Disclaimers: The Books of Amber were written by and belong to Roger Zelazny. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Marti Noxon, Mutant Enemy, Twentieth Century Fox Productions, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television, and UPN. Any copyright infringements were not intended. This story was written for entertainment and not for profit.

Spoilers and Timing: Takes place in my alternate S5, the "New Dawn Chronicles". This is a combo of "Family" and "Blood Ties" and takes place during the first night of "Family". There are many spoilers for those two eps and the Amber books.

Summary: Dawn's just found out she's the Key, and she isn't taking it very well. Little does she know that there are more surprises on the way. Dawn Summers, meet the rest of the family…

*****

It was a slow day, or as slow as things ever got for the royal family of Amber. Random, King of Amber, sat behind a drum set in the library of Amber Palace. He was in the middle of a very complicated drum solo, one that used not only his hands but also his feet. Half way across the library from him was his wife, Vialle. A cloth had been spread out over the carpet where she'd set up a table loaded with clay that she was currently shaping into a statue of her stepson, Martin.

A ring of light in the shape of an 'O' suddenly appeared from nowhere. It floated into the air in front of the drum set and settled there, waiting.

A few moments later, Random finished his set and took a break. The ring decided to speak. "Hi, Random."

Random's eyes swung over to the ring. "Ah, hell, not you again."

Vialle paused in her work. She turned her head in his direction. "Random? What is it?"

"We're being paid a visit from Merlin's construct, Ghostwheel," he replied. He returned his attention to the ring. "Well? Is there a reason for your visit?"

"Merlin wanted me to deliver a message," Ghost answered. "There's an Amberite on one of the Shadow Earths. She's a daughter of Oberon."

"Aren't we all," Random murmured to himself, thinking of his rather numerous brothers and sisters. "What is her name?"

"Dawn Summers."

*****

Dawn ran. She ran until her lungs burned, ran until her entire body throbbed from the beating she'd taken at the warehouse earlier that night. Finally, she collapsed and spent several moments just gasping, not even thinking of moving. What was the point? She didn't really exist. What was the point in doing things like everything was normal? It's not like she was really Dawn Summers. It's not like she really grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Sunnydale with Buffy and Mom. The monks gave her those memories, but she didn't really live them.

She looked up when she heard a siren. She watched, blankly, as an ambulance rushed by before it turned into the hospital parking lot.

She stared at it for a few more moments before the memory of the crazy security guard came back to her. But had it really happened? Maybe it was recent enough that it had. Had that only been a few hours ago? It felt like a lifetime - the monks' made-up lifetime.

She hurried across the street and across the lot to the emergency room exit. She walked past the ambulance people and hospital orderlies as they wheeled a patient out of the back of the ambulance. She barely registered them before moving on.

She wandered down the halls until she found the right room. Then she looked around, making sure no one was following, before she ducked inside it.

Ten people lay on the beds in the room. Some of them were held by restraints. Most of them were asleep, but there were a few that were awake. They stared at her.

"It's here. It's here," said the one opposite the doors. He stared fearfully at her as she passed him up.

His neighbor looked just as afraid. "Can't stop. Make it stop. The skin's too tight," he pleaded.

She glanced back at the first patient. He had lifted his head to continue staring at her. "Can't hear it. What's the frequency? Empty. All spilled out."

She walked back over to him. "Please," she said, nearly begging. "Y-you see me, right? Look at me."

His eyes widened. He tried to back away from her only to be stopped by the restraints. "Can't stop it!" he cried.

"You know what I am, don't you? You all know!"

He looked away from her and at the ceiling. "Can't hear it, can't hear it, can't hear it-"

Dawn was getting desperate for some sort of answer, some sort of proof that she was there. "Tell me!" She felt tears coming to her eyes. "What am I?"

None of them answered her. Dawn ran out of the room and the hospital, wanting to get as far away from there as possible.

*****

Rupert Giles woke to pounding on his door.

He desperately just wanted to roll back over and go back to sleep. His entire body still ached from the hassle of opening day at the Magic Box. What had started out as a customer-free day had quickly turned into a mob scene with everyone wanting something all at once. Giles was very delighted that it was all over.

Unfortunately, the knocker didn't share his feelings. He or she continued to knock, now even louder than before.

"Bloody hell," Giles muttered as he forced himself out of the bed and onto his feet. He pulled on his robe and slowly made his way down the stairs and across the living room to the door.

He forgot all about his aches when he saw who was at his door. "Buffy, what's wrong?"

