house. Helped fill the 'none of us bursting into a vampire shaped ball of flame' requirement," came Xander's voice from just behind Spike.
"Xand," I giggled as I stepped over the threshold and gave him a quick hug.
"Xander," Tara said as she stepped in and gave him a hug too.
"So is Willow here?" I asked.
"Yeah, she's upstairs, Anya's helping her get dressed," Xander answered.
"So Anya's not working today?" I asked, I still had a problem with Anya, ever since she became a vengeance demon again she seemed to have been becoming less and less humane.
"Nope, she made D'Hoffryn swear on some ancient deity or other that he wouldn't send any work her way for the next 24 hours," Xander said, leading the way into the living room.
The room hadn't changed much since I had lived there, and there, still hanging above the fireplace, was the photo of Buffy, Mom and me that I had given Buffy for her birthday five years ago.
The furniture had been rearranged but that was a minor point. I took my usual seat on the couch, Tara sat down beside me and put her arm round my shoulders. Spike sat in his chair in the corner farthest from the sun and Buffy moved to sit in his lap, while Xander took a seat on the other couch.
"So, Buffy, how's work?" I asked to break the ice.
"Fine, boss said I should be promoted in the next round," Buffy answered.
"Hey Dawny," came a weak yet recognizable voice from the stairs.
"Willow," I cried as I got up and walked over to meet her. Her skin had an unhealthy greyish tint and her hair was still returning to it's natural colour from the stained black it had been when she absorbed the Dark Magicks a few years ago.
"You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," I commented with a warm smile "Considering you looked like death slightly warmed up last time," I sadly thought to myself.
"Thanks," she said, she reached out to take my arm for support. "Wanna be my really tall walking stick?"
"Sure," I said with a smile, she leaned on me as I led her towards the others. Anya fell into step behind us.
After helping Willow to sit on the couch next to Tara, I moved to the armrest on the other side of Tara while Anya took the seat beside Xander.
___________________________________________________________________
It was nearly dusk and we were all reminiscing about some of the good times of the past five years.
"What about that soddin' sludge demon?" Spike asked with a smile.
"Eww, that was so gross!" I exclaimed.
We were suddenly interrupted by an excited knocking at the door. Buffy got up from Spike's lap and headed to answer it. Even as she approached the knocking became more and more frantic until it was almost a continuous noise.
As Buffy opened the door a young woman came bursting in. She looked about my age and the front of her was covered in blood as if she had been stabbed. Then she collapsed to the floor, Buffy quickly kneeled down to help her.
With the exception of Willow we rushed to join Buffy at the girl's side. There was a knife lodged into her back, below her right shoulder.
"Oh my god," Xander choked out.
"That's a ceremonial dagger," Tara softly said, her frightened gaze studying the weapon.
"How did this happen?" asked Buffy while eyeing the wound with much concern.
"Y-you ... m-must p-protect ... Zee-Ra," the girl gasped, there was a wet sound underneath her voice as if her lungs were filled with a thick fluid.
"She's lost a lot of blood," Spike said sniffing the air.
"Then we should ring an ambulance," I frantically suggested. Buffy and Spike glanced at each other, I realised they didn't need to say anything, it was too late and we were watching her die.
"Who's Zee-Ra, and who did this to you?" Buffy asked.
"T-the T-Tear of a-an A-Angel," she stammered, gasping still. There was a soft thud when her head dropped and body slumped forward. We watched helplessly as her eyes turned sightless and her breath escaped one last time.
No one said anything. Over the years we had seen our share of death, but this was a haunting reminder.
"What's that?" Anya asked as she knelt down beside Buffy. There was something in the woman's hand.
"I don't know," Buffy said reaching for it, "It's a photo," she took it out of the dead hand and looked at it
"There's some writing on the back," I commented.
"Zee-Ra," Buffy read aloud and turned it over, "hey there's an address."
From where I was kneeling I could see the photo, in it was a young dark skinned girl, maybe no more than 10 years old. I looked up at Buffy then at Spike, I noticed that he was frowning and sniffing.
"Spike? What is it?" Buffy said, she had obviously noticed the frown too.
"She doesn't smell human, at least not fully," he said.
"No, I'd say she's part demon," Anya added.
"How do you know?" Tara asked.
"Well, I think I recognise that dagger," Anya said, "I believe it is the only thing that can kill a ..." she broke off with a frown on her face.
"A what?" Buffy asked.
"I can't remember," she sounded vaguely embarrassed about it.
"We have to find this picture girl," I said as I got to my feet.
"And bloody well soon, I'd wager," Spike said as he glanced out the window, "It's dusk. I guess I can play detective with the lot of you."
As we stood the dead girl's body began to give off a crackling sound, I noticed that there were cracks appearing in her skin. Within seconds the body looked like nothing more than a pile of dry leaves.
___________________________________________________________________
Ten minutes later Spike, Buffy, Tara and I were in my car heading to the address on the back of the photo. Tara was in the passenger seat, hurriedly flipping through a book containing rituals that involved various daggers and athames. She had grabbed it quickly when we dropped Xander and Anya off at the Magic Box and I could tell by her frustrated sighs that she wasn't having much luck with it. Spike and Buffy were both sitting in silence in the back seat.
Buffy's cellphone rang and she scrambled to answer it, "Yeah? ... Oh good...She's what? ... You've got to be kidding ... Gee, because hurrying wasn't in full effect, Xander." She snapped the phone shut and turned to Spike, "Have you ever heard of the Ha'leth?"
"Yeah, nasty buggers," he said cautiously, "Why?"
"That's who's after the girl, apparently she's some sort of saviour."
"Who are the Ha'leth?" I asked, focusing on the street signs as I drove.
"The Devil's Bandits, most ruthless band of demon blokes in existence," he said.
"So what's the girl to them?" I asked as I turned onto the street we wanted.
"She must be the Oh-th'Maakem," replied Spike, there was a large amount of worry in his voice as he continued, "The Saviour of Humanity."
_____________________________________________________________________
To Be Continued...
