The Scoobies were having a meeting at the Magic Box, after dark.
"Look, I know Mom wants to gather and make with the merry tomorrow night, but with everything that's going on..." I trailed off.
Willow walked up behind me. "This is exactly what you need." She sat between me and Tara. "A 20th birthday party with--with--with presents, and funny hates, and--and those candles that don't blow out." She looked at Tara. "Those used to scare me."
"Me, too," Tara told her.
"I just don't think this is the best time to break out the party pinata," I told them. "We need to stay focused if we're gonna find a way to stop Glory."
Xander and Anya sat on the other side of me.
Buffy sat across from me, between Tara and Xander.
"We're going up against a god," Xander told us. "An actual mightier-than-thou god."
"Well, you know what they say," Willow told us. "The bigger they are..."
"The faster they stomp you into nothing," Anya told us.
Everyone looked at her.
Giles was standing nearby, looking through books and papers.
"She's right," I told them. "I've thrown everything I've got at her, and she just shrugs it off."
"Then we have to find something heavier to throw," Willow told us.
"That might pose some difficulty," Giles told us. "From what the Council's been able to discover from the Book of Tarnis, and--and--and other sources, Glory and two of her fellow hellgods ruled over... one of the more seriously unpleasant demon dimensions."
"There's more than one?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, there are thousands of demon dimensions," Anya told us. "All different."
"All pushing on the edges of our reality, trying to find a way in," Giles told us.
"I guess Glory found one," Buffy told us. "The question is, why?"
"There's nothing to indicate that here," Giles told us. "Just... vague references to... chaos and destruction."
The teakettle started to whistle.
Giles stood to get it.
"Okay, so, we know where Glory's from," Buffy told us. "What do we know about her? You know, she's tough, yeah, but--but no bolts of lightning, no blasts of fire. Shouldn't a god be able to do that kind of stuff?"
Giles poured tea. "Uh, usually, yes, but, um, being in human form must be severely limiting her powers. All we have to worry about right now is she's immortal, invulnerable, and insane."
"A crazy hellgod?" Xander asked. "And the fun just keeps on leaving."
"From what I've been able to gather, her living in this world is... seriously affecting her mental state as well," Giles told us. "She's only being able to keep her mind intact by, uh, extracting energy from us. Well, from--from the human brain."
"She--she--she's a brain-sucker?" Tara asked.
Willow and Tara exchanged a look.
"She, um..." Giles started off, leaning over to read from the book. "'Absorbs the energies that bind the human mind into a cohesive whole.' Once drained, all that's left behind is, uh..."
"Crazy people," I finished.
Giles poured more tea. "Which is, I'm afraid, why there's been a marked increase in the ranks of the mentally unstable here in Sunnydale."
"At least vampires just kill you," Tara told us.
Buffy stood. "We have to find a way to stop her."
"Oh, well, Tara and I can work on some tactical spells," Willow told us.
Giles handed Buffy a cup of tea.
"I can do some research," Anya told us. "I know way more about demon dimensions than Giles does." Giles frowned. "Well, I do."
"This is great long-term plan-y stuff, but what about this... Key thingy Glory's looking for?" Xander asked.
Buffy and Giles sipped at their tea, exchanging a look, looking at me.
I looked down, nodding.
"Yeah, I mean, shouldn't we be trying to find it before she does?" Tara asked.
I looked up. "I don't think that's what we should be worrying about right now."
Giles handed me a cup of tea.
"They've got a point," Willow told us. "Whatever Glory's planning on opening with the Key, I'm guessing it won't be filled with candy and flowers."
"So, where should we start looking?" Xander asked. "Do we know where it used to be kept? Who saw it last?"
"We did," I answered. "Giles, Buffy and me. We--we know where it is."
"You what?" Xander asked.
"You know, and you didn't tell us?" Willow asked.
"There were... reasons," Giles told them.
"Look, i--if Glory knew that you guys knew where it was, I..." I trailed off, sighing. "I--I just didn't wanna put you in that kind of danger."
"As opposed to the other kind we're always in?" Xander asked.
"You should have said something," Willow told us.
"Will, there..." I trailed off. "You're right." I looked at Buffy and Giles. "It's time."
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked.
"If they're gonna be risking their lives, they deserve to know," I told them.
"Know what?" Xander asked.
I looked at Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya. "There's something that you need to know... about Dawn."
~~~~~
Willow and Tara were setting up spells all around that would set off an alarm if Glory came within a hundred feet of wherever the spell was set up. My house, the Magic Box.
The next day, we were in the Magic Box.
Giles, Buffy and I walked out of the training room.