His Slayer pushed past him and into the living room. "Have you seen Dawn?"

"No, she hasn't been by," Giles answered. "What is this about?"

She shook her head. "There's no time. We need to find her, now. She's in danger."

"I’m sure Dawn is perfectly capable of taking care of herself," he assured her.

"Not from this. She's stronger than anything I've ever faced, Giles. Dawn couldn’t even do much damage to her."

"'She'?"

"I'll tell you about it on the way to my house. You're driving."

*****

"Tell me a story."

"Okay. Once upon a time, there was, um, a kitty. She was very little and she was all alone, and nobody wanted her."

Willow frowned from her position on the bed. "This is a very upsetting story."

Tara McClay, Willow's girlfriend, sat cross-legged on the floor of Willow's and Buffy's dorm room at UC-Sunnydale. On the carpet in front of her was Miss Kitty Fantastico, the kitten Tara kept as a pet. MKF was busy playing with a ball of string.

"Oh, oh, but it gets better," Tara assured Willow. "'Cause one day the kitty was running around in the street and a man came…" She reached down and grabbed the kitten by the stomach. "…and swooped her up and took her to the pound."

Tara stood up and sat down on the edge of her girlfriend's bed, all the while trying to stop the kitten's attempts to leap back onto the floor.

"And at the pound there were lots of other kitties, and there were puppies, and some ferrets," she continued.

Smiling, Willow asked, "Were there dolphins?"

Tara leaned over and handed the cat to her. She smiled, amused. "Yes. Many dolphins at the pound."

"Or was there a camel?"

Tara considered the question for a moment. "There was the front of a camel. A half camel."

"Did the kitty get chosen by some nice people?"

Tara playfully scowled at her. "Well, now you ruined the ending."

"Mmm." Willow released the cat and promptly yawned. "I'm sleepy."

"Do you mind if I keep the light on? I was gonna look up some spells."

"It's fine." Willow pouted. "I don't need to be snuggled."

Tara smiled. "Vixen!"

She grabbed some books and piled them next to her on the floor. Willow watched her with concern. "You've been spell gal night and day lately."

Tara avoided her gaze. "Well, I just wanna keep up with you, and I'm, well, I just like to be useful. You know, to the gang? I just never feel useful."

Willow leaned forward. "You are. You're essential."

Tara smiled at the assurance before climbing up underneath the covers and snuggling up next to Willow. She reached up and turned off the light, putting them in darkness.

For a moment they lay there, contentedly listening to Miss Kitty Fantastico knock the ball around the room.

"Do you think Buffy found out anything tonight?" Tara asked.

"At the factory? I don't know. If there was something, I figured she'd call us."

A knock at the door startled them both. Puzzled, Tara turned on the light while Willow got up and went over to answer the knock.

Willow was surprised to see Dawn there. "Dawn, what's…" Her gaze slid downwards. "Oh my god."

Tara walked over and stared, horrified. Dawn stood in the corridor with a surgical knife in her right hand. There was a deep cut in her left arm, obviously self-inflicted.

"Dawnie!" Willow said, shocked.

Tara pulled the girl inside, took the knife from her, and sat her down in the chair. "H-have we got anything to stop the bleeding?"

Willow opened a drawer and took out a shoebox loaded with gauze and surgical tape. She brought it over, took out a roll of gauze and tore off a big piece of it.

"Is this blood?" Dawn asked. Willow and Tara looked at her. She looked dazed.

"Dawnie, what happened?" Willow asked her. Tara turned back to bandaging the wound but listened in.

Dawn didn't seem to hear her. "This is blood, isn't it? It can't be me. I'm not a key. I'm not a thing. Right? You both see me, right?"

"Of course we see you, Dawnie," Tara assured her.

"I'm going to call Buffy," Willow said. She went over to the phone and dialed the Summers' residence. Hopefully, Buffy would know what was going on.

*****

It was a ten minute drive from Giles' apartment to Buffy's house. In that time, Buffy had given him the shortened version of what had happened. Needless to say, Giles was stunned.

"Uh, I don't know what to say."

"Tell me about it," Buffy answered, glancing outside hoping to see her sister walking down the sidewalk.

"Does your mother know?" Giles asked.

"Not yet. I just want to find Dawn first before worrying about telling the others." She bit her lip. "I can't believe how I acted with her earlier. I flat out accused her of not being real, then we find out she hasn't always been human and-it was a little hard to take for both of us."

"Yes, I can understand that," he commented.

