Author's note: That moment in your writing when you want to quote a character's previous words, but you realize that you made them sound like an inept idiot. And you have no choice but to do it again. *sigh* You'll see.

I'm enjoying the story more, now, because a lot of the plot points (mine and the show's) are beginning to unravel. Much easier to write. Yay!

I hope you all are well. Thank you for being patient! Life gets complicated, at times.

Happy reading!

Jenn

Two figures made their way from residential streets toward the largest hospital within Sunnydale's city limits. The younger of the two, both in appearance and in reality, was taking long strides full of purpose. The male vampire alongside her easily kept up with her hastened pace.

"So, feeling sick, little sis?" he teased her.

"No," she scowled back at him. "Why are you following me? Why do you care where I go?"

"Why are we on our way to a hospital?" he countered.

"Answer my questions first!" she huffed, with only a slight side-eye in his direction.

"No," he simply answered.

"Ugh!" The disgust in her tone was childish and nonthreatening.

They continued walking, and Dawn found herself suddenly more willing to talk. The thoughts running through her head seemed to leak from her lips.

"I remember when you had a soul, you know," she began. He sneered, but continued to listen. "You and Buffy seemed to drive each other crazy. Then, when you lost your soul and went all psycho on her, she still cared about you, for some reason. Riley was better for her. Better than you. And yet, here you are and there he went. It's not fair. Love is stupid."

"Welcome to life, kiddo," he delivered derisively.

"Are you planning on killing me tonight? Because if that's your way to get back at my sister for loving you, then I have to tell you…it's not a great plan."

He smirked at that. "If I'd wanted to kill you, I wouldn't be trekking across the city five feet away from you. I would've drained you dry next to your house and left your body for your sister to find. Maybe even turned you, so that she'd be forced to kill you herself."

Dawn shivered and finally looked over at Angelus. Really looked. "Why didn't you, then?"

"A few reasons," he muttered under his breath. Had he any breath within his lungs.

She came to an abrupt halt, then, and it took the vampire a few paces before he realized that she was no longer near him. He stopped, too, to backtrack to her position, standing at an oddly respectful distance and waiting for her to say something.

"Do you…does soulless you remember when we met?" she asked timidly.

He gave her an appraising look. "I remember everything. With or without a soul." He tilted his head up in a show of superiority. "Why do you ask?"

"You were…nice. Polite. Of course, no one knew you were a vampire, then."

"When was that?"

"The night Buffy snuck you into the house," she clarified. "Mom wasn't home, yet, but I was. You guys ran into her room, and I totally caught you running through the hallway. Buffy swore she'd pay me ten bucks to not tell Mom…which she never paid me, because you went out and met Mom, anyway."

He grinned, recalling the specific incident that led to his first time being invited into the Summers home. "You and I remember that night very differently." Angelus chuckled softly.

"What does that mean?"

"I only remember meeting you for the first time a week ago, when you cowered behind that pathetic dolt, Harris."

His eyes glinted mischievously, as he watched her try to figure out his meaning.

"You said…you said that you remember everything Angel went through, too."

He smirked a little more darkly at the confused young girl.

"W-what do you know?" she squeaked out.

He took a step closer to her and cocked an eyebrow. "I think," he slowly and quietly responded, "that the important question here is: what do you know?"

Dawn's face paled in the moonlight, which gave her a similar pallor to the vampire near her.

"Buffy came home tonight, and I was in my room. She barged in, totally rude, so I got up to yell at her for not knocking." She bit the inside of her lips together, folding them under her teeth momentarily. "I heard her and Mom talking. About me."

"Am I going to be stuck listening to you whine all night about nothing?" he interrupted.

"She – Buffy – called me…a key."

Angelus' ears perked up. Finally, he thought. Looks like it's the little twerp who will give me some answers.

"A 'key' to what?" the vampire lightly probed, not wishing to seem too interested.

