Title: A Breed Apart
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Some, mostly early series.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy the show but I am broke.
Summary: On her first day at Sunnydale High, Buffy finds an odd kinship to a fellow student and something she never knew about herself.
Cordy surveyed the classroom, her former domain. The source of her demise, Buffy Harris, formerly Summers, and Xander Harris, we not present, their seats vacant along with their lackey Willow Rosenberg. Cordy had heard that they had been pulled out of class during first period this morning by the military, so she had spent most of the day planing how to reclaim her throne. Just as she was about to implement phase one of her plan the door slammed open. Three figures stalked in, dressed in dappled combat clothing with weapons attached around their bodies, their faces obscured with paint. Two of them were female, the shortest wearing a bandanna to cover her hair and a grim expression on her face, while the taller one had her hair darkened with some substance and tied back in a ponytail, her expression showing slight tiredness but otherwise neutral. The man was tall, over six feet with a soft brimmed hat and a relaxed expression on his face. The man and the shorter woman had muted golden oak leaves pinned to their shoulders while the other woman's uniform had no insignia. The man went to the teacher and handed her a letter, which she immediately opened and read. While the teacher was reading, the man took a water bottle of his belt, removed his hat and drank. In that instant, Cordy recognised him. It was Xander! Looking again at his companions, she now recognised the smaller one as Buffy and the taller one as Willow.
At the teacher's slight nod, the three soldiers made their way through the room, Xander with his arm around Buffy's shoulder, half supporting her as the reached their desks. They all removed the small backpacks they were wearing before they sat down. Xander removed a small box from his backpack and pulled out various items, passing some to Buffy. They sat in the middle of class cleaning their guns, to the shock of the students, while Willow retrieved a laptop from her pack and began typing.
'So much for that plan.' Cordy thought bitterly, before turning her attention to the class.
The Scooby Gang stood in the middle of a Westside Graveyard. While this in and of itself was not all that unusual, this time it was different. The sun was beating down, Joyce was with them and they were saying goodbye to one of their own. Willow was almost catatonic, being supported by Oz, while Buffy and Xander stood solemnly. In the three months since they had taken care of the Judge, things had looked up. Without effective leadership, the Vampires became disorganised enough that Buffy, Xander and Colonel Henson gave Sierra Tango an extended, paid leave. All of the Scoobies had noticed how the effective partnership between Kendra and Angel had grown, but not realised how close the pair had grown until the Hellmouth reared its ugly head. When Kendra and Angel were possessed by the ghosts of lovers who had died in the school forty odd years before they had finally come to realise how much they loved each other. When they had gotten intimate two weeks later, a loophole in Angel's curse activated and he lost his Soul. The next day, when Kendra realised that Angelus was back, despite her deep love for Angel, she loaded up and went off to fight the Scourge of Europe, the vampire with 'the face of an Angel', alone. When the Gang, having realised to late what was happening, finally arrived, all they found was Kendra's body, a sword in her stomach, and a pile of vampire dust which contained Angel's ring.
This was the biggest blow that the gang had ever sustained and the first loss of core gang members that they had faced. A single tear ran down Giles' face, splashing onto the collar of his tweed suit, his arm wrapped around Jenny's shoulder. Jenny, Joyce and Willow all wore conservative black dresses, while Oz was in a black suit. Buffy and Xander were dressed in their formal Class A uniforms, the most appropriate way they could think to farewell a warrior like Kendra. While the funeral was hardest for the Scoobies, they were hardly the only ones present or affected by the loss of the Jamaican Slayer come British noble Tomb Raider. The presiding priest was the same one that had married Xander and Buffy, who also supplied holy water and blessed items to the gang, having gotten to know them well during their frequent visits to the church. Sam Zabutu, Kendra's original Watcher stood off to one side in his suit, feeling out of place among the people who knew his Slayer better than he did.
Flanking the proceeding stood Colonel Henson, the members of 'The Slayers', both of Sierra Tango and the technical support staff, all dressed in Class A uniforms, with an Honour Guard and a twenty-one gun salute. Standing more towards the rear were the members of the Gymnastics and Self Defence classes, as well as several Sunnydale Residents who the group had saved paying their respect. The headstone was simple dark marble and simply read 'Kendra. Duty Before All Else', along with birth and death dates.
The ceremony broke up, the students scattering like an explosion, while Oz escorted Willow, no longer catatonic but sobbing almost uncontrollably, out of the cemetery. Giles nodded coolly to Sam Zabutu, both grateful that he had come and annoyed at the fellow Watcher's semi-casual attitude towards Kendra's death, before he departed with Jenny. Xander, with the Colonel's permission, dismissed 'The Slayers' then stood with Joyce as Buffy approached Kendra's grave.