Buffy sighed. "We have to keep her safe, Giles. She's probably freaking right now. She wouldn't be prepared if that woman came after her."

"This woman, this, uh, whatever she was...she knows you now," Giles said. Buffy glanced at him worriedly. "Should we be thinking about…sending Dawn away?"

"Away where?" Buffy asked, a little bitterly.

"I don't know, uh ... your father's?

Buffy scoffed. "Yeah, he'd really appreciate that. He and Dawn have never gotten along pretty well. Besides, he's in Spain, with his secretary. Living the cliché. I called him when Mom got sick, he hasn't even..."

"I'm sorry," Giles said, mentally chastising himself for bringing it up.

Buffy stared out of the window for a moment. "I remember…there was this one time when Dawn dropped one of her dolls outside of her baby crib. She broke off one of the bars so she could reach out and grab it again. That was the first clue we ever hard of how strong she was. Except that never happened, but it still feels like it did."

"I, too, feel that way." No doubt that Dawn felt worse. He didn't voice the thought, though; it wouldn't have helped the situation.

"We have to find out who this woman is, and what she needs Dawn for once we've found Dawn. We will find her, Buffy, you can be sure of that."

They pulled up in front of the house. Buffy gave him a small smile before opening the door and rushing to the front door, leaving Giles behind to put the car in park and turn off the engine.

"Dawn? Mom?"

Joyce appeared from the dining room. "There you are. Where's Dawn?"

"She hasn't been back?" Buffy asked, worried.

Puzzled, Joyce responded, "Well, no." She took in Buffy's injuries. "Did you go on patrol?"

The telephone rang. Buffy walked over and picked it up. "Yeah?"

"Buffy, it's Willow. It's Dawn. You should get over here."

"I'm on my way," Buffy said, hanging up. Willow hadn't sounded very calm. A thousand scenarios flashed through her mind.

"Buffy, is everything all right?" Joyce asked.

Buffy made an effort to smile. "Oh, sure. We got split up during patrol is all. Dawn's over at the dorm now. Giles and I are going to go pick her up. We'll home soon."

With that, Buffy was out the door and heading back down the sidewalk to the convertible, leaving a baffled Joyce behind.

*****

When Willow opened the door and Buffy looked past her to where Dawn sat, her first words were, "Oh, my god."

She hurried across the room and examined Dawn's wound. "What did you do?!"

Dawn stared up at her. Tears were forming in her eyes. "What am I? Am I real? Am I anything?"

Buffy only stared at her as she wondered that exact same thing. She knew something else, though.

"Yes, you are," she told Dawn. Dawn glanced away. "You're Dawn Summers, my sister."

"Half-sister," Dawn automatically corrected. Then, "but only because some monks decided to bring me into existence and, then, poof! I'm no longer some glowing green energy that the valley woman demon is willing to kill to get."

"Let's get you home, okay?" Buffy said.

Dawn pushed her away. "Why should we? It's not my house, and you're not really my sister."

Buffy felt tears spring up in her own eyes. "Dawn, you know that's not true."

"Do I? I've only existed for, what? Weeks? Days?"

"You've been around for a lot longer than that."

"You don't know that! You don't know anything. I'm, I'm just a key, right? Everything about me is made up."

"Dawn...I know I care about you. I know that I worry about you-"

Dawn cut her off. "You worry about me because you have to. I'm your job. Protect the key, right? It's what the monk said."

"I worry because my sister is cutting herself!"

"Yeah? How do you know? Maybe this is just another fake memory from my fake family." Dawn was near to hysterics.

"Dawn…"

Dawn turned away from her and crossed her arms. Buffy stared at her, not knowing what to do.

*****

…purple flowers around the bend in the hill under an orange sky…

…rain poured down on a gentle winding slope…

…now dry and sunny, and the grass-covered slopes had changed into a sandy landscape dotted with green…

…a pink evening sky turned into a mid-day cloudless blue horizon. Only sand covered the ground…

…Broken Seashells lay embedded in the wet sand beneath his feet. A crab skidded away at his approach. Waves crashed against the shoreline a few feet away. It was low tide…

…One more twist of Shadow and he was there, standing on an old wooden dock moored with yachts, paddleboats, and a couple of motorboats. Somewhere up above and to his right, a seagull crowed. It was night.

He turned around and surveyed the beach. Not far uphill from the shore were places where people could rent the boats or the mooring/docking space. Not far to its right was where the warehouse district began.

Corwin scanned the wooden boards of the dock before he located the circle of light that had followed him there. "Is this the place?" he asked it.