"I don't know, exactly," the girl fretted. "I need to find out more. And I know Buffy won't tell me. She treats me like a baby. Her and Mom-" she tried to finish the sentence, but a lump appeared at the back of her throat, constricting her words and preventing her from swallowing.

"Well, you are only, like, six months old," Angelus cruelly teased. "Maybe younger."

Dawn's eyes widened at that comment. "You knew? You know? Then what am I? Why do I have all these memories, if I'm just some stupid key that some stupid monks wanted the Slayer to protect?"

Protect from what? He thought back to the crocodile monster that he had killed only a few nights ago. Summoned, he recalled. Summoned by something or someone very powerful. Scary powerful.

The Slayer's vague reveal about her random kid sister.

"We found out that…she's…someone special. There's someone after her, but we're not sure who or what this thing is, but I need to protect her. And, even if she's not really my sister, she was made by some monks from me. She's my blood. And…I love her."

The pieces are starting to fall into place, he mused. Now, I just have to figure out what part I want to play…

"I know," he started, "that whatever 'memories' those monks gave you, this is our first real conversation. To me, you're nothing more than some little girl that the Slayer happens to believe is her sister and someone that she is trying to protect from something out to get you."

Angelus took the initiative to continue walking toward Dawn's original destination: the hospital. He heard her fall into step behind him.

"What's Buffy protecting me from?" she called out.

"Hell if I know," he shrugged, without looking back. "You're a key, right? Maybe whatever is looking for you is locked out of their home," he joked.

When they reached the hospital, Angelus stopped Dawn outside, before she entered.

"Why are we here?" he asked again.

She tensed at the menacing growl present in the dark vampire's voice. "I-I just need to see if…" The teen appeared to be at a loss for words. "There was this guy, and something was wrong with him. And my mom, too. Even though she's not really my mom," she whispered. "When she got sick, she, like, saw me differently. I think, if they saw me differently, I might find some more people, sick people, that might know more…about me. About what I am."

He stared at her skeptically, but nodded for her to continue in. She walked through the sliding doors alone, as he chose to wait outside.

Dawn saw the single staff member at the information booth in the lobby at the hospital. As it was the middle of the night, the middle-aged woman cheerily greeted the teenager and asked where she was headed.

"Um, my cousin is about to have her baby?"

"Labor and Delivery wing is on the third floor. Elevators are right over there," the woman gave a polite sweeping gesture toward the many silver mechanical doors.

"Thanks," Dawn muttered, relieved.

She pushed the 'up' button, waited on one set of the doors to open, and nervously glanced back at the woman at the information desk. The worker had her head down, more interested in what was on her computer than on keeping an eye on whether or not the teenage girl made it to her destination. Dawn glanced at the floor map on the wall next to the elevator buttons.

Neurology and Neurosurgery Services…fifth floor.

Her mom had just left the fifth floor. And here Dawn was, about to sneak back and purposefully try to find someone else to freak out on her. The elevator that arrived to take her there was mercifully empty, and she rode in the small space alone.

The skeletal nursing staff was mostly at their computer stations, typing reports and monitoring vitals. Dawn ducked into the first open room, to avoid difficult questions. The patient in the room, an elderly man, was sound asleep. For half of a second, she thought about waking the poor ailing man up; but she realized that, if the encounter ended up being as dramatic as the episodes with her mother, she needed to figure out a way to excuse her being there and riling up the patients.

Her mother's former room was two more doors down. She crouched to her knees and peeked out the doorway. There was no one in the immediate area, so she ducked down and rushed the few feet to the new room.

As expected, her mom's old room was already occupied by a new patient. The man in the bed was younger than the elderly man she had just visited. About her mother's age, or maybe a little younger. He seemed dazed, staring up at the ceiling, with wavy, dark curls down to his shoulders and haunted eyes. When she stood to face him, at the end of his bed, he focused on her quickly and with a look that simultaneously screamed both surprise and terror.

