Title: Innocence Lost
 

Author: Settiai

Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and other related characters are all properties of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other related corporations. No infringement is intended. This story, such as it is, was written as a sign of respect and love for the characters, the show, and their creator. I claim no ownership of the aforementioned show and characters.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: There might be a few for the Sixth Season, up to "Older and Farther Away."

Explanation: Everything up to the very end of "Hell's Bells" has happened, except that Xander didn't leave Anya at the alter. (What!? I'm a fan of X/A...) Also, just imagine that during Riley's return and the wedding, Dawn was grounded. Got it? Anyway, let's just pretend that "Normal Again" and everything after it never happened, okay? Now that you understand what is going on (or are truly, completely confused...) on with the story!

Summary: Dawn makes a mistake that will change her life - and the lives of all those around her - forever.

Feedback: Comments and helpful criticisms are always appreciated.

E-mail: settiai@teenmag.com

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As Dawn walked through the door, followed almost immediately by Spike, Buffy couldn't help but feel a slight shiver of worry move up her spine. It was obvious from the expressions on their faces that, while they had been gone, the two of them had gotten into something - the question was, however, what?

Both the vampire and the teenager must have noticed her gaze on them, because they both dropped their eyes down to the ground. As soon as they did that, the Slayer let out a silent groan. What on earth had they done?

Mentally counting to ten, Buffy let out another sigh - this one audible to both Dawn and Spike. Trying her best not to lost her temper, the blonde-haired woman opened her mouth... an, before she could utter a word, was interrupted by Willow's voice coming from almost directly behind her. "Okay, what have you two been up to?"

Buffy had to struggle not to jump even a bit in surprise, while - at the same time - wondering how the red-haired witch had managed to sneak up on her in the first place. She turned her head just a bit and shot Willow a rather annoyed look. Her friend merely smiled and shrugged her shoulders apologetically before letting her gaze move back to Spike and Dawn, who both had rather guilty expressions on their faces.

Once more letting out a barely audible sigh, Buffy turned back towards them and raised an eyebrow. Almost immediately, Spike jabbed the teenager with his elbow, causing Dawn to shoot him a rather nasty glare. He merely smirked at her though, before letting his eyes flicker in Buffy's direction.

The dark-haired girl let a nervous grin come to her face as she let her right hand drift down and come to rest on the slight bulge of her stomach. Then, in a voice that could almost be considered nonchalant, she let her gaze meet her sister's. "Guess who we ran into?"

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Connor kept his gaze focused on one of the walls of the Hyperion as both Gunn and Fred threw questions at him. Even if he knew the answers to most of them, which he didn't, he had no reason to answer them. At least, that was what he kept telling himself.

"Where have you been?"

"Do you know what happened to Angel?"

"What about Cordy? Do you know what happened to Cordelia?"

"How long have you been spying on us?"

"Where have you been staying?"

"You aren't going to answer any of our questions, are you?"

The moment that the words left Fred's mouth, both Connor and Gunn looked at her in surprise. Their expressions quickly faded away though, leaving an angry look on Gunn's face and a sullen one look on Connor's. Fred just sat there a moment, however, gazing at Connor's face. Suddenly, without warning and without saying a word, the young woman reached out and slapped the teenager right across the face.

Surprised looks appeared in both Gunn's and Connor's eyes as the teenager let a hand come up to touch his red cheek. Fred didn't seem to notice their expressions, however, as she glared at Connor. For a moment, the three of them sat there in silence, no one willing to break the stillness. After several minutes though, a quiet whisper suddenly came from Fred's direction. "I'm sorry Connor. I know that you probably don't have a clue about what happened to Angel and Cordelia. It's just..."

Her voice trailed off as a few tears slowly started streaming down her face. Gunn sighed quietly before standing up and walking over behind her. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders, giving her a tiny bit of assurance while, at the same time, glaring at Connor. With one more almost inaudible sigh, the young woman forced her tears to stop. Then, her eyes still shining with unshed tears, she turned her gaze back towards the teenager.

He stared into her eyes for a moment before letting his gaze drop. Angel's words seemed to echo through his mind as he focused on the floor. "Never forget..." He sat there for a few minutes, a feeling of uncertainty flooding through him. After a few seconds, however, he found himself lifting his eyes and meeting Gunn's and Fred's gazes. "I might know what happened to An..."

His words were cut off as a blinding pain suddenly shot through his head. Darkness started to claw at the edge of his vision, and Connor struggled not to cry out in pain. Without even being fully aware of what he was doing, the teenager let his hands fly up to clutch his aching skull. He saw, as if through a mist, Angel's two friends sharing startled looks and reaching for him. As his mind faded, he heard Fred call out his name and felt two strong hands grab him. Then everything went dark.

