SERIES - When Angels Weep

PART - 4

TITLE: Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood

AUTHOR: The Sorcerer Bard [ thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com ]

CO-AUTHOR: Michelle Dawn [ MichelleDawnBot@hotmail.com ]

RATING: PG-13

PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya

SUMMARY: Things have changed. But has anything actually be altered?

SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].

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. Also Carmen is mine and no-one, I do mean NO-ONE, can use her for anything.

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].

3) If you notice some discontinuities and small changes in personalities don't worry, all will be explained (He, He, He, I'm pulling a Joss and hinting at things that are gonna happen further down the track).

4) This part has a change in writing style from here on out it is written in third person due to the fact that Dawn isn't at all the places that the action is occurring..

Summary of Chapter 4 - Tara fell asleep while researching, she dreamed of what happened to her at the end of season 6 on BtVS, she awoke with a start and exclaimed to Dawn that something had changed. Carmen was a sorceress that helped Willow and Dawn to set things right at the end of season 6.

Major thanks go to The Anonymus Reviewer and Dawn Worshiper for beta'ing this story, and major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing the first two parts and giving me some great pointers and thanks must also go to my faithful DawnBot, Michelle Dawn, whose witty comments and sarcastic remarks have forced me to continue this story when I would have given up.

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When Angels Weep 3 - Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood

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Tara's eyes held a fear that Dawn had never seen before, "Something's changed."

"What? What's changed?" Dawn rubbed her hand on Tara's back gently, like you would a small frightened child.

"I-I don't know."

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Carmen stood on the hill over looking Sunnydale, after helping the slayer and her friends to bring back the sorceress she had taken off and headed to Paris, her place of birth almost a millennia ago.

Carmen was a vampire, only she was not a normal one, having been a sorceress in life she had become something different when she had been turned. She still felt the need to feed, but it was controllable, she also had the ability to live on solid food unlike most vampires.

As she stood there watching the town sleep she tried to figure out why she had come back to this small town in Southern California, ever since she had helped that dark haired sorceress resurrect her blonde girlfriend she had felt drawn to this place, this mouth to hell. 'What is drawing me here?' she asked herself.

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"Dawn? What...?" Buffy was startled as Dawn and Tara burst into her house.

"Something's been changed," her sister blurted out.

"What do you mean?"

"We were doing research and Tara fell asleep when she woke up she knew that

something had changed," Dawn was gasping for breath, "And then we sat down and went over everything that's happened over the last 5 years and I realised that I have a feeling that something's not right."

"How could you know? I mean if something's changed then how could you know? If it's the past then it will have changed your memories."

"I know but I just don't ..."

"She's the Key," came Willow's voice from the stairs.

"Will? What?"

"Dawn's the Key she was forged to work the barriers between dimensions, and time is just another dimension, she'll be immune to any and all changes in the timeline," Willow's voice was a lot stronger that it was just 24 hours earlier.

"Then how come Tara knows that something's changed too?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know."

"But I do," came a voice from the open door.

The gang turned to face the woman standing in the shadows cast by the door.

"Carmen?" Willow peered at the woman.

"Sorceress," the blonde woman said by way of greeting.

"Why are you here?" Buffy asked as she walked towards her.

"I was drawn here by something connected with what we did."

"The resurrection spell?" Dawn moved up behind her sister.

"It has connected me to one of you."

"Me," Willow said in a quiet voice.

"I believe so, yes."

"Like it bonded me to Tara?" Dawn glanced her girlfriend.

"Yes."

"That's how Tara knows that something's changed," Buffy said.

"Yes."

"Wow," Dawn said.

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A figure stood outside the window, cloaked in shadow, looking at the five people inside as they talked, he realised that the last figure that arrived was a vampire and that she had power but she was not his quarry.

The sixth figure in the room was his prey. He had wondered for a few seconds why the women could not see the other figure then he realised that his prey had shrouded itself, in other words it was invisible to all but other hunters.

The figure watched as his prey moved towards the brunette that had rushed in earlier, he knew that the prey could sense the raw power radiating off the woman.

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"What about Zee-Ra?" Dawn asked Carmen.

"Zee-Ra? The Oh-th'Maakem?" when Dawn nodded she continued, "When I was young the Magick Guild of France called her the Harengs Rouges."

"Okay my French is a bit rough," Buffy commented.

Willow groaned softly, "The Red Herring."

"You're kidding," Dawn exclaimed.

"No, she herself is unimportant, it's her possible future that is important, that and her father."

"Her father? Who's he?" Tara spoke for the first time since she and Dawn had arrived.

"That I do not know, however..." Carmen was interrupted as the main window in the living room crashing inwards.

"What the..." Buffy exclaimed as she whirled to face the light shadow that had come through the window.

"Buffy!" Dawn cried, her voice was slightly strangled.

Everyone in the room swung round to stare at the brunette. She was almost a foot off the floor and looked like she was being held from behind, but there was no- one near her.

"Drop her!" the shadow that had come through the window snarled.

Buffy could see a shape forming behind Dawn.

"Never, she is the Key." the shape snarled back.

Dawn glanced at Tara and suddenly time slowed to a crawl.

"Dawn?" Dawn heard Tara's voice but her lips hadn't moved.

Telepathy Dawn realised, "What do I do?" she thought back.

"Remember the channelling exercises we tried?"

"Oh gottchya." The second she thought that she felt Tara focusing her energies and giving Dawn a conduit to pull more power into herself. Dawn took that power and concentrated on the thing holding her, she reached her mind out and felt the aura of the thing, she used her mind to pry apart the shielding and thrust her own power into the thing.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!" screamed the shape holding Dawn. With a audible pop it became solid and dropped Dawn. It looked like every picture of the devil Dawn had ever seen, the red skin, the goats legs, the short horns, the small black goatee, the pointed tail and the fiery pitchfork on his back.

The shadow that had crashed through the window had also become solid. It looked like an angel, white flowing robe, glowing skin, golden circle above it's head. The only difference between it and most of the pictures was the long curved sword attached to it's back.

The two stood there for a second before they leapt at each other screaming...

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To Be Continued In When Angels Weep 5 - A Forgetful Fight