"Sure is, Granddad," Ghostwheel replied. "She's in town. I can sense her okay, but there's some sort of magical power center that is keeping me from getting a 100% clear signal."

"What sort of magical power center?" Corwin asked, ignoring for now that the artificial intelligence his son had constructed had called him 'granddad'. He began the short hike up to the warehouses.

"I'm not certain," Ghost responded. "Once we've found Dawn Summers, I'll go check it out."

Corwin reached the street beyond the first row of windows and walked down the sidewalk in the direction Ghost indicated. Most of the warehouses looked fine, but he noticed that half of the roof of one of them had collapsed. It looked like it had happened very recently.

A few minutes later and they were leaving the warehouse district and heading across town in the direction of, according to Ghost, the university.

"What does Random want you to do once we find her?" Ghost asked at one point.

"The first thing that is required of me is to see if she is aware of her Amberite status. If she is, I will then question her intents toward Amber along with her knowledge. If she is unaware, then I will tell her of the family she's been born into."

"Have you ever had to inform a family member of their heritage before?"

"No," Corwin answered. "Although Dara had a number of questions about the royal family of Amber when I first met her, and she claimed to have no knowledge of Shadow. Whether or not she is related to us through Benedict like she claimed is still unknown."

Ghost was silent for a moment. Then, "I would have to return to the Courts and scan her body chemistry more thoroughly before I could determine if she is truly descended from Benedict. I would rather not, though. Even though Dad is in power over there, I don't think the Logrus would like it if I were to investigate its favorite subject."

"Don’t worry about it," Corwin said. "She may be Merlin's mother, but she's still a bitch. If Benedict wants to know, fine. Otherwise, she's not worth the risk of trying to find out. Not right now, anyway."

"Can't disagree there."

*****

Giles ushered Willow and Tara out of the room against their protests. Tara grabbed Miss Kitty Fantastico on the way out.

"Giles, what's going on?" Willow asked him. "What was Dawn talking about? Why is she going around cutting herself, for that matter?"

"It's all very complicated, I'm afraid," Giles said. He glanced down the hall where a couple stood in front of a door, saying goodnight to each other, then in the other direction, where two loud boys had just come up the stairs and were heading their way. "I do believe that we should wait for Dawn's approval before I can tell you any of it. She's a bit shaken up by it, as you can tell, but it'll all be alright." He sincerely hoped it would be, anyway.

"I-is there a-anything we can do?" Tara asked, concerned.

"No," Giles replied. "The best thing the two of you can do is get some rest, which I realize might be a bit difficult for you, Willow, considering you can't get to your bed at the moment-"

"Willow can sleep in my room," Tara said, smiling shyly at her girlfriend. "If that's okay."

Willow smiled. "Of course."

She leaned in for a brief kiss.

Giles took off his glasses and proceeded to clean them.

"Night, Giles. Call us if you or Dawn or Buffy needs anything, 'kay?" Willow said before she and Tara disappeared down the stairs.

The door behind him opened and Buffy stepped out, looking tired and worried. "Is she all right?" Giles asked.

Buffy shook her head. "She needs time. I know I still do." She met his eyes. "We need answers, Giles. We need to find out everything we can about the key. What's it for, who created it…Dawn deserves to know where she came from. She needs to know. Or it's just gonna eat away at her."

"Of course. I will go research it. Are you two going to be alright?"

"Yeah." She tried to smile reassuringly. "I'm going to call Mom and see if she can spend the night here-"

The door opened again, cutting her off. "Dawn-" she began.

Dawn pushed her way past them. She wouldn't meet their eyes. "I'm going on a walk."

"No, it's not safe," Buffy said, trying to grab her arm.

Dawn shrugged her off. "I'll be fine. The monks made me stronger than you."

"And that demon-woman is stronger than both of us," Buffy reminded her. "She's out there, Dawn, and she's coming."

"Then let her!" Dawn answered, stepping away from both of them and - perhaps unconsciously, perhaps not - settling into a defensive stance. "I'm not real, anyway! I'm a thing. I'm some stupid blob of energy that some monks made human and sent to a Slayer who can't even protect her from the thing they wanted to protect me from!"

The couple down the hall turned to stare in their direction. A door further down the hall opened and a head stuck out.

"Perhaps it would be best if we moved this conversation elsewhere," Giles suggested.

"Right," Buffy agreed. "How about Giles drive us back home, and we can talk on the way-"

Dawn just threw her a disgusted look before turning and running for the stairs.