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Dawn watched in fascination as her sister's face slowly turned white, then red, and then to what appeared to be almost purple. She didn't think that she had ever seen Buffy this angry before - and that was saying quite a bit. After a few minutes though, the Slayer's face slowly started to return to its normal color. Her eyes flickered over Dawn for a second before moving past her and landing on Spike. "Did you kill him?"

The vampire quickly held up his hands and let an innocent expression appear on his face. "Really pet, have you forgotten about the chip in my head? I couldn't rip off his head and drain him dry - not that I wanted to."

Dawn struggled to stifle a giggle as Spike slowly moved behind her, keeping her between him and Buffy - who had an expression on her face unlike anything the teenage girl had ever seen before. "So you didn't kill him? ... Good. ... 'Cause I want to be the one to put that son of a..."

"Buffy Anne Summers!"

The Slayer turned around, a slightly sheepish look in her eyes, as Willow's voice rang through the kitchen. The red-haired woman was still standing there, her hands placed defiantly on her hips and a fiery expression shining in her eyes. For a moment, to Buffy and Dawn at least, she looked just like Joyce had whenever she was preparing to scold them. The image was ruined, however, with Willow's next words. "Maybe I want to be the one to strangle him."

The severity in her voice was softened quite a bit by the amused twinkle in her eyes. Dawn let out a quiet burst of laughter, followed almost immediately by Spike. Even Buffy seemed to be struggling to keep a straight face. After what seemed like ages, the blonde Slayer let a smile come to her face as she mock-glared at her best friend. "Now look what you've done, Wills. I'm not in a murderous mood anymore."

Dawn let a tired smile come to her face as she watched Buffy and Willow throw friendly banter between themselves. It faded a few minutes later, however, as a blinding pain shot through her head. Almost immediately the world around her seemed to grow dark, and she felt her legs start to collapse out from under her. She heard several voices calling out her name, but she couldn't convince her mouth to form a response as her mind sank deeper and deeper into darkness.

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Connor spun his head from side to side, his eyes searching frantically for any sign of life. There was nothing there though, nothing but darkness. The pain he had felt in his head had finally faded away though, leaving behind nothing but a dull ache. That ache, however, was enough to keep a significant amount of worry running through his veins.

Without warning, a sudden scream cut through the silence. A bright light suddenly appeared directly in front of Connor, causing the teenager to quickly avert his gaze. Almost as rapidly as it had appeared, however, it faded away. The teenager cautiously let his gaze turn back to where the light had appeared - and his eyes widened in surprise.

A teenage girl was kneeling on the ground in front of him, dark hair cascading down her back. Her eyes were wide with shock as they gazed at their surroundings. After a few moments though, she seemed to become aware of him. She stared at him for a second, an amazed expression on her pretty face. "You're Angel's son..."

Connor started, and his eyes widened just a bit. His surprise grew even larger, however, as the young girl pulled herself to her feet. She was taller than he had thought, though not quite as tall as him. His mind really wasn't focused on that though. Instead, he let it focus on the slight bulge that was barely apparent under her loose shirt. "And you're the Slayer's sister..."

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Cordelia Chase - former Queen Bitch of Sunnydale, seer for the Powers That Be, and high being - was pissed. Her eyes flashed with anger as she stared at the being in front of her. "Damnit! What the hell do you mean by 'no you can't help them'!?"

The being's startling blue eyes flashed with sympathy as he gently shook his head. "I'm sorry Princess, but you know what they said. We aren't supposed to get involved yet. Not until..."

Cordelia's eyes flashed with anger once more as she turned away from him and let her gaze drift back to the moving image of Connor and Dawn. "Screw them! You know, I really don't give a damn what they said. I'm not going to just stand by and watch as..."

Her voice trailed off as she turned back towards him. There was a look in her eyes that he recognizes almost immediately, and quickly shook his head emphatically. "No. Absolutely not. The two of us are not going to go down there and help them. I absolutely, one hundred percent, will not break any more rules. Especially since I'll be the once who gets blamed for it."

Cordelia merely smiled at him, which caused a sinking feeling to suddenly appear inside of him. "Whoever said that I wanted the two of us to go down there? I mean, do you really think that I'm stupid enough to disobey the Powers... again... and go back down to earth without even thinking about it? Please, give me a little more credit than that."

He let out a quiet sigh of relief and slowly started to turn around. Cordelia's next words caused him to spin around and stare at her in shock, however. "No, I've got more sense than that. And that's why you're going to stay here and cover for me."

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Fred shrugged away from Gunn as he started to wrap his arms around her. She shook her head and once again turned her attention back to the teenager that was laying on the couch in front of them. Connor was still unconscious, and there was a pained look frozen on his sleeping face. She stood there for a moment, staring down at him with an uncertain expression on her face, before slowly turning her attention back to her boyfriend. "What do you think happened to him, Charles?"

Gunn shook his head slightly before letting his eyes focus on Connor. "I don't have a clue. All I know is that he was about to tell us something about Angel."