"Sorry we could not make it in time, but thank you for all you have done. It won't be forgotten." She whispered to the headstone, before leaving with Xander and Joyce.
The control and military bearing that Xander and Buffy had maintained throughout the funeral lasted until they got home. As soon as the front door closed, Buffy dropped to her knees and began weeping uncontrollably. Xander, tears welling in his eyes, held out just long enough to help Buffy up to their bedroom. Joyce collapsed at the dinning room table, grief welling up inside her, despite not knowing Kendra that well. Grief and worry for her children upstairs. Neither Buffy nor Xander emerged from their room for three days.
The summer lull had come, and Xander was both grateful and annoyed for the significant lack of vampiric activity. Grateful because in their current grief, still strong a month after Kendra's death, most of the Scooby Gang were not up to face many vampires, being so distracted by the loss. Annoyed because it meant that neither he, nor Buffy, could vent by pummelling the shit out of random vampires. Xander sat in the study that they had converted out of the fourth bedroom looking over a set of requisitions that Willow's team needed approval for. Apparently they were working on an irradiated UV fluid/holy water liquid compression round, useable as either a tracer round or an anti-vampire round, as well as a silver nitrate based counterpart for use on demons, although the rounds were in the very early experimental stage, Xander had high hopes. Xander heard a scuff of shoes on carpet and caught a familiar and welcome scent.
"Hey Buff, what's up." He said, without looking up.
"Wow, Xand. That's the first time you've ever mistaken me for Buffy." Came a female voice that was definitely not Buffy, nor was it Joyce.
"BUFFY!" he growled, in Dampir language.
"Whoa! Not so loud." The girl said.
She was obviously about five years younger than Xander, with long dark hair and was slightly taller than Buffy. Taking a moment to fully analyse her scent, he found that it was not exactly like Buffy's, although elements of her scent were in their, as were elements of his own. When he looked at her, the name Dawn instantly sprang to mind, as did memories of her being completely normal and Buffy's sister, smelling like Joyce the way Buffy did, as her daughter. Buffy came sprinting into the room.
"Xander? Ok, what did Dawn do this time?" Buffy demanded.
"Buff, honey, when she came in, I thought she was you." Xander said.
"Xand, this is no time for jokes." Buffy replied.
"Smell her. Feel her." Xander insisted. "She understood when I called you."
Buffy did and her eyes widened. Not only did Dawn not smell like her sister, she smelt like Buffy and Xander's daughter. Oh yeah, she was also a Dampir.
"Mom!" Xander called out to Joyce.
"Yeah." Joyce replied.
"Family meeting in the dining room." He informed her.
"Come on, butt pain." Buffy said to Dawn.
Two hours later, Joyce wore a confused expression and a slight sad smile. Her little miracle child was not really hers, but that did not erase the memories of loving Dawn. The fact that Dawn was technically her granddaughter was a bit confusing, the thought 'I'm to young to have a granddaughter' kept running through her head, but given that Dawn was now a Dampir, despite all the pain and trouble that would bring, she would not have to worry as much about her youngest. The double memories were also a bit confusing. She could clearly remember sitting alone, tears in her eyes, waiting for Buffy to return from facing the Master, hoping that Xander would be able to prevent the prophecy but fearing her little girl would be gone for good. She could also remember curling up with Dawn, reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to the eleven year old, while glancing out the window to see if Buffy and Xander were back yet, with Dawn also glancing out the window, but with the hopes of getting an Owl with a Hogwarts invite.
Dawn, on the other hand was shocked and excited. She was like Buffy and Xander. She was a superhero. She wanted to do all the cool stuff they did, like that time she had tripped on the stairs and Xander had practically teleported to catch her before she hit the hard floor at the bottom. It was true, she had inexplicably felt better this afternoon, her reflexes sharper, having caught a cup she had knocked off her bedside table before it hit the floor. It was so cool, yet also scary. Bad things wanted to hurt her sister and her brother-in-law, but then again, Buffy and Xander and their friends always ended up hurting the bad things, except… Kendra. While she beat the bad thing, she did not survive.
Seeing Dawn's frown, and her subconscious whimper of loss, Xander put his hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"Don't worry Dawnie. You won't have to do the Slayage unless you want to. We'll teach you about yourself and then you can decide what you want to do when you are a bit older." He said. "If you decide that you want to help, but don't want to fight, you can work with Willow's tech people back at the base."
The twelve year old pouted slightly, but nodded slightly before bounding upstairs. Xander had always been kind to her, and Xander said wait, so she would wait.
'If he hadn't married Buffy, we would have been so perfect together.' She thought idly as she started work on her homework, then she remembered why she had gone to see Xander in the first place.
"Xander! Can you help me with my homework?" she called out.
TBC.