"It's you! You're The Key! You shine so bright! You glow! Your light will destroy the world! The Beast will feast on the very stars in the sky like they are curds and whey…Curds and whey! Shiny, shiny, SHINY, SHINY, SHIIIIIINY!"

"Hey!" a different man's voice called out behind her. Dawn spun around to find the familiar medical intern entering the room of the distressed patient. "Oh!" he added in surprise, realizing who she was. "Miss Summers? It's me, Ben," he reassured the frightened young girl. "What are you doing here?"

She'd wanted to ask the man in the hospital bed more questions, but the commotion he'd made had, unfortunately, terminated that option. Her frustration mounted within her, but she forced herself to give the excuse she'd been reciting in her mind.

"I-I thought I-I might have left my book in here. For school," she lamely added.

The patient continued to shout, and Ben pulled her from the room. As they exited, two nurses ran past them to sedate the afflicted man. Once outside the room, Ben rounded on Dawn.

"The rooms are given thorough cleanings between every new patient," he explained gently, trying to be as polite as possible. "If they found anything, they would have contacted your mother or your sister. What book are you missing?"

"Um…To Kill a Mockingbird," she said on the spot. She was actually reading the book for one of her classes, but it was tucked away safely in her backpack.

"Good book," he smiled. He saw the hesitation in her eyes, but didn't know what to make of it. "You can't be back here, now that your mother is no longer a patient. Come with me to the waiting room, and I'll get you something from the vending machines to snack on, on your way home. Does anyone know you're here?"

"Yeah, I have a…friend waiting for me, outside."

"Okay. Well, follow me."

The duo left the restricted area and took the familiar path back to the waiting room. Dawn wasn't particularly hungry, but she agreed to a bag of Skittles, anyway. Ben paid with some quarters from his pocket and handed them to her.

"Everything okay at home?" he asked nonchalantly. "Is your mother okay?"

My mother… Dawn thought bitterly. She's NOT my mother. Tears were forming without her consent, and she couldn't brush them away fast enough to hide her pain from the kind intern.

"What's going on?" he gently probed.

Dawn clenched her jaw, but she nodded when he gestured for them to sit in the empty chairs. She sat and took a breath.

"I'm just going crazy, that's all," she half-joked. "I don't know who I am, and my life has turned upside down."

Ben smiled grimly beside her. "I know a thing or two about that," he quietly confided.

"No," Dawn vehemently shook her head. "No, this isn't some teen identity crisis, this is…" She paused, realizing who she was speaking to. Just an ordinary man. Not part of the supernatural squad. He'd check her into the psych ward, if she blurted out any more. "Ugh, just never mind. It's stupid, it makes no sense, and I should go."

She stood to leave, but Ben stopped her with reassuring words.

"Hey! It's okay!" he called out to her. "Whatever you're going through, it's not small, if it affects you this much. And it's not crazy or stupid, if it's something that's hurting you. As for making no sense," he shrugged, "try me. I promise I won't judge." She gave him a skeptical look, so he continued. "You could tell me that you're being hunted by a…a purple people-eater, and I won't laugh, I promise."

She laughed as she sat down. "A what?"

"A purple people-eat…whatever, it's just an old song," he ran a hand through his hair as he spoke.

"You're weird," she shot at him with a sassy look to accompany the insult.

He shrugged again, and she sighed. He's a doctor. I guess the worst that could happen is that he'll just call Mom or Buffy…

"I just found out that I was…um, adopted," she chickened out at the last second, choosing a safer path. "Or something like that. Buffy's not my real sister, and my mom's not my real mom."

Ben nodded supportively. "That's big," he affirmed. "That would be a big deal for anyone."

"That's not even half of it," she rolled her eyes. The words tumbled from her like a babbling brook. "I feel like everything about me is a lie. I'm just some…made up thing! A weird…person that isn't a person at all! A stupid key-"

Ben stood abruptly, then, his eyes wide open and looking fearful.

"Key? Why did you say that?!"