"Dawn, wait!" Buffy called as she hurried after her. Giles followed a second later.

Buffy followed Dawn down the stairs. She passed Tara and Willow, who stood in the lobby, then she burst out the doors. When she stepped outside, Buffy paused and glanced around wildly. Dawn was gone. "Dawn!" she called, panicked.

Giles, Willow, and Tara burst through the doors behind her. "Dawn's gone, again," Buffy said, angry and frustrated. "We have to find her. Willow, Tara, you guys go left. Giles, you and I are going right. Willow, can I borrow your cell phone? I need to call the others, get them to check the other parts of town in case we miss her."

"Sure." Willow handed her the cell.

"Is Dawn in danger?" Tara asked.

Buffy nodded. "Find her, guys. Okay?"

"We will, Buffy. Don't worry."

*****

Corwin stopped in front of the sign. It had been many years since he'd last spoken or even read the English language, but six hundred years spent in another Shadow Earth very similar to this one was hard to forget, even with his experiences with amnesia. "University of California, Sunnydale," he read, "Established 1919. So where to now?"

Ghost had disguised himself as a firefly and was busily zipping about. "This way," he said, heading for the path that led onto the campus grounds.

Corwin followed him, walking around the bush-bordered sign.

They walked for a few minutes up the sidewalk to the administration building. There were a few people walking about, but for the most part the campus was quiet and dark.

"Wait," Ghost said suddenly, right next to his ear, "I can sense her even more strongly now. I think she's coming this way."

They approached the edge of the administration building. Suddenly, a young woman appeared from the other side. "That's her!" Ghost whispered to him a second before they collided into each other, knocking them both to the ground.

"I'm sorry," Dawn Summers mumbled as they both got back onto their feet.

"It's quite all right," Corwin replied, flashing her his trademark smile. It would have been worth it if she was even looking at him, but she wasn't.

He took in her features. She looked young, in her early teens maybe. Her light brown hair came to just below her shoulders. He noticed that her clothes looked ripped in a few places, and it wasn't from the fall. Also, from the way she was favoring her left arm, he could guess that hidden beneath her sleeve was a wound of some kind. He frowned and wondered how and when that had occurred to her.

He decided to go for the tourist approach. "I'm Carl Corey," he said, holding out a hand. "I came here to visit a relative who's attending the university here. Would you know where the Pheta Kappa house is? I promised I'd meet her there."

"Sorry. I can't help you," Dawn replied. She ignored his offered hand and started to walk away.

"I don't think she recognized you, Granddad," Ghost whispered to him.

Corwin had to agree.

"Wait a moment." He reached into his back pants pocket, pulled out his wallet, and handed her a business card. "Here. I want you to have this. You look like you need some answers. When you’re ready, just give me a call."

Dawn stared down at the card in confusion. She glanced back up briefly. "Thanks, but I don’t think you can help me."

He gave her a knowing smile. "Perhaps not. Perhaps so…Dawn Summers."

She froze before whipping her head back up. "How did you-"

He was gone.

"Dawn?"

Dawn whirled around, already getting into a fighting stance when she recognized the man standing there. It was Ben, the intern.

"Ben," she said. After the visit from the creepy guy, she didn’t know what to think about this. "What are you doing here?"

"I used to go to school here," he explained as he approached. "I’m attending a party my friends are throwing at their dorm building. How about you? What are you doing here? It’s not the safest place to be, even with someone with your strength."

"My s-Buffy goes to school here," Dawn explained, biting off the ‘sister’ bit.

By this point, he was standing a few feet away from her. He studied her. "Are you okay? You look a little upset."

"It’s nothing," Dawn said, not wanting to talk about it. She started to walk around him.

"You want to come with me to the student lounge?" Ben asked her. She paused and looked at him. "If I remember right, there should be some hot chocolate in there, which I know for a fact to be a great cure for stress."

Dawn slumped her shoulders, resigned. "Sure."

He smiled. "Great. It’s just this way."

He led the way to the student lounge. Luckily for them, it was still open. A few students sat at various places around the large room. Ben showed her to a quiet, secluded corner and left to get the hot chocolate. While he was gone, Dawn fingered the business card Carl Corey had given her. It wasn’t a local number; it was probably a cell phone. She wondered how he fit into the big picture. Did he know something about the Key, about her? Was he working for Glory? He hadn’t seemed to be working for her, but what would Dawn know?

Ben returned with two styrofoam cups and handed one to her. "Two steaming cups of chocolate goodness courtesy of…whoever I swiped it from out of the cupboard." He sat down across from her at the table. He gave her a smile. "Couldn’t find any marshmallows. I’ll try to steal some for next time."