"I'm not sure our regular workout is... challenging either of you anymore," Giles told us. "Perhaps we should make it harder."
Buffy held a bottle of water. "You always think harder is better. Maybe next time we patrol, we should carry a load of bricks, use a stake made of butter."
"Very amusing," Giles told her sarcastically, writing in a small book. Dawn was standing at the counter with a notebook lying open. We walked closer. Giles put his book down on the counter. "I'm sure Dawn feels that way about her schoolwork sometimes."
"That true?" I asked. "How was school today?"
"Um, the usual," Dawn answered. "Big square building filled with boredom and despair."
"Just how I remember it," I told her. Giles closed his book, sliding it off the counter, out of sight. "So, what's the homework sitch?"
"We have to imagine what we'll be like ten years from now, and write a letter to our future self," Dawn answered. "The teacher's clearly so out of ideas." Giles closed a drawer behind the counter. "Wanna help?"
"Maybe later," I answered. "I have some stuff I have to do first."
Giles moved his hands away from the drawer.
Dawn looked between us. "Is it about that weird girl that came to the house?"
"Glory," I told her. "And, no, it's not."
"Like you'd tell me anyway," Dawn told me. "Dawn's too young and Dawn's too delicate."
I nodded. "Right." I stepped closer. "Glory is evil. And powerful."
"I just think you're getting soft in your advanced age," Dawn told me teasingly. "She didn't look that tough to me."
Dawn smirked.
~~~~~
Everyone was gathered at my house for my birthday, the house decked out and everything.
Mom, Dawn and I were sitting on one couch.
Buffy, Willow and Xander sat on the other.
Giles, Tara and Anya were standing around.
I looked over the presents. "Prezzies!"
Willow was wearing a party hat. "See? Just what you needed."
Willow blew a bubble.
"You are very, very wise," I told them. "Now, give me, give me, give me."
Tara handed me a gift.
I began ripping off the paper.
"This is extremely suspenseful," Anya told us. "I want the presents."
I pulled out a dark colored dress. "Aw. It's beautiful. Thank you, guys."
"We thought you get lots of crossbows and other killy stuff," Tara told me.
"Yeah, so we figured less killy, more frilly," Willow told me.
Anya took the dress from me. "Gotta look. Oh, it's just so lovely. Oh, I wish it was mine." Everyone looked at her. "Oh, like you weren't all thinking the same thing."
"I'm fairly certain I wasn't," Giles told us. "I've got one just like it."
Dawn handed me her present. "Here. Open mine."
I looked up at Dawn teasingly. "It's not gonna explode, is it?"
I opened the present to reveal a picture frame made of little musical instrument-themed charms, like guitars, pianos, microphone, drum sticks, etc. The charms were all autographed. The picture was of Dawn and me backstage of a concert, both of us smiling, with our dad.
"It's when we went on Dad's tour that summer with his band," Dawn told me. "Um, I put the charms on it myself. We got them autographed by each member."
I smiled a small nostalgic smile. "I remember."
Dawn noticed how almost everyone was sad because it hadn't actually happened, even if we still remembered it. "Well, jeez, don't get all movie-of-the-week." She looked at me. "I was just too cheap to buy you a real present."
I looked up at Dawn, smiling. "Thank you."
We stood, embracing.
~~~~~
Mom, Giles and I were talking in the kitchen.
Giles was pouring a glass of wine.
I was pouring a glass of water from a pitcher.
"It still seems to me like there's a lot you don't know about this," Mom told us. "I mean, is she dangerous?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Well, now, wait just a second," Giles told her. "I assume you're talking about her existence rather than her intentions."
I looked down the hallway, seeing Dawn.
"Exactly," Mom told us.
"Dawn?" I asked. "What are you doing in there? Party getting slow?"
"Uh..." Dawn trailed off, picking up a stack of plates from the dining room table. "We need plates. Cake time."
I smiled nervously.
Dawn walked off, leaving.
~~~~~
Mom, Giles and I walked into the living room to join the others.
Dawn looked at Mom. "They were talking about me, just like everybody is."
"Again, not so much," Xander told her. "In fact, none."
"We were talking about sex," Anya told her. "I mean, you know us, sometimes, we like to pretend stuff."
"Um..." Mom trailed off.
"Anya!" Xander told her.
"You know, like, say there's a fireman, or a shepherd--" Anya started.
"You know what?" I asked. "Let's not have this exchange of images right now."
"Oh, right," Dawn told us sarcastically. "Of course. Can't let Dawn hear anything. Fine. I'm just gonna go to bed. That way, I won't accidentally get exposed to, like words."
Dawn walked upstairs, leaving.
