Darkness and Light
By Julia
Spoilers: follows the Buffyverse timeline up to the last episode of Season 5, "The Gift," then spirals into my AU world.
Rating: PG13 (for language)
Summary: In the end of the battle with Glory, Dawn jumps off the tower, not Buffy. How will this change life in Sunnydale? And what happens when Buffy starts to see another side of Spike??
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Joss owns everything, I just borrow the characters for my own amusement.
Prologue
The spring air was cool against her skin; a light wind ruffled her hair, draping the chestnut tresses across her face, temporarily obscuring her vision. Dawn Summers was frozen in place, her wrists bound against the waist-high bars on either side of the shaky platform. The tower built by Glory's minions swayed in the wind, the metal supports creaking back and forth. Shallow cuts on her torso dripped blood, glistening red droplets that spilled into the inky black night as the teenager looked in horror at the battle raging beneath her. She could barely make out Buffy's blonde hair amidst the sea of hairy goblin-like demons that surrounded the tower. Tears burned her eyes and Dawn blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision.
A thick fog of pain enveloped her senses but Dawn knew that she was responsible for this chaos, that her blood was the key to Glory's resurrection. The frightening demon Spike had called Doc, the one she had gone to for a spell to bring Joyce back from the dead, had sliced her stomach moments before Spike had charged up the steps. The thin trickle of blood was all that was needed in order to destroy the thin barriers between dimensions. Now all hell was quite literally breaking loose, the lines of fantasy and reality blurred into oblivion, as otherworldly demons appeared from inside the glowing rift in the sky.
The thin platform beneath her feet groaned as Spike lunged at Doc, his gold eyes flashing. He could see the tiny drops of blood falling from the edge of the demon's knife, Dawn's blood. Spike had been too late, the ritual had already begun by the time he raced onto the platform. But that hadn't stopped Spike from vamping out, he was currently trying to wrestle the knife away from Doc, before the beady-eyed demon could finish what he had begun.
An enormous beast that resembled a medieval dragon pushed its way through the portal, the deafening roar startling Doc, giving Spike just the opportunity he needed. Twisting the demon's wrist until it snapped with a sickening crunch, Spike flung the knife off the tower. Dawn shuddered involuntarily at the look Doc gave Spike, it was pure evil; the demon's black eyes glittered with insanity, something Spike was all too familiar with after spending decades with Drusilla.
"Fool," he hissed at Spike, "did you think it would be so simple? The blood's already begun to fall."
Before he could say anymore, Spike flung him off the tower with a primal roar. Dawn shuddered, she had never seen Spike in the midst of his vampiric fury and it scared her. When he turned back towards her however, the rough ridges and fangs were gone, replaced by the human mask she knew so well. She couldn't hold back her tears; everything was so overwhelming, a thousand different emotions coursing through her at once. Spike tore the rope off her one wrist, mumbling something that was supposed to sound soothing, the sounds of battle drifting up the steps of the tower.
Leaning over the side, Spike could see Buffy chasing Glory as the Hell Goddess tried to ascend the tower. His Slayer was swinging the Hammer of Olaf, or was it Orion? He couldn't remember who the bloody thing belonged to; all that mattered was that Buffy was twirling it around like it weighed no more then an ounce. They were one level away from the top, only a few steps separating Glory from her precious Key. "Stay here," Spike snapped at Dawn, leaping down the stairs to help Buffy. Between the two of them, the leggy blonde psychopath didn't stand a chance.
Dawn meanwhile was struggling to untie her rope bonds with one hand, transfixed by the battle going on a few feet away. Finally the knots gave way and her wrists were free. Massaging feeling back into her cold hands, Dawn wrapped her arms around her body, ready to run down the steps into the arms of her sister and Spike.
"You're not the brightest God in the heavens are you," Buffy snapped, ramming the hammer into Glory's stomach.
The momentum sent the goddess backwards, right into Spike's vice-like arms. He smashed his forehead against the back of Glory's skull and she slumped limply in his arms. The transformation was amazing, right before their eyes Glory changed into the face of Ben, the mild-mannered doctor who Buffy had thought was kinda cute in a geeky way.
"What the hell," Buffy muttered under her breath, finally understanding why she'd had such an awful time tracking Glory. Spike just growled in fury, hurling Ben's body off the tower and down to the ground below.
The wind was stronger now, shaking the tower back and forth with every gust. Buffy looked up at the platform where Dawn was still standing, her eyes meeting Spike's.
"We've got to get off of this thing," she screamed, trying to be heard over the howling gusts.
Spike didn't answer; he grabbed the railing, prepared to race back up the platform towards Dawn when he realized that she wasn't near the stairs.
Tears were falling rapidly down Dawn's pale cheeks and her lips trembled as she looked out at the widening rift in the night sky. She swallowed hard, her hands sticky with the blood that had seeped through her velvet gown. Looking down, Dawn could make out the purple polish of her toes from beneath the billowing hem of the dress. She felt so old; she could feel the Key's power, her power, coursing through her veins. Smiling faintly, she turned her head to look back at Buffy and Spike.
"Take care of each other," she said softly, her voice ringing clearly in their ears despite the screeching wind.
Light from the portal continued to fill the sky, rivaling the brightest sunrise, as more demons continued to pour out. The Earth shook with each new arrival as screams filling the air pitched into an eerie crescendo. Buffy and Spike both yelled for her to stop, but Dawn was already leaping off the shaky tower.
"I love you." Dawn's voice was still resounding loudly in their heads, even as she flew through the air.
"Dawnie, no," Buffy howled, her face contorted in anguish as the tears spilled over her cheeks.
Her arms extended like an angel in flight, Dawn fell into the rift, suspended in midair. Everyone's gaze was transfixed on the portal, as the Key's glowing green energy overtook Dawn's human body. The portal writhed and twisted as the emerald light continued to expand, sealing the rift. As the rift closed, the abandoned construction area was bathed in a faint green light, illuminating the faces of the people that Dawn had jumped to save. Shadowy blackness reclaimed the sky, the lightening sky reminding below that there were only a few minutes until sunrise.