The brown-haired woman gave him a cheerless smile before slowly sinking down into a nearby chair. "I know that. We aren't going to find out what that was until he wakes up though."

Trying to hold back the tears of exhaustion that were brimming in her eyes, Fred dropped her gaze so that she was staring at her own lap. "We're closer than we've been in over a month, but we're completely helpless to do anything."

A quiet laugh suddenly sounded from the doorway, and both Fred and Gunn pun their eyes towards it. The moment they saw who was there, however, identical expressions of amazement appeared on their faces. Standing in the door was Cordelia, wearing a white gown that seemed to almost be shining. Her hair was a little longer that it had been the last time they had seen her, and it was once more a light brown, but other than that she seemed to not have changed even a bit. "Cor... Cordelia?"

Cordelia's dark eyes flickered in the direction of her friends, and she allowed a small smile to appear on her face. It quickly faded, however, as her gaze drifted past them and landed on Connor. "I'll explain everything later. Right now, helping him and Dawn is our first priority."

A confused expression suddenly appear in Gunn's eyes as he let his gaze move away from Cordelia and land on Connor. His mouth silently mouthed Dawn's name, his puzzlement showing clearly on his face. A light of understanding seemed to appear in Fred's eyes, however, as she met Cordelia's gaze. "Of course, the prophecy..."

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Buffy stood in the doorway of the living room for a moment, her gaze focused on both her sister, who was laying unconscious on the couch, and Spike, who was kneeling beside her, gently stroking the teenager's long hair. There was an expression on her face that couldn't be described as anything but loving, and for just a second the Slayer was allowed to see just how deeply the vampire cared for Dawn.

At this moment, there was no doubt in her mind that there was more than a government chip keeping him from killing them all. From the way that he was treating her little sister, a person might even think that they were flesh and blood. 'Of course, he probably murdered his own family,' she thought with a wry grin. "Slayer?"

The blonde-haired woman started just a bit as Spike's voice echoed through the room. He was still kneeling beside Dawn, but her eyes were focused on her. Fighting back the embarrassment that she felt at being caught staring at him, she quickly forced an indignant expression onto her face. Moments later, Buffy turned and stomped out of the room, heading in the direction of the kitchen, while trying her best to ignore the amused laughter that floated through the air behind her.

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Giles let out a tired sigh as he rubbed his temples. Willow and Tara, who were sitting beside him at the table, both shot him a sympathetic look before grimacing as Anya's voice floated in from the hall. "All I'm saying is that I don't see the point of Buffy calling us. There's nothing that we can do to help Dawn come out of her coma, or whatever it is, so we should still be at home packing for our trip to L.A. and having sex."

"Anya, honey..."

"Don't give me that! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I still don't need orgasms!"

"Why don't we talk about this later..."

"Because I want to talk about it now!"

"Anya..."

"That's it, I'm calling Hallie!"

At those words, the sip of coffee that Giles had just taken suddenly found itself being spat out. Willow's eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly spun her head towards the door that led out of the kitchen. Tara didn't move for a moment, her entire body frozen. "You don't think that she'd really..."

The three of them shared glances before, at almost the same moment, leaping to their feet. The sound of Buffy's voice coming from the hall quickly brought looks of relief to their faces though. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

A few seconds later, the blonde Slayer stormed into the kitchen - followed closely by an angry-looking Anya and a white-faced Xander. "My sister's laying in the living room unconscious, and you're trying to conjure a vengeance demon in the hall!"

Buffy glared at them once more before dropping down into the chair beside Giles. She let out a tired sigh as she let her head drop down to the table. "Nothing's changed. She's still laying in there with that pained expression on her face, and I don't have a clue as to what's wrong with her."

The sound of someone clearing his throat suddenly sounded from the door that Buffy, Xander, and Anya had just came through. Everyone in the kitchen almost immediately turned their heads towards it, where Oz was quietly standing. "I let myself in. You really should lock that front door."

His eyes quickly drifted over the kitchen before landing on Willow. They stared at each other for a moment before she tore her eyes away. Oz didn't say anything, but a slightly hurt expression appeared in his eyes. After a moment it faded though, and his gaze moved to Buffy. "What happened to Dawn?"

The Slayer shrugged helplessly at him before pulling herself to her feet. "She collapsed a while ago, clutching her head in pain. She's been unconscious for almost three hours now. We were hoping that you knew what was up, but I guess not..."

Her voice drifted off for a moment before she answered his unspoken question from a few minutes earlier. "And really, what's the point of locking the door when vamps can't enter without permission and demons will just break it down? At least this way we don't have to keep paying for a new one."

Buffy's gaze drifted past Oz, and she suddenly tensed. After a moment or two though, a thought seemed to cross her mind. She shot the werewolf a look before letting out a rather loud sigh. "Can you at least tell me why the hell a green demon wearing a silver suit is standing behind you?"