Everyone but Mom looked unhappy, who looked confused.
Willow held up a piece of cake on a plate. "Cake?"
~~~~~
Willow and Tara were sitting on one couch in the living room.
Buffy and I were sitting across from them.
"You know, this is my second birthday in a row without a boyfriend," I told them. "And you know how I used to be. I never really got involved too much because I felt like it would tie me down and take away all things exciting. So, I'm picking up my old tradition. Birthdays without boyfriends. It can be just as much fun."
"Preaching to the choir here, baby," Willow told me, looking at Tara, smiling.
"Yeah, some of my best..." Tara trailed off when she saw something behind us. "Oh--oh, my God."
Buffy and I turned to look behind us, standing.
Dawn was standing in the doorway, a large knife in one hand, blood running down her other arm from a wound across the inner forearm, dazed. "Is this blood?"
Mom and Giles were across the room, turning to look.
"Dawn!" I told her.
Mom walked closer. "Oh, baby."
I walked closer instantly. "What did you do?"
"This is blood, isn't it?" Dawn asked. "It can't be me. I'm not a Key." I looked at her in shock. "I'm not a thing."
"Oh, sweetie, no," Mom told her. "Wha--what is this all about?"
"What am I?" Dawn asked, tears in her eyes. "Am I real? Am I anything?"
Dawn started to cry.
Mom embraced her.
I watched grimly, looking down in guilt.
~~~~~
I saw the other out.
Buffy turned to me. "If you need anything..."
"Thanks," I told her.
Buffy and I embraced, pulling away.
Buffy walked out, leaving.
Giles walked up to the door. "Perhaps I should stay, you know, just in case."
"This is a family thing," I told him. "We should deal with this."
"Okay," Giles told me, walking out, leaving.
I closed the door behind him, taking a deep breath, bracing myself, walking upstairs, into Dawn's room.
Mom and Dawn were sitting on Dawn's bed.
They both knew everything now.
Dawn didn't look up, barely able to speak above a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Mom looked at me.
"I was going to," I told them. "I just... I thought it would be better if I waited until... Until I knew there wasn't much more of a danger."
"How old am I?" Dawn asked.
"You're 14," Mom told her. "Sweetheart, you know that."
"No," Dawn told us. "The monks. When did... when did they..."
"Six months ago," I answered.
Dawn tried to hold back tears. "I've only been alive for six months, huh?"
"Honey, you've been alive a lot longer than that to us," Mom told her.
"You don't know that," Dawn told us. "You don't know anything. I'm--I'm just a Key, right? Everything about me is made up."
"Dawn..." I trailed off, sitting next to her. "Mom and I know what we feel. I know I care about you. I know that I worry about you."
"You worry about me because you have to," Dawn told me. "I'm your job. Protect the Key, right?"
"I worry because my sister is cutting herself," I told her.
"Yeah?" Dawn asked. "How do you know? Maybe this is just another fake memory from my fake memory."
"Sweetheart..." Mom trailed off.
"Get out," Dawn told us.
"Dawn..." Mom trailed off.
"Get out," Dawn told us. "Get out. Get out!"
Mom and I stood, walking out, leaving, closing the door behind us.
~~~~~
The next day, the Scoobies stood in the Magic Box, nearby the counter, where Giles and Anya were already moving around, looking at stuff.
"We need answers, Giles," I told him. "We need to find out everything we can about the Key. What's it for, who created it."
"And why Glory has a big girl-god jones for it," Buffy told us.
"This isn't about her," I told them. "It's about Dawn. She deserves to know where she came from She needs to know, or it's just gonna eat away at her."
Giles looked at his notebook and papers on the counter. "How did she find these? How did she get in here?"
Anya turned away from the back shelves, holding an item. "Ew! Who's been using the Urn of Ishtar as an ashtray?"
Anya took out a cigarette butt.
Willow looked thoughtful.
I realized.
~~~~~
I walked into Spike's crypt.
Spike was sitting on top of the coffin, painting his fingernails black. "Morning, sunshine. If you've come around for eggs or sausage, I'm fresh out." I grabbed the lid of the coffin, pulling it out from under him so that he tumbled backward into the coffin. Spike sat up. "Hey, careful!" He held up his hand. "These are still wet."
I slid the lid back onto the coffin so that it slammed into Spike's chest, pinning him against the opposite side of the coffin. "How could you let her find out like that? From books and papers? You hate me that much?"
"I was just along for the ride," Spike told me. "Not like I knew she was mystical glowy Key thing. Nobody keeps me in the bloody loop, do they?"
I let go of the lid, backing away. "You could have stopped her."
