Disclaimer: Joss owns all, for now. He's a rat bastard who got me hooked
on show tunes, especially his. *glares* For now, he owns all characters,
and some dialog that takes place in the beginning. But I will prevail. Just
watch….
************
And isn't faith believing
All power can't be seen
As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me everyday
'Cause you are mine
"Where You Are", Josh Groban
************
Faith and Wes walked into the hotel, the base of operations for the people of Angel Investigations. Dawn was in Faith's arms; after all it was probably past the time she went to bed. Faith was smiling; she liked the unfamiliar burden.
It reminded her of something she had given up, or rather something that was taken from her.
Her daughter.
Yeah, she had a daughter, and the bastards at the Watchers Council somehow found out, so while she was in a coma, they ripped the baby out of her, and put her up for adoption. The only reason she knew she had a baby girl was because she cajoled it out of the nurse once she woke up. Needlessly to say, as soon she found that out, Faith went on a rampage, trying to find the lost child.
She never found anything. So after a month of searching, she gave up, nobody cared about a teenage mother that lost her newborn daughter, no matter the circumstances.
Faith was brought out of her musings when Dawn started to stir. "I'm hungry," was the first thing out of her mouth.
Grinning, Faith set the little girl on the ground and once again took her hand. "Well what do you want to eat?" she asked, leading her to the kitchen.
"Um…" Dawn scrunched up her face in hard thought, "Peanut butter and banana!" she decided finally.
Faith laughed, "I think," she pointed to Dawn, and then to herself, "that you and me will be great friends. That was my favorite snack when I was your age, and it still is. So what do you say, I go make a double order of peanut butter and banana sandwiches?" Faith asked.
Dawn laughed and nodded her head enthusiastically. The two hand in hand walked towards the kitchen.
Later that night, after Faith had relinquished her own bed in order for the tiny girl to have a comfortable night, she walked down stairs, only to face a worried bunch of faces. "Who's the girl Faith?" Connor spoke up first, having found companionship and friendship with the rouge slayer.
"An orphan I guess. English and I saved her. What's it to you?" she asked him, a glint of amusement in her eyes, showing Connor, and consequently the rest of the group, she was kidding.
Connor cocked an eyebrow, "And your grew attached to her, you don't like people remember?" he asked her.
She shrugged, "You don't know everything Mr. Destroyer. Angel, can I talk to you for a minute?" Angel bowed his head in acceptance and it signified the end of the group conversation.
As they walked into the office, Angel gave the slayer an odd look, "This is new Faith," he said finally.
She sighed and sat down in a chair, twirling around so she could face him. "You're my oldest friend Angel," she started off, "You didn't give up on me while others did, and I think you should know."
After shooting her a curious look, Angel sat across from her, "Know what?" he asked, fearing the worst. Life had just starting to get back to normal.
"I'm a mother," Faith said simply. When she saw the confused look that Angel gave her, she took another stab at explaining. "I was pregnant during Graduation. I went into a coma, and when I woke back up, I had a nice lovely scar on my stomach," Faith raised her shirt far enough so Angel could see the long, thin scar.
"What happened to your child?" Angel asked once Faith's shirt dropped back to its original place.
"The Council took her. As far as I know they took her, probably killed her too. You know how it is. They took my child," Faith looked at him. "You got yours back, and I never will."
Suddenly Angel did something Faith never expected he leaned over and gave her a hug. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here," he said simply, and left.
Faith sighed and closed her eyes. Why was life this hard for her? What did she do wrong? Oh yeah, kill a guy. Letting out another sigh, she stood up. The night of slaying had worn her out, and she was tired. She shrugged when she remembered that Dawn was in her bed, oh well the brat would just have to share.
The next morning Faith woke up to a warm body next to her, snuggling closer. Covering a yawn, Faith sat up, trying not to disturb the small child.
"Morning," the small voice of Dawn greeted the silent Faith.
"Good morning," Faith answered her, not even bothering to get out of bead. It was Saturday, and you slept in on Saturday.