Dawn squinted at him, confused at his sudden show of panic. "Um…" Then her face lit up with understanding. "Wait, do you know about The Key?" He backed away from where she sat, while scanning the room and hall for any other bodies. "Do you know about it?" Dawn stood and advanced on him, suspicious because of his silence. "Do you know what I AM?"

"Oh my God," he whined fearfully. "You're the reason why! You're why she's getting stronger! Because you're here!" He ran both hands through his hair, holding onto his scalp, while his face turned beat red. "Dammit, I should've NEVER COME to this stupid town!"

Dawn shrunk away, at the turn he'd shown from panic to anger. "What are you-"

"She won't stop!" he shook his head. His eyes glazed over with a crazed expression. "She won't stop…unless…"

Ben lunged at the young girl and placed his hands around her neck. Dawn tried to scream, but his hands closed off her air supply, and a strangled gargle was all she was able to get out. Her eyes darted from him to around the room, praying for help to come. Her vision started to blur, then fade to black, as she began to lose consciousness.

And then, without warning, the pressure stopped, and soft hands removed themselves from around her windpipe. Dawn collapsed to the ground and took in painfully deep breaths. As soon as she could, she backed away from the body still standing over her, but she found a wholly different person staring down at her.

Ben was no longer there, and a woman wearing his scrubs took his place. She sneered down at the little girl in front of her as if she was staring at a worm writhing on hot cement. Her face was young and beautiful, but cruel. Haughty. Her mass of blonde wavy curls fell perfectly around her face and shoulders, with bright red lips that appeared to have been permanently dyed the color of rich blood.

"Okaaaaaay," the terrifying woman began. "So…I'm at the hospital and with some chick who I've never seen before. What's your name, cutie pie?"

Although she didn't want to answer, Dawn felt compelled to do so. "D-D-Dawn."

"Ah," the woman curtly acknowledged. "Well, Duh-Duh-Dawnie, what, may I ask were you talking to dear old Benji about?"

"W-w-who are you?"

"Answering my question with a question?" the blonde tsked disapprovingly. "Fine," she smiled. "I'll give you that one, but no more being difficult, okay Dawnie? I'm the one and only Glorificus, mighty goddess of…well," she looked around. "Not THIS dump, that's for sure. So, now you get to try again, small fry." Her demeanor changed, then, with her tongue and eyes becoming razor sharp. "What were you and Ben talking about?"

"N-n-nothing. My mother," she improvised. "He helped my mother get better. She had a tumor."

Glorificus narrowed her eyes. "Well isn't that sweet. Good old Ben. But, listen, I don't care about that," she said and then thought for a second. "I don't have much time, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you were talking about more than your mommy, to make me feel the need to make my grand entrance. So," she grabbed the teen and yanked her up to her feet. "Wanna try that again, girly? You only have one more strike, and then we can't be friends, anymore."

The grip on the girl's arm tightened then, and Dawn let out a whimper. "Please!" she begged. The grip tightened further. "My sister is the Slayer!" she called out, then, more reflexively than anything.

Glorificus loosened her hold, but only slightly. "The Slayer? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"She's the Vampire Slayer!"

"Ugh," the goddess disgustedly responded. "Do I look like a vampire to you?" Dawn shook her head rapidly. "Why should I care about your sister? Why would Ben care?"

"B-Ben doesn't know she's the Slayer, I only told him…" she stopped herself before revealing too much. She needed a way to dig out of this hole. And Dawn feared there was only one thing to do: tell the truth. Some of it, anyway.

"Told. Him. WHAT?" Glorificus' grip tightened, again, and Dawn almost buckled under the pain.

"My sister met with some old men who came into town. They told her to look for a key!"

The goddess threw Dawn into a chair and clapped giddily. Dawn massaged the bruised forearm and thought of every possible method of escape available to her. The blonde woman was obviously super strong. Like, Buffy-strong…maybe even stronger. If I run, will she catch me? What if she has, like, super speed, too, or something?

