Author : Wild-Melody

Disclaimer : I don't own it though I wish I did.

Warning : None

Chapter 4 : Part A

A new evil, a Demi-Goddess or something like that, named Glory had invaded Sunnydale…and it was up to Buffy and the Scooby Gang to take her down, as only they new how. In the end, tragedy would strike and the Scooby Gang would never be the same…Buffy Summers would give her life to save her sister.

Willow, Tare standing silently beside her, stared at the broken and battered body that had once been Buffy Summers, her best and most trusted friend. Dawn, the reason for all the carnage and the Slayer's sacrifice sat on the steps not far away, staring disbelieving on the scene that had ended her older sister's life. Spike just stared, not wanting to comprehend what had taken place, knowing that he had failed to save the life of the woman he had grown to love, if a vampire without a soul was capable of such a thing….Awnya and Xander gripped one another, afraid if they left go one or the other might cease to be also. Giles just stared, dumbfounded, his worst nightmare becoming a reality. He had failed the Slayer and she had paid the ultimate price…her life.

Willow stared, a memory flashing before her eyes:

*Willow,* Buffy had said, shortly before the fateful battle. *I have a feeling this maybe the end…if it is, please promise me that if I don't make it, you'll take Starr to Angel? I know you'd take care of her, but she'll need the protection only Angel or I can give her…* Buffy had broke off, tears silently falling from her eyes. *Don't tell him she's mine…or his. It'll only bring him sadness, especially if I do die."

*But Buffy, it might bring him some happiness if he knows he had a child with you, even in the weird awkward way it happened.* She had said, looking her distraught best friend in the eyes.

Buffy had shook her head no. *He must never find out. Just tell him she's special. I promised her my protection and if anything ever happened to me I wanted her brought to him.*

*Alright Buffy, but if he finds out somehow or another, I won't lie to him if he asks.* Willow had said, looking at her friend.

*Only if he finds out on his own. Don't tell him Willow, please.*

Willow had only nodded her head. She would follow her friend's last wish and take the little girl…ok, she wasn't quite little anymore, to Angel when the time came, but not before. She'd keep the girl with her until it was proven they couldn't protect her, not a moment before.

"You alright?" Tara asked, bringing Willow back to reality.

"Huh?" Willow asked, turning her tear-brightened eyes away from the body of her best friend. "Yeah, I'll be fine…sometime in the next century or two…." Willow trailed off, the tears threatening to flow again.

Tara hugged her and Willow looked at the tear-stained faces of the rest of the Scooby Gang. Dawn sat away from everyone else, perched on the stairs. Willow walked over to the young girl and embraced her. Dawn's tears started running anew, trailing dirty tracks down the girl's smooth skin. "She loved you dearly Dawn." Willow whispered in the girl's ear.

"But why?" Dawn asked, her voice braking with each word. "It should have been me, why did she have to do it?" The tears rolled down her cheeks faster, creating tiny rivers down her face. "It just isn't fair, it should've been me…" She repeated over and over, almost like she believed if she said it enough it would come to pass.

"No Dawnie," Willow said, gently stroking the distraught teenager's hair, "Don't say such things. Buffy gave up her life so you could continue on. She gave up her life so you could live yours. Yours is just starting, don't make Buffy's sacrifice all for nothing. She wanted us to go on and so we will." Willow paused, looking each of her friends in their eyes. "We all will continue on…" Her voice trailed off as a thought suddenly occurred to her. She'd share it with everyone later, maybe, just maybe they could bring Buffy back…. "Besides, Angel Starr still needs you. She just lost her mother, she doesn't need to loose her aunt too."

Dawn suddenly looked up at Willow, the tears gone, but the sadness remained in her forlorn eyes. She'd almost forgotten about the young girl at home, left with Giles strange friend…what was her name? Ah yes, Edna Thornington. Angel Starr didn't know the fate of her mother yet. "How…" Dawn trailed off, "How are we going to tell her?"

"I don't know sweetie.." Willow whispered, embracing Dawn again. "I just don't know. How do you tell a child that their mother isn't ever coming home again? How do you tell them that they're never going to see their mother again?" Willow shook her head, the tears starting to spill down over her cheeks again. "I just don't know." She whispered, her voice starting to quiver.

"I'll do it." Dawn whispered. "Buffy had to tell me when Mom died…I think I should tell Angel Starr that Buffy is….gone." She still couldn't believe her sister was gone. She quickly glanced over where her sister's body laid, she expected any moment now for the Slayer to get up and start moving around. To start doing anything, something….But it wasn't going to happen. Buffy was dead.

X x X x X x X x X x X

Angel Starr looked at first Willow then her Aunt Dawn. "This is a really cruel joke." She said, walking away from both of them. "So where is Mom?" She strolled across the living room and sat down on the couch and turned around to look out the large picture window. "I bet she's hiding out there waiting to come in and yell 'SURPRISE' isn't she?" She pushed the curtains apart and peered out into the darkness. She didn't see no one.

"Angel, dear," Willow started. "Your mother is gone."

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. I just don't believe it." Angel said, looking Willow straight in the eyes. "So where is she anyway? She didn't go to L.A. to see Dad did she? I told her if she did that again I wanted to go along!" The young girl stamped her foot impatiently against the floor, like a three year old. Which technically she actually was, she just appeared to be fourteen or fifteen.