"Faith?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah?" Faith answered, sleep still clouding her voice.
"I needa go potty and I wanna watch cartoons," Dawn told her.
Grinning sheepishly, Faith got out of bed, and led Dawn to the bathroom. They then walked downstairs in order to watch cartoons. Around ten o'clock, the cartoons ended and Dawn was bored. Figuring this was the best time to bring up the subject of the previous night, Faith asked, "Do you remember what happened last night, with your mommy and daddy?"
Dawn looked up at her, confusion written upon her face, "I don't have a mommy or a daddy," she stated simply.
It was Faith's turn to be confused, "But then who were you with last night," she asked.
Dawn blinked slowly; looking at least four times her age, "Darcy and Chuck. They were foster people. People took me away from my mommy because she was in the hospital while she had me and couldn't take care of me." Dawn answered the last part with seemingly little emotion, but why should she? She had never met her mother.
Faith sighed; coincidences where happening, and if she knew anything, there were no such thing as coincidences. Looking down at the girl, she then looked at her watch, they hadn't even eaten breakfast. "How bout a peanut butter and banana sandwich?" Faith proposed, just as Dawn's stomach growled.
"Okay!" Dawn grinned and jumped up.
They were sitting in the kitchen as Connor strolled in a piece of paper in his hand.
"Is that your schedule for next year?" Faith asked, as Connor tossed the paper on the table as he headed to the refrigerator.
"Yup. And I got into the classes I wanted. And filled up my requirements. Since I had most of the completed, I only have four classes out of eight," Connor smirked as he took a swig of soda from the two liter bottle that sat in the fridge.
"Ew, don't drink from the bottle. You'll do back wash and I don't want to drink your spit," Faith wrinkled her nose as she watched Connor shrug and pull a cup out of the cupboard.
Dawn had wandered upstairs by that time, so only Connor and Faith were in the kitchens. Connor sat on the table as Faith cleaned up the brunch she and Dawn had shared.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Connor asked nonchalantly.
"It? By that do you mean Dawn?" Faith looked at the teenage boy.
"Yeah, Dawn," Connor shrugged.
"Well, go to child services and hopefully get custody of her. Then enroll her in kidnegarden. She's old enough right?" Faith gave a worried look to Connor.
He laughed, "Faith, you're asking the wrong person. Remember I'm the one who grew up in another dimension."
Faith shrugged and went upstairs, leaving Connor alone with his thoughts.
Two days later Faith sat in the Child Services building, wearing a borrowed business suit from Cordelia, Dawn sat next to her, thoroughly engrossed in a coloring book that had been bought for her the day before.
"Ms. Sanderson?" a fairly frazzled looking woman came out of the office.
Faith smiled and took Dawn's hand, both following the woman into the small office. They sat down and Faith launched into her story of finding Dawn and explained what she thought might of happened. When the social worker, a Miss Rayando, heard the whole story, she sat back and thought for a moment.
"Well this certainly is an awkward situation," she finally said, looking at worried Faith and the coloring Dawn.
It was decided that a DNA test would be taken in order to see if Dawn was actually Faith's daughter. If she was, custody would be granted to Faith.
September first rolled around, and Dawn was still at the Hyperion. Faith had her little girl back, and that's what really mattered.
"Mama?" Dawn wandered into Faith's room. Their roles had fallen into place within the first week of Dawn staying there, and Faith couldn't imagine not having her little girl in her life.
"Yes sweet heart?" Faith asked as she walked out of the bathroom, her robe tightly cinched around her waist.
"Aunt Cordy told me told me that you had to help me pick something out, she's waiting," Dawn stood there, proud that she could deliver her message without a mistake.
Faith grinned, "Just hold on a second and let me put on something other than a robe." In a few short minutes, Faith was clothed in a pair of jeans and a dark shirt.
"It's about time," Cordelia said as the two walked in.
Faith grinned, during the short time she had been at Sunnydale high school, she had always admired the former May Queen from afar, she always seemed to know what to do, and what to say. She always seemed to be on top of things. And now, when she could get to know her better, Faith found a friend.