"Oh, yeah, here it comes," Spike told me. "Something goes wrong in your life, blame Spike. News flash." He pushed the lid up off of him, tossing it aside. "If kid sis wants to grab a midnight stroll, she'll find a way sooner or later. I just thought she'd be safer with big bad looking over her shoulder."
I shook my head. "She shouldn't have found out like that."
"You didn't think you could keep the truth from her forever, did you?" Spike asked. "Maybe if you had been more honest with her in the first place, you wouldn't be trying to make yourself feel better with a round of Kick the Spike."
I sighed, turning around, walking out, leaving, slamming the door.
~~~~~
At home, Mom and I sat in the living room on the couch together.
"We can't just let her sit up there all alone," Mom told me.
"She needs time," I told her. "We can't force her to be all right with this."
"That's your answer?" Mom asked. "Just... leave her alone and hope that everything works itself out?"
"No," I answered. "But if I were here, I'd want a little bit of time right now. I wouldn't want my mother and my sister coming at me from all sides."
"Her school called today," Mom told me. "She was suspended. She yelled at a teacher. The things she said... Zoey, I mean, she never used language like that."
"She probably feels like she can say or do anything right now," I told her. "She feels like she's not real. She feels like we're not her family. She feels like we don't even know what she is."
"Well, then we have to show her that it isn't true," Mom told me. "She needs to know that she's still a part of this family and that we love her."
"It's not that simple," I told her. "We're not gonna be able to fix this with a hug and a kiss and a bowl of soup. Dawn needs to know where she came from. She needs real answers."
"What she needs is her sister, Zoey, not the Slayer," Mom told me.
"The Slayer is the only thing standing between Dawn... and this god from the bitch dimension that wants to shove her in some kind of lock and give her a good twirl," I told her. "Mom, I need to be out there, doing my job." A shrill beeping noise began. Mom and I stood in alarm. "Oh, my God. Glory. It's Willow's spell."
I ran toward the stairs.
Mom followed. "Wait. It's not Glory."
I kicked down Dawn's door, running in. "Damn it." Mom followed. The beeping continued. The wastebasket was on fire. I grabbed a blanket from the bed, tossing it over the flames to put them out. "Dawn!"
Mom looked at something across the room. "Zoey."
"No," I told her. "No, she could have burned the house down."
"Zoey, she's gone," Mom told me.
I looked toward the open window.
~~~~~
After dark, I walked into the Magic Box, explaining to the Scoobies. "She tore up her room. She burned all of her diaries."
I sat at the table next to Buffy.
Xander, Willow and Tara were sitting beside the counter.
Giles and Anya were standing behind the counter.
Giles handed Willow a cup of tea.
"The Dawnmeister Chronicles?" Xander asked.
"She's been keeping those since..." Willow trailed off, looking confused. "I mean..."
"Since she was six," I finished. "I remember, too, Will." Spike was standing nearby. "We have to find her. Before Glory or the Knights of hack-n-slash figure out who she really is. Mom's gonna stay at home in case she shows up. I figure we split up and sweep the city." I stood. "Anya. Will you stay here in case she shows up?" Anya nodded. "Buffy, Xander, Giles, you guys take the center of town. Willow, Tara, west side. Spike, you and I'll get the east side." Everyone stood to leave. Spike walked closer. "Just find her. Please."
~~~~~
Spike and I walked through the playground.
I looked around. "Dawn? Dawn!"
"Yeah, that should do it," Spike told me sarcastically.
"Shut up," I told him.
"The nibblet scampered off to get away from you," Spike told me. "She hears you bellowing, she's gonna pack it in the opposite direction."
We stopped walking.
I looked down. "You were right." Spike was surprised. "This is my fault. I should have told her."
Spike sighed. "Look, she probably would have skipped off anyway, even if she never found out. She's not just a blob of energy. She's also a 14-year-old hormone bomb." He sighed. "Which one's screwing her up more right now? spin the bloody wheel." He shrugged. "You'll find her, just in the nick of time. That's what you hero types do." I looked at him. "You'll find her."
I nodded barely, looking down. "And then what?"
Spike didn't answer.
~~~~~
In the cemetery, Spike and I met up with Willow and Tara.
"We looked, but no Dawn," Willow told us.
Giles, Xander and Buffy walked closer.
"What about the carousel?" I asked.
"Checked there, too," Tara told us.
I looked at Giles, Xander and Buffy. "Nothing?"
"Sorry, Zo," Xander told me.
"Anything could have happened to her," I told them. "Not just Glory." We were all concerned. "We better check the hospital."
We walked off.
~~~~~
We were in the emergency room.
I turned away from the desk. "She wasn't brought in."