Dawn couldn’t help but crack a smile. Ben really was a sweat guy, he just had no clue what was going on. "Don’t like ‘em anyway," she assured him.

Ben feigned shock. "What? Is that even possible?"

"Too squishy," she explained. "When I was five, Buffy told me they were monkey brains, and I-"

She stopped and felt the tears come. She blinked them away, hoping he hadn’t seen them.

"Dawn, is something wrong? Was your mom brought back in to the hospital?"

"No. My mom’s just fine," she said curtly.

"Is there anybody I can call? Your sister, maybe?"

She scowled done at the cup in her hand. "I don't have a sister."

"Oh." He nodded understandingly. "You two have a fight? It's okay. I know how that goes. I’ve got a sister, too. They can be a real pain sometimes. I tell you, there've been a lot of nights I wish she didn't exist either."

Dawn shook her head, frustrated. "It's not Buffy. It's me. I'm the one that doesn't exist."

He placed a hand on hers. "Look, I know it can feel that way sometimes, but when you're older-"

She jerked her hand away. "No, you don't understand. It's not real. None of this." She kept talking, not caring if she was giving away any deep dark secrets. She could feel the tears burning her eyes and wasn’t sure if she could stop them this time. She gestured down at her body. "They made it."

Ben looked very confused. "Dawn-"

"I'm nothing!" Dawn nearly screamed. A few other people turned their heads in their direction. "I'm just a thing the monks made so that-that demon bitch couldn't find me. I'm not real."

Ben stood up so fast that he nearly knocked over the two still-full cups. She looked up to see him staring at her, deeply shocked.

"You’re the Key?" he asked, his disbelief plain.

Dawn blinked as a sense of trepidation filled her. "How do you know about the Key?"

He ignored the question and glanced around fearfully, staring at every other student there and glancing through windows. "Go!" he urged her. "Before she finds you. Don't ask me how she knows, 'cause she always knows. Just go."

Dawn got up as well and put up her palms, placating, pleading. "Wait! Calm down, just tell me-"

He cut her off, agitated. "You don't understand-you're a kid. You stay, she'll find you. She finds you, she'll hurt you."

She stared at him as he continued to get more and more panicked. "What's wrong with you?"

"You're what Glory’s been searching for! I am telling you, run. You don't know, you-"

His head whipped around. He began to pant. "Oh, god. Oh, god, no. She's comin'."

Dawn felt the blood freeze in her face. She glanced around but didn’t see the blonde demon woman.

"I can feel it, you've gotta get out. No...oh no, she's here!"

He reached across the table and grabbed her arms, shaking her. She stared, frozen, at his wild look.

"She’s here!" Ben screamed, silencing everyone in the room. "She's-"

A look of pain suddenly crossed his face, then the strangest thing she’d even seen happened. His face morphed from male to female as his hair turned from brown to blonde, all in the space of a second.

Ben was gone. To her shock, Glory the demon bitch stood across from her now in Ben’s place with her own hands on Dawn’s arms.

"-here!" she said, finishing Ben’s sentence in her own voice.

Glory looked puzzled. She glanced around and down at her clothes, which were the same jeans, shirt, and jacket Ben had been wearing, then she met Dawn’s gaze. Her eyes hardened and her lips turned up into a snarl. "You."

*****

Glory tightened her hold on Dawn’s arms, picked her up from the ground, and tossed her to the right. Dawn slammed into the wall, taking a few portraits of smiling people down with her as she slid to the floor.

That got the students’ attention. They screamed and made a mad dash for the doors, disappearing within moments. Dawn’s eyes widened as she watched them go, then looked back at Glory.

Glory wasn’t looking at her. She was studying her outfit instead. "Ugh, cotton!" she said. "Could a fabric be more annoyingly pedestrian?"

"You’re-you’re Ben," Dawn stuttered out, unable to stop herself.

Glory tsked as she took off the jacket. "Uh, it's an eensy more complicated than that. Family always is, isn't it?"

Dawn shakily got to her feet. She looked around for an exit.

"You’d never make it," Glory assured her without even looking at her. "I'd rip out your spine before you got half a step. And those little legs?" She glanced up, smiling at her. "They wouldn't be much good without one of those. And believe me, after how you so rudely acted last time, I’m looking for a little payback, especially since not only did you ruin my shoe, but also my wardrobe when the building fell on me."