"Well I had to get dressed. No need to give anyone who doesn't need a show, well, a show," Faith smirked as Cordelia headed towards Dawn's closet.
After rummaging around for a minute or two, Cordelia came out with two dresses, a pink one, and a green one. Dawn made a face when she saw the pink monstrosity; it was covered with frills and lace. "Who bought that?" she asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
Cordelia and Faith shared a look, sighing, Cordelia tossed the pink dress behind her. "So do you want to wear the green dress?" she asked sweetly.
Dawn shook her head. "Can I wear jeans instead?"
Cordelia look dumbfounded, "But it's your first day of school. Don't you want to look pretty?"
Dawn shrugged, "Nope. I wanna be comfortable."
Faith grinned. "That's my baby girl. Is there a clean shirt in there, green maybe? Grab a pair of jeans too," the woman tried to mediate.
Cordelia sighed and threw up her hands; didn't people think the first day of school was important? But she had gotten to know the mite of a girl, and if she knew anything about the five-year-old Dawn, she was headstrong and stubborn, just like her mother.
Faith walked Dawn into the elementary school building; they were closing in on Dawn's classroom when Faith kneeled down to Dawn's level.
"Okay, I want to set a few guide lines, okay?" Faith asked her.
Dawn nodded.
"Okay, listen to the teacher. And stand up for yourself, but don't start fights. If you need me, tell the teacher your tummy hurts and go to the nurse to call me, okay?" Faith asked. "Repeat what I just said."
"Listen to the teacher. And stand up for myself, but don't start fights. If I need you, tell the teacher my tummy hurts and go to the nurse to call you," Dawn repeated proudly. She had a good memory.
Faith smiled and stood up, "So are you ready for your first day of school?" she asked excitedly, mostly for Dawn's benefit.
Dawn grinned, "Yup!" Faith smiled at her and they walked towards the classroom. Now only if Faith was ready for Dawn's first day of school.
Faith practically ran down the hall, Dawn's first day of school was almost over, and she wanted to be the first parent there. She hid just around the corner; a few minutes later another woman came up behind her.
"Are you waiting for a child too?" the woman asked after a few moments. Faith nodded; a faint blush came to her cheeks. The woman laughed, "It's nothing to be ashamed of sweetheart. It's my second child's first day of school, and I'm just as excited as you are."
Faith smiled, hearing the sounds of happy children. "I can't wait to see Dawn again. It was hard, not having her around today."
The woman sighed sympathetically, "And it never gets any easier. I'm Anita Black by the way." She stuck out a hand, and Faith took it, shaking it.
"Faith Sanderson," Faith introduced herself as the two women rounded the corner.
They watched as excited sounds of small children echoed. Faith could see Dawn's chocolate brown haired head bob up and down, a black haired little boy following her. Finally the teacher let the five-year-olds out and Dawn came barreling towards Faith. "Mama!" she cried.
Faith crouched down just in time to catch the bullet that was Dawn. "How was your day?" Faith swung up the five-year-old.
"It was fun. But the girls are stupid, they don't want to do anything fun, but the boys do. I met one that was really cool, his name's Aiden and we played all day, except when the teacher told us not to, cause you said I had to listen to the teacher, on and Mr. Thomas wanted to talk to you," Dawn said in one breath.
Faith smiled and looked over to Anita Black, only to see the little boy she had seen Dawn with. "Anita," Faith broke in. "my daughter told me she and your son seemed to have struck up a friendship. Would he like to come to play on Saturday?" she offered.
The little boy, Aiden, looked at his mother hopefully, who smiled down at her child, "I don't see why not. Why don't you give me your number and we'll go over specifics tonight." Faith gratefully handed the woman the number to Angel Investigations and then went to see what Mr. Thomas, Dawn's teacher, wanted.
************
I could save the world
Since the night your love saved me
Maybe I can't save the world
But as long as you believe
Maybe I could save the world
"Save the World", Bon Jovi
************
Author's note: Connor never slept with Cordy, and he's fifteen. So he's in school a sophomore. Thank you. Please review.