"Which is a happy thing, right?" Xander asked.
"I don't know," I told them. "I..."
A doctor led a bunch of security guards past us. "I found him on the floor in the break room. You guys gotta see him. His head's almost twisted clean off."
I watched them go. "Glory."
~~~~~
I walked into a lab where Glory was standing right in front of Dawn. "Get away from my sister."
"Hey, we were just talking about you," Glory told me.
Dawn ran over behind me.
"Conversation's over, hellbitch," I told her.
The others ran in from behind me.
I punched Glory in the face twice. Glory tried to punch me. I ducked, kicking Glory in the side. Glory grabbed my shoulders, trying to throw me into the wall. Buffy grabbed Glory from behind. We spun around, throwing Glory into the medicine cabinet, making the glass shatter. Glory stood, punching me in the face, making me turn away.
Spike restrained Glory from behind.
Buffy punched Glory in the face.
"I thought you said this skank was tough," Spike told us.
Glory kicked Buffy in the face, taking Spike's arms, easily throwing him off of her, grabbing him by the jacket, pulling him up, headbutting him, throwing him across a lab table, making the glass shatter and objects and Spike fall to the floor, unconscious.
Xander held a crow bar ready.
Giles held a crossbow aimed at Glory.
Glory looked at me. "If he wakes up, tell your boyfriend to watch his mouth."
"He is not my boyfriend," I told her, punching Glory in the face twice.
Willow and Tara started to chant in Latin, reaching into little brown bags.
I tried to kick Glory.
Glory caught my leg. "Hey, those are really nice shoes."
Glory pushed my leg so hard I flipped backward through the air.
I kicked Glory in the face on the way down.
"Giles, now!" Buffy told him.
Giles tried to shoot Glory with the crossbow.
The arrow ricocheted off of Glory.
"Oh, please," Glory told us. "Like that's gonna--" Buffy punched Glory in the back of the head. "Hey!" Glory grabbed Buffy by her throat. "Watch the hair." She threw Buffy into Giles and Xander, making them all fall to the floor. "Time to start the dying. Start with the whelp."
Glory threw a crow bar toward Dawn.
"Dawn!" I told her, diving in the way, receiving the crow bar in my shoulder, groaning in pain.
Dawn crawled closer worriedly. "Zoey!"
"Get back," I told her.
"Nice catch," Glory told me. "Is that the best you little crap gnats could muster?" I pulled the crowbar out of my shoulder, groaning in pain. "'Cause I gotta tell you. So not impressed." Tara and Willow stood on either side of Glory, throwing powder all over her. "Look what you did to my dress, you little--"
Willow clapped, chanting Latin. "Discede."
Glory exploded into a cloud of dust, disappearing.
Willow fell to the floor.
Tara ran to her side. "Willow!"
I turned to my sister. "Dawn."
Dawn and I embraced in relief.
Buffy looked at Tara and Willow. "What did you do to her?"
Willow was breathing heavily, her nose bleeding. "Teleportation spell. Still working out the kinks."
"Where'd you send her?" Buffy asked.
"Don't know," Willow told us. "That's one of the kinks."
Xander and Buffy stood.
Giles walked toward Tara and Willow. "That was an incredibly... dangerous spell for an adept at your level."
Giles and Tara helped Willow stand.
"Yep," Willow agreed. "Won't be trying that one again soon."
Spike sat up, looking annoyed.
I looked at Dawn. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?"
"Why do you care?" Dawn asked.
"Because I love you," I answered. "You're my sister."
"No, I'm not," Dawn told me.
"Yes, you okay," I told her, holding Dawn's bleeding hand. "Look. It's blood. It's Francis blood." I pressed my hand against the wound in my shoulder, wincing a little, clasping my bloodstained hand to Dawn's bleeding hand. "It's just like mine. It doesn't matter where you came from, or--or how you got here. You are my sister."
Dawn looked at me for a moment, embracing me tightly. "I was so scared."
"Me, too," I told her. "Come on."
Dawn and I stood.
"Wait," Dawn told us. "Ben. He was here. He was trying to help me. He..." She looked confused. "I... I think he might have left before Glory came..." She frowned. "I can't--I can't remember."
I took her hand. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. Next time we see him, we'll thank him. I have to get you back home, though. Mom's freaking out."
Dawn remembered. "Oh. Is she mad about the whole fire thing?"
"I think you sorta have a get-out-of-jail-free card on account of big love and trauma," I told her.
"Really?" Dawn asked. I nodded. "Okay. Good. You think she'd raise my allowance?"
"Don't push it," I told her.
Dawn and I walked out, leaving, hand in hand.