Foreword: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and/or David Greenwalt. Also, I think I've gone crazy, because this is not something that I normally write. Anyway. This takes place in Buffy's seventh season, and Angel's fourth, up through both's third episode, (except for where Cordelia comes back and Angel's in love with her, because I don't like her) which is as far as I've seen. Old characters will be returning. The pairing situation is complicated, so I'll leave it a surprise. Enjoy. Shouldn't be too many spoilers, if any at all. Also, events from the Buffy books do factor in.

Special thanks to my Watchers, Jessica and Kathy. Jess for naming my demons and looking others up. Thanks to Kathy for proofreading and making me skinny and graceful (not weighty and awkward). Thanks to Kit for being the Buffy expert and helping me out when I need info.

The Darkest Hour before Dawn

Six

Buffy jumped across the giant gap in her front porch and lifted Connor—none too gently—from her little sister's body. She pulled Dawn into her arms and hugged her tightly. Dawn looked over at Connor, then at Angel, then at her sister. She broke into sobs, and Buffy hugged her tightly.

"We need to relocate. Whatever that was, you can bet it will come back," Angel said. He, too, leaped over the gap in the wooden porch and pulled Connor to his feet.

"There's not really anywhere we can go," Buffy said.

"We'll go to the mansion. There should be plenty of room there," Angel said. Buffy nodded and stood, then helped Dawn to her feet. They all went back into the house, where the rest of those currently residing in the Summers home were watching, looks of shock on their faces. Wesley even had a book clutched to his chest. Willow and Xander were looking over his shoulders. Anya pushed Willow out of the way to get a better look.

"Are they killed?" She asked. "Is anyone dead? Injured, at least?"

Xander glared at her, but she took no notice.

"I suggest we go very, very soon," Buffy said. She was hugging Dawn tightly to her. Dawn's face was beginning to turn red in embarrassment, but she was grateful for her sister's arms wrapped around her. It made her feel safer, somehow.

"Why run scared?" Connor asked.

"Yes," Anya seconded. "Are we scared? Should we be scared?"

"Um, yeah," Xander said. "Because I don't know about you people, but I am SO not about dying or anything."

Anya frowned. "But we aren't dying. We have Buffy and Angel and a Watcher and Connor here is Wonder Boy or something with lightning quick reflexes." She nodded her head. "But if you want me to be scared I can scream and tremble on cue."

"No thanks, Anya, I'm pretty sure we can do without that." Xander said, frowning.

"Just let me know," the ex-demon said brightly. She didn't seem to understand how serious the situation was. But then, she rarely ever did. It almost brought a smile to Buffy's face.

"Anya," Xander began in a tone of voice that meant he was getting annoyed. He usually reserved the tone for Angel.

"Xander, just cut it out," Willow said. "Are you okay, Dawnie?"

Dawn blushed even redder. And she wished that Willow hadn't said that in front of Connor. "I'm fine," She said.

"All right then," Angel said, taking charge. He couldn't let them stand on the ruined porch for the rest of the night. Morning wasn't that far off, and he didn't relish the thought of being turned to nothing more than ashes when the sun appeared over the tops of the trees. "Let's pack up the books again, and anything else we might need, and head for the mansion."

"You have the keys with you?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Always prepared for an emergency." Angel said. He turned and headed into the house.

"Yeah right," Connor muttered, and followed his father to assist with the books. Willow and Xander went to get the computer and load it into his car. Anya followed them, probably not with any intent to actually help. Lindsey came into the doorway, and helped Buffy get Dawn back across. Buffy briefly wondered how they were going to fix the porch. She sighed and leapt across the gap herself.

Lindsey caught her when she reached the other side. It was unnecessary, and for a moment, Buffy could only stare at him, startled.

"I know you didn't need help," he told her, "but I'm sure it's nice to be treated as something other than the Slayer for once. Just a normal girl."

Buffy was even further startled. She looked up into his eyes. He had a nice voice, too. "Thanks," she said, and found herself smiling. It was nice to be treated like a regular person. That was always what she wanted—to be normal. It was a rare opportunity to have, for her.

"Anytime," Lindsey said, then smiled at her and retreated back inside to carry books back to Angel's car as well.

Buffy stood on the porch for a moment longer, just staring into the night. She hadn't enjoyed a night without battles since she was a freshman in high school. She missed it dearly, but she knew the alternative to being a slayer was death.

Of course, she'd experienced death, and it had been a great reprieve from the misery that she had endured in life. She'd saved the world, she'd gone to heaven. She knew what awaited her the day she finally lay her stake aside and gave in to the evil that flooded the world. She'd read the Watcher's diaries, read the accounts of the slayer, from the shortest amount of time—only minutes before the girl lost her life and another was called—to the longest amount of time, a girl in ancient Greece who had lived to the age of twenty-nine. She knew that she was second to the title of longest living Slayer.

She was not the only one who had experience misery. Her little sister—who hadn't even really born, but was someone Buffy would give her life for, and had given her life for—had lost the same mother Buffy had. Willow had lost Tara. The forces of evil had prevented Xander and Anya from wedding. Angel was a vampire, and had been to hell and back, and had a son who hated him. Wesley had almost been killed and had a scar on his neck from one ear to the other to prove it. Cordelia was gone. Giles had faced death countless times. Faith was in prison for murder.

In the darkness, a single tear slipped down Buffy Summers's cheek. A tear for all the pain and suffering that she had experienced, for her mother, for Tara, for her first watcher, Merrick. It was for all the pain Xander and Willow had endured as her friends throughout the years. It was for Angel, who she would always love and never be able to be with. It was for Anya, who had brought so much misery upon other people, and who now paid for it with her ruined wedding. It was for Spike, who Buffy could understand being a decent person in life. It was for Giles and the misery that being a Watcher had visited upon him. It was for Oz, and for Cordelia. Just one tear, all she had left for those she'd been unable to save. A single tear for the Slayers before her, and for Kendra and Faith, the Slayers after her. One solitary drop for all of those that would fall to the evil that threatened to take over the world if one girl didn't stand up to it.

The tear fell for Buffy Summers, and with one last look at the night that she so desperately wished to enjoy, she went back inside her home.