************
And isn't faith believing
All power can't be seen
As my heart holds you
Just one beat away
I cherish all you gave me everyday
'Cause you are mine
"Where You Are", Josh Groban
************
Faith and Wes walked into the hotel, the base of operations for the people of Angel Investigations. Dawn was in Faith's arms; after all it was probably past the time she went to bed. Faith was smiling; she liked the unfamiliar burden.
It reminded her of something she had given up, or rather something that was taken from her.
Her daughter.
Yeah, she had a daughter, and the bastards at the Watchers Council somehow found out, so while she was in a coma, they ripped the baby out of her, and put her up for adoption. The only reason she knew she had a baby girl was because she cajoled it out of the nurse once she woke up. Needlessly to say, as soon she found that out, Faith went on a rampage, trying to find the lost child.
She never found anything. So after a month of searching, she gave up, nobody cared about a teenage mother that lost her newborn daughter, no matter the circumstances.
Faith was brought out of her musings when Dawn started to stir. "I'm hungry," was the first thing out of her mouth.
Grinning, Faith set the little girl on the ground and once again took her hand. "Well what do you want to eat?" she asked, leading her to the kitchen.
"Um…" Dawn scrunched up her face in hard thought, "Peanut butter and banana!" she decided finally.
Faith laughed, "I think," she pointed to Dawn, and then to herself, "that you and me will be great friends. That was my favorite snack when I was your age, and it still is. So what do you say, I go make a double order of peanut butter and banana sandwiches?" Faith asked.
Dawn laughed and nodded her head enthusiastically. The two hand in hand walked towards the kitchen.
Later that night, after Faith had relinquished her own bed in order for the tiny girl to have a comfortable night, she walked down stairs, only to face a worried bunch of faces. "Who's the girl Faith?" Connor spoke up first, having found companionship and friendship with the rouge slayer.
"An orphan I guess. English and I saved her. What's it to you?" she asked him, a glint of amusement in her eyes, showing Connor, and consequently the rest of the group, she was kidding.
Connor cocked an eyebrow, "And your grew attached to her, you don't like people remember?" he asked her.
She shrugged, "You don't know everything Mr. Destroyer. Angel, can I talk to you for a minute?" Angel bowed his head in acceptance and it signified the end of the group conversation.
As they walked into the office, Angel gave the slayer an odd look, "This is new Faith," he said finally.
She sighed and sat down in a chair, twirling around so she could face him. "You're my oldest friend Angel," she started off, "You didn't give up on me while others did, and I think you should know."
After shooting her a curious look, Angel sat across from her, "Know what?" he asked, fearing the worst. Life had just starting to get back to normal.
"I'm a mother," Faith said simply. When she saw the confused look that Angel gave her, she took another stab at explaining. "I was pregnant during Graduation. I went into a coma, and when I woke back up, I had a nice lovely scar on my stomach," Faith raised her shirt far enough so Angel could see the long, thin scar.
"What happened to your child?" Angel asked once Faith's shirt dropped back to its original place.
"The Council took her. As far as I know they took her, probably killed her too. You know how it is. They took my child," Faith looked at him. "You got yours back, and I never will."
Suddenly Angel did something Faith never expected he leaned over and gave her a hug. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here," he said simply, and left.
Faith sighed and closed her eyes. Why was life this hard for her? What did she do wrong? Oh yeah, kill a guy. Letting out another sigh, she stood up. The night of slaying had worn her out, and she was tired. She shrugged when she remembered that Dawn was in her bed, oh well the brat would just have to share.
The next morning Faith woke up to a warm body next to her, snuggling closer. Covering a yawn, Faith sat up, trying not to disturb the small child.
"Morning," the small voice of Dawn greeted the silent Faith.
"Good morning," Faith answered her, not even bothering to get out of bead. It was Saturday, and you slept in on Saturday.
"Faith?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah?" Faith answered, sleep still clouding her voice.