Within a second, Glory had crossed the room. Dawn backed up, ready for a fight, but Glory stopped a few feet away and didn’t attack.

"Now. What I’m trying to noodle, is what in the world was the Slayer’s little sis doing here with gentle Ben?"

Dawn’s eyes widened in surprise. "You don’t remember?"

"Remember what?" Glory pressed. "You were talking to him, not me." She gasped. "Oh, he wasn't being naughty, was he?"

"Really," Glory assured her. "What do you say we find a nice place off the beaten path where you and I can have a long, uninterrupted chat."

"About what?" Dawn asked.

"Well, your sister, the Slayer-she is your sister, right?-has my key. It's mine, I want it. Do you know where she squirreled it away?" She smiled dangerously. "There's ice cream and puppy dogs in it for you if you start singin'."

Dawn opened her mouth, ready to deliver a sarcastic comment, but stopped. Glory didn’t know she was the Key, but she obviously know something about it. Maybe she had the answers Dawn was looking for.

"I'm not sure," Dawn replied. "What does it look like?"

Glory smiled dreamily. She placed her hands over her heart and stared up at the ceiling. "Well, the last time I caught a peep, it was a bright green swirly shimmer. Really brought out the blue in my eyes."

The smile went away to be replaced by a glare. "But then those sneaky little monks pulled an abracadabra, so now it could look like anything. You see the predicament I'm in."

"Maybe..." Dawn ventured.

Glory turned back to her eagerly. "Yes?"

"Well, maybe if you...told me more about it, I'd know if I've seen it."

Glory stared at her and sighed. She looked annoyed. Dawn steeled herself and waited.

"Okay," Glory agreed, forcing a smile. She sat down at one of the stools at the bar, crossed her legs, and raised an eyebrow at Dawn.

"So this…key thing. It’s been around for a long time?" Dawn asked.

"Well, not as long as me, but yeah. Just this side of forever."

Dawn hesitated. "Is it evil?"

Glory scoffed. "Totally!"

Dawn felt her heart sink.

"Well, no, not really," the demon-woman relented. "I guess it depends on your point of view."

"What's it for? I mean...if it's a key, there's gotta be a lock, right?"

Glory smiled. "Yes. We have a winner."

"S-so what does it open?" Dawn asked, desperately wanting to know the answer.

Glory didn't answer. She sighed instead. Dawn didn't like the look she was giving her. She tensed again.

"I smell a fox in my hen house," Glory said, clearly annoyed. "Is that why you've been playing sugar and spice with old Uncle Ben?" She jumped to her feet. "Trying to get a peek at Glory's unmentionables?"

"I just-"

"Shh!" Glory interrupted her. "I kinda wanna hear me talking right now. Me talking." She pointed at her chest as she walked up to Dawn, stopping just out of punching range. "You know what I'm starting to think? I'm thinking ... that maybe you don't have any idea where my key is."

Dawn raised her fists, but Glory only turned away from her and threw up her hands, distraught.

"Very irritating. Irrational. Know what I mean, tiny snapdragon? Like..." She dropped her elbows on the bar and cradled her forehead in her hands. "...bugs under my skin. And say, I'm feelin' a little..."

Dawn stared, confused. What was wrong with her? Dawn wondered if she could make it to the door.

"Hey!" Glory straightened and turned back around. "This doesn't have to be a complete waste of my precious time. I've been meaning to send the Slayer a message, and I could use a little pick-me-up. Two birds, one stone, and-"

She clapped her hands, making Dawn blink involuntarily.

"-Boom. You have yummy dead birds."

Dawn didn't hesitate any longer. She punched Glory's left cheek and the demon's head snapped back. Glory blocked the next punch, grabbed Dawn's arm and spun before releasing Dawn to fly across the lounge. Dawn crashed through a tabletop and chairs. Her head impacted with something hard, leaving her feeling dizzy.

Suddenly, Glory was there, tossing chairs aside. She grabbed Dawn's head and held it in place. Glory rested the tips of fingers over Dawn's temples. "You are one pain in my butt I'm certainly not going to miss," Glory assured her.

Both entrances burst open suddenly, startling them both. Buffy and Giles entered from one while Willow and Tara entered from the other.

Buffy looked pissed. "Get the hell away from my sister."

Glory stood and smiled at her. "Hey, we were just talking about you."

"Conversation's over, hell-bitch."

Buffy punched Glory once, twice, and then ducked Glory's fist, all in rapid succession. Dawn got shakily to her feet and moved toward the side entrance where she proceeded to watch the fight. She was ready to jump in at any time, but it looked like Buffy wanted to do this alone.

