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

Spoilers and Timing: This story starts off on the morning that Buffy and the gang are packing Buffy's stuff in her and Willow's dorm room in "Family". There are spoilers for "Family" and other episodes.

Summary: In the wake of Buffy's and Dawn's discover that Dawn is the Key, the Summers girls try to settle back into their lives while staying off of Glory's radar. Meanwhile, the search for Carl Corey is begun by Dawn, who still eager for answers about where she came from.

*****

"You ready?"

Dawn stared at the front entrance to the Magic Box. She and Buffy stood across the street from it. In a few moments, they would be telling the rest of the gang about her being the Key. Dawn didn't know if she wanted to. She knew that she'd scared the hell out of Willow and Tara when she showed up at the dorm room, bleeding from cuts she'd inflicted on herself. She couldn't clearly remember cutting herself, now; the memory was mixed in with everything else that had happened two nights before. It wasn't everyday that you found out that your entire life was a lie and that you weren't even human.

Stop it, she told herself. She'd promised herself that she would deal with it. She may not have always been human, but she was human now. That was enough. Wasn't it? And then there was that man she'd run into, who called himself Carl Corey. He'd known her name without her telling him. Willow was still trying to find information on him, but as far as Dawn knew she'd had no luck so far. She wondered if he had anything to do with the monks and the demon woman and everything else.

Before she could find out, she first had to tell the gang about her. It wouldn't be easy.

"I don't have to, do I?" Dawn asked, turning to her sister. "I mean, it would probably be better if they didn't know, right?"

Buffy smile and placed a hand on her left arm, the same one that Dawn had cut. It was well healed now; Dawn's regenerative powers were equal if not better than Buffy's.

"It's your call, Dawn," Buffy told her. "But they're going to have to know eventually."

Dawn took in a deep breath. "Then let's get this over with."

They crossed the street. As they stepped onto the opposite sidewalk, the door to the Magic Shop opened and Willow stepped out. "Dawn! Buffy!" she said. "Hi. How's the arm? Are you okay?" she asked Dawn.

Dawn smiled and nodded. "Yeah, the wound's completely healed."

"But you're not going to cut yourself again, are you? I mean, it's good that you've got like super regenerative powers, but you really scared us then," Willow said, worried.

"Actually, that's what we're here to talk about," Buffy interrupted her before the witch could be completely overtaken by her mothering mode. "Is everyone here yet?"

Willow nodded. "Yeah, we all got your call. I was just going down to the grocery store down the street to pick up some things before you guys showed up, but now that you're here, let's go in."

She cast another worried glance at Dawn before she led the way into the store. Dawn wished she wouldn't, because it would only mean she'd act worse once she found out what had really been going on two nights ago.