"I needa go potty and I wanna watch cartoons," Dawn told her.
Grinning sheepishly, Faith got out of bed, and led Dawn to the bathroom. They then walked downstairs in order to watch cartoons. Around ten o'clock, the cartoons ended and Dawn was bored. Figuring this was the best time to bring up the subject of the previous night, Faith asked, "Do you remember what happened last night, with your mommy and daddy?"
Dawn looked up at her, confusion written upon her face, "I don't have a mommy or a daddy," she stated simply.
It was Faith's turn to be confused, "But then who were you with last night," she asked.
Dawn blinked slowly; looking at least four times her age, "Darcy and Chuck. They were foster people. People took me away from my mommy because she was in the hospital while she had me and couldn't take care of me." Dawn answered the last part with seemingly little emotion, but why should she? She had never met her mother.
Faith sighed; coincidences where happening, and if she knew anything, there were no such thing as coincidences. Looking down at the girl, she then looked at her watch, they hadn't even eaten breakfast. "How bout a peanut butter and banana sandwich?" Faith proposed, just as Dawn's stomach growled.
"Okay!" Dawn grinned and jumped up.
They were sitting in the kitchen as Connor strolled in a piece of paper in his hand.
"Is that your schedule for next year?" Faith asked, as Connor tossed the paper on the table as he headed to the refrigerator.
"Yup. And I got into the classes I wanted. And filled up my requirements. Since I had most of the completed, I only have four classes out of eight," Connor smirked as he took a swig of soda from the two liter bottle that sat in the fridge.
"Ew, don't drink from the bottle. You'll do back wash and I don't want to drink your spit," Faith wrinkled her nose as she watched Connor shrug and pull a cup out of the cupboard.
Dawn had wandered upstairs by that time, so only Connor and Faith were in the kitchens. Connor sat on the table as Faith cleaned up the brunch she and Dawn had shared.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Connor asked nonchalantly.
"It? By that do you mean Dawn?" Faith looked at the teenage boy.
"Yeah, Dawn," Connor shrugged.
"Well, go to child services and hopefully get custody of her. Then enroll her in kidnegarden. She's old enough right?" Faith gave a worried look to Connor.
He laughed, "Faith, you're asking the wrong person. Remember I'm the one who grew up in another dimension."
Faith shrugged and went upstairs, leaving Connor alone with his thoughts.
Two days later Faith sat in the Child Services building, wearing a borrowed business suit from Cordelia, Dawn sat next to her, thoroughly engrossed in a coloring book that had been bought for her the day before.
"Ms. Sanderson?" a fairly frazzled looking woman came out of the office.
Faith smiled and took Dawn's hand, both following the woman into the small office. They sat down and Faith launched into her story of finding Dawn and explained what she thought might of happened. When the social worker, a Miss Rayando, heard the whole story, she sat back and thought for a moment.
"Well this certainly is an awkward situation," she finally said, looking at worried Faith and the coloring Dawn.
It was decided that a DNA test would be taken in order to see if Dawn was actually Faith's daughter. If she was, custody would be granted to Faith.
September first rolled around, and Dawn was still at the Hyperion. Faith had her little girl back, and that's what really mattered.
"Mama?" Dawn wandered into Faith's room. Their roles had fallen into place within the first week of Dawn staying there, and Faith couldn't imagine not having her little girl in her life.
"Yes sweet heart?" Faith asked as she walked out of the bathroom, her robe tightly cinched around her waist.
"Aunt Cordy told me told me that you had to help me pick something out, she's waiting," Dawn stood there, proud that she could deliver her message without a mistake.
Faith grinned, "Just hold on a second and let me put on something other than a robe." In a few short minutes, Faith was clothed in a pair of jeans and a dark shirt.
"It's about time," Cordelia said as the two walked in.
Faith grinned, during the short time she had been at Sunnydale high school, she had always admired the former May Queen from afar, she always seemed to know what to do, and what to say. She always seemed to be on top of things. And now, when she could get to know her better, Faith found a friend.