Willow and Tara asked if she was all right before both witches took up positions on either side of the fighting duo. They started to chant.

Buffy jumped and kicked Glory, only causing the demon to take a step back. A few more punches and blocks and the two of them were gripping each other's upper arms.

They struggled for a long moment before Buffy managed to spin Glory away from her. A few chairs and table legs were rapidly sent across the floor before Glory slammed into the side of the bar. Glory, a very annoyed expression on her face, kicked the Slayer, sending Buffy flying.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled, eyes wide as she watched her sister collide with the floor a few feet to Dawn's right.

Buffy got to her feet within seconds, calming Dawn's fears. "Giles, now!" Buffy yelled.

Dawn looked behind Glory to where Giles stood by the other entrance. She watched as Glory turned in his direction. Giles aimed and fired a crossbow directly at Glory's heart.

The crossbow soared through the air, impacted Glory's dress, and fell away harmlessly without even piercing Glory's skin.

They all stared. Glory glanced down at the small hole the arrow had left in her shirt, then glanced up at Giles.

"Is that the best you little crap-gnats can muster?" Glory taunted them, looking very annoyed by this point. "'Cause I gotta tell ya, so not impressed."

The two witches stopped chanting, grabbed powder from out of identical pouches, and blew them at the demon woman.

Glory watched as the powder settled on her clothes and hair. She glared at both of them. "Look what you did, you little-"

Willow clapped once and shouted, "Discede!"

Glory exploded into a cloud of dust before disappearing completely. In the same moment, Willow collapsed onto to the floor.

"Willow!" Tara cried in the sudden silence, rushing over to her girlfriend's side.

Buffy turned to Dawn. "Dawn."

Buffy pulled her into a hug. Dawn didn't try to stop her.

"What did you do to her?" Buffy asked Willow and Tara without letting go of Dawn.

Willow panted for several long seconds. Blood dripped from her nostrils. "Teleportation spell. Still working out the kinks," she explained.

"Where'd you send her?" Dawn asked her.

Willow gave her a sheepish smile. "Don't know. That's one of the kinks."

Giles walked over and helped Tara get her back on her feet. He admonished her, "That was an incredibly dangerous spell for an adept at your level."

"Yep," Willow agreed. "Won't be trying that one again soon."

Buffy turned back to Dawn. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"

Her worry looked genuine. How could a bunch of monks make Buffy feel that way for her?

"Why do you care?" Dawn asked her as the bitterness returned.

"Because I love you. You're my sister."

Dawn shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

Buffy gently pushed back Dawn's sleeve. She pointed at the bandages, some of which had come off during the fight. "Look, it's blood. It's Summers blood," Buffy told her. Buffy pointed at one of her own veins. "It's just like mine. It doesn't matter where you came from, or, or how you got here. You are my sister." She half-smirked. "There's no way you could annoy me so much if you weren't."

Dawn smiled, then pulled Buffy into a hug. Both of them squeezed for all of their worth, although miraculously no ribs were cracked.

After a long moment, the two sisters stood up and headed for the door. The others followed.

"Wait," Dawn said, stopping. "Ben. He was here, he was trying to help me. He..."

She stopped, puzzled. What was she about to say? What was it Ben had done right about Glory showed up? No matter how hard she tried to remember, the memory remained unclear. "I think he might have left before Glory came," she continued, frowning. She shook her head. "I can't remember."

She thought back over their conversation and suddenly remembered the other man she'd seen that evening. She felt around in her pockets for the card, then searched for it around the table where Ben had given her the hot chocolate. She couldn't find it. "There was another man, earlier. He said his name was Carl Corey. He knew my name. I don't think he was connected to Glory, though."

"Glory would be the name of the demon?" Giles clarified. Dawn nodded.

"How about you tell me about him on the way home," Buffy told her. "We'll get to the research tomorrow. We should get back before Mom gets worried."

"Does she know?" Dawn asked. "You know, about me?"

Buffy shook her head. "No."

"We're pretty clueless, too," Willow commented, gesturing between herself and Tara. "But that's okay. We'll wait until you're ready to tell us. Besides, I'm beat. That spell took a lot out of me."

Buffy smiled. "Come on, let's go. I’m feeling pretty tired, too."

"Me, three," Dawn admitted.

"Um, me, four," Giles said, smiling at his phrasing.

Dawn smiled, then she and Buffy led the way out of the lounge, heading in the direction of their house.