"Angel honey," Willow said, trying to break through the child's denial, "Your mother is gone. She didn't go to visit your father, she didn't go to L.A. She didn't go anywhere. Buffy is dead. She's gone and she's never coming back." The tears started rolling down Willow's cheeks. Angel Starr's eyes opened wide in fear. "She's gone…" Willow broke down and started to cry, the sobs shaking her small frame.

"No…" Angel Starr said, her voice sounding like a small child's. "No, she can't be. She promised she'd never leave me! She promised me!" The tears were starting to fall from the corners of Angel's eyes. "How could she brake her promise? How could she?" The tears ran faster and faster down her cheeks.

Angel Starr turned from Willow and Dawn, parting the curtains again she looked out into the darkening night. *How could Mom leave me?* The thought just kept repeating itself in her brain. *How could she…how could she…*

Her eyes adjusting to the dimness of night, Angel Starr noticed a small creature lurking just outside the circle of light the window created. It's eyes blazed red in the pitch blackness of night. Angel gasped and jumped backwards in her seat. The curtain's fell shut.

Willow and Dawn were immediately at her side. "What did you see?" Dawn asked, parting the curtains and looking herself out into the pitch blackness. Nothing stared back at her, other than her own reflection in the window. She turned her gaze down to her niece. "I don't see anything…"

"I don't know…." Starr trailed off. "I saw something looking in at me. It's eyes were red…" She silently shivered, like she was trying to shake the disturbing image off.

"I don't see anything now." Dawn said, turning her gaze over to Willow. Willow looked out the window too and looked down at the young girl and shook her head. She didn't see a thing either.

Angel just shook her head. "I don't know…" She whispered. "I did see something though. There was something out there. I saw it!"

X X x X x X x X x X x

Angel Starr yelled, kicking the vampire in the jaw. Willow shot a bolt of bright blue light straight into the undead man's chest. He staggered momentarily then resumed his wobbly track back towards the young Slayer. Angel Starr pivoted quickly on the ball of her foot and delivered a quick kick into the vampire's chest. Edna Thornington threw a sharpened stake towards the young girl. Angel caught it and deftly slid it into the ugly vampire's chest. Almost instantly he disappeared into a pile of dust that drifted off with the wind.

"Raine?!" Edna yelled, quickly looking around for her Slayer. The young woman stood a few yards away from them, dealing with her own problem. A group of vampires, numbering between four and five, circled the new Slayer. She quickly kicked one in the face while staking another. A third tried to jump her while her attention was averted, but he only received a blow to the groin followed by a roundhouse to his face. He went down with a few choice words about Slayers in general and Raine in particular.

A few seconds later the battle was done and over with, Raine wiping dust from uncertain things off of her hands. She pushed her short black hair behind her ears and walked over to where Edna stood with Angel Starr. Willow walked over to them, a smile playing across her face. "I wish you hadn't agreed to bring the child along." Raine said, looking at the pouting face of Angel. Her dark brown eyes softened at the hurt look on the young girl's face. "It's nothing against you kid personally, I just don't like having to watch someone else's back as well as my own."

Angel Starr's back stiffened. Her hazel eyes narrowed, "I don't need watchin'!" She said, looking distainfully at Raine Hartley. "I'm quite capable of looking after myself, including my back. I certainly don't need you to do it for me."

Raine backed up, like someone had just slapped her. "I never said-"

Angel cut her off. "You certainly did. I can watch myself, believe me. I've seen my fair share of monsters and ghoulies and all those nasty things."

"No one said you haven't." Raine said, placing her hands palms out in front of her chest. "It's just that I'm the Slayer and you're-"

"I am Buffy's daughter." Angel said, looking directly into Raine's dark eyes. "I am just as much of a Slayer as you are, if not more. Remember that!" She pushed past Raine, her shoulder bumping against Raine's in the process. Raine just stared after her, her mouth opened wide in astonishment.

Edna snickered and looked over at Willow. "Who does she take after more, her mother or father?"

Willow smiled at the older woman and laughed. "Difficult to tell. She acts like both of them most of the time. Angel's brooding and Buffy's stubborness not to mention her smart remarks. It's almost like having her back." *Almost but not quite, and soon I'll have to take her to her father in L.A.* Willow thought looking sadly at the young girl.

Starr's sudden scream brought everyone out of their reverie. A vampiress had her pinned to the ground, just preparing to make Angel Starr into a midnight snack when she suddenly found herself flying through the air to land in a undignified heap a few yard away. Starr quickly got back on her feet, landing deftly on her feet in a defensive crouch. "Come on tall dark and gruesome…um wait a sec, are you suppose to be a girl or a guy? You are so damn ugly it's kinda hard to tell." The young girl taunted.

The vampiress charged, which was her biggest mistake. Just stepping back and raising her arm in the air, Starr left the vampiress' momentum impale herself on the sharp stake the young Slayer was holding up. The look that was in the vampiress' eyes was one of stark disbelief. Angel just laughed at her, then fell to the ground, a vampire of ample weight and height standing behind her staring darkly at the approaching friends.

"What the hell?" Raine started to say until the ugly demon started for her. She met him halfway, throwing a punch at him before he even had a chance to think about his first move. It took Raine a few minutes to get the upper punch on the ugly beastie. She was winded and fatigued by the time she turned him into dust.

Angel Starr was rushed to a hospital, it was a few hours later that she regained consiousness. Willow looked sadly at Tara and Edna. Giles came up to them, shaking his head sadly. "She was hurt pretty bad." He said, taking his glasses off and cleaning them, but he didn't place them back on his face, he just glumly regarded Willow. "I think it may be time to take her to Angel, like Buffy wanted…"

And of part A….