"Well I had to get dressed. No need to give anyone who doesn't need a show, well, a show," Faith smirked as Cordelia headed towards Dawn's closet.
After rummaging around for a minute or two, Cordelia came out with two dresses, a pink one, and a green one. Dawn made a face when she saw the pink monstrosity; it was covered with frills and lace. "Who bought that?" she asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
Cordelia and Faith shared a look, sighing, Cordelia tossed the pink dress behind her. "So do you want to wear the green dress?" she asked sweetly.
Dawn shook her head. "Can I wear jeans instead?"
Cordelia look dumbfounded, "But it's your first day of school. Don't you want to look pretty?"
Dawn shrugged, "Nope. I wanna be comfortable."
Faith grinned. "That's my baby girl. Is there a clean shirt in there, green maybe? Grab a pair of jeans too," the woman tried to mediate.
Cordelia sighed and threw up her hands; didn't people think the first day of school was important? But she had gotten to know the mite of a girl, and if she knew anything about the five-year-old Dawn, she was headstrong and stubborn, just like her mother.
Faith walked Dawn into the elementary school building; they were closing in on Dawn's classroom when Faith kneeled down to Dawn's level.
"Okay, I want to set a few guide lines, okay?" Faith asked her.
Dawn nodded.
"Okay, listen to the teacher. And stand up for yourself, but don't start fights. If you need me, tell the teacher your tummy hurts and go to the nurse to call me, okay?" Faith asked. "Repeat what I just said."
"Listen to the teacher. And stand up for myself, but don't start fights. If I need you, tell the teacher my tummy hurts and go to the nurse to call you," Dawn repeated proudly. She had a good memory.
Faith smiled and stood up, "So are you ready for your first day of school?" she asked excitedly, mostly for Dawn's benefit.
Dawn grinned, "Yup!" Faith smiled at her and they walked towards the classroom. Now only if Faith was ready for Dawn's first day of school.
Faith practically ran down the hall, Dawn's first day of school was almost over, and she wanted to be the first parent there. She hid just around the corner; a few minutes later another woman came up behind her.
"Are you waiting for a child too?" the woman asked after a few moments. Faith nodded; a faint blush came to her cheeks. The woman laughed, "It's nothing to be ashamed of sweetheart. It's my second child's first day of school, and I'm just as excited as you are."
Faith smiled, hearing the sounds of happy children. "I can't wait to see Dawn again. It was hard, not having her around today."
The woman sighed sympathetically, "And it never gets any easier. I'm Anita Black by the way." She stuck out a hand, and Faith took it, shaking it.
"Faith Sanderson," Faith introduced herself as the two women rounded the corner.
They watched as excited sounds of small children echoed. Faith could see Dawn's chocolate brown haired head bob up and down, a black haired little boy following her. Finally the teacher let the five-year-olds out and Dawn came barreling towards Faith. "Mama!" she cried.
Faith crouched down just in time to catch the bullet that was Dawn. "How was your day?" Faith swung up the five-year-old.
"It was fun. But the girls are stupid, they don't want to do anything fun, but the boys do. I met one that was really cool, his name's Aiden and we played all day, except when the teacher told us not to, cause you said I had to listen to the teacher, on and Mr. Thomas wanted to talk to you," Dawn said in one breath.
Faith smiled and looked over to Anita Black, only to see the little boy she had seen Dawn with. "Anita," Faith broke in. "my daughter told me she and your son seemed to have struck up a friendship. Would he like to come to play on Saturday?" she offered.
The little boy, Aiden, looked at his mother hopefully, who smiled down at her child, "I don't see why not. Why don't you give me your number and we'll go over specifics tonight." Faith gratefully handed the woman the number to Angel Investigations and then went to see what Mr. Thomas, Dawn's teacher, wanted.
************
I could save the world
Since the night your love saved me
Maybe I can't save the world
But as long as you believe
Maybe I could save the world
"Save the World", Bon Jovi
************
Author's note: Connor never slept with Cordy, and he's fifteen. So he's in school a sophomore. Thank you. Please review.