"What a coincidence! I'm looking for The Key, too! Small world, huh? I KNEW it was somewhere in this trash bag of a town! I could feel it."

"Y-you can…s-sense it?"

Glorificus frowned. "No," she admitted. "I mean, if I wasn't stuck in this little body, I could. But, hello! Stuck in this dumb mortal realm and forced to abide by its petty rules and physics! Dumb, dumb, DUMB!" The goddess hit her forehead with the heel of her hand, then pushed her palm against her temple. "Where is it? Where's my Key? I need it!" she whined.

Dawn slowly stood, trying to retreat without inciting the woman holding her hostage to charge.

"Stop right there, little girl," Glorificus practically growled. "You're not going anywhere until I have my key!"

Need to stall. Dammit, where's Angelus, now that I actually need his help?

"Wha-what does it look like, this Key?"

Glorificus beamed, then, reminiscing in her own twisted mind. "Oh, it's so beautiful and bright! The last time I saw it, it was this vibrant green ball of energy that just pulsed with power!" She pressed her palms together, with the tips of both hands at her lips. "I only saw it for a moment, before those horrible monks ran away with it." Her eyes darkened and she pulled her hands away. "I had my minions chase them down, taking them out one by one, but they never brought me my Key. I killed the last monk myself, but he hid my Key somewhere in this crappy town, and he wouldn't tell me where!

"I even did a spell, to summon a creature to find it. The pet of one of your world's puny gods. Worthless croc never even came back! What is wrong with this place?" she lamented. "So, do you know where my Key is or not, little miss?"

"I-I-I-" Dawn helplessly stammered.

"I-I-I WHAT?" Glorificus yelled to interrupt the frightened child. "I-I-I think you're pretty useless! And I-I-I think you have NO IDEA where my Key is! And I-I-I think that this conversation is OVER!"

The blonde woman hit her head with her hand, again, clearly in pain.

"OW! I HATE THIS BODY! I HATE THIS PLACE! I need…I need…" She reached for Dawn with both hands heading for either side of the young brunette's head, hobbling over to her. Dawn jumped up and away from the oncoming goddess, running through the room and out the door.

"DON'T RUN! DON'T-"

Dawn didn't stop until she was outside the hospital, where Angelus was leaning against a tree. She caught her breath, while the vampire smirked at the young girl, amused by her distress.

"How'd the field trip go, little sis?" he mockingly asked.

"I saw –" breath. "I saw –" breath. "I saw – Glorificus!" she finally rasped out.

Angelus' brows knitted together, perplexed. "Who?"

Across town, Giles was preparing for bed, when there was an unexpected knock at his front door. He called out to let the person on the other side know that they needed to wait, then he proceeded to put on his robe and slippers. Making his way down the stairs, he called out again to let the knocker know that he was on his way to answer.

He opened the heavy wooden door to reveal Jenny, smiling broadly on the other side.

"Jenny!" he beamed back at her in greeting, then sheepishly stared at his casual attire. She'd seen him in less, of course, but it was still unnerving to welcome his girlfriend back into his apartment at such a late hour and in a state of undress.

He wanted to reach for her, but he noticed that she didn't carry anything on her. No purse, no suitcase. Nothing to show that she was staying.

"Rupert," she lovingly cooed back, glancing past him and then looking at him expectantly. "I've missed you so much!"

"Are you not staying?" he asked wistfully. "Is your job not done?"

"Yes, of course it's done!" she smiled, shaking her head. He glanced, again, at her empty hands. "May I come in?"

He met her smile with his own relieved one. "Do you even have to ask?" He stepped back and allowed her room to pass.

She stayed on the doorstep and pouted. "I always appreciate my boyfriend being a perfect English gentleman."

He laughed at that, continuing to hold the door open for her. When she didn't budge, he hesitated.

"Jenny…what's wrong?"

Ms. Calendar gave a coy grin and placed her hands on the top button of her blouse. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired, and I want to go to bed. And if you don't invite me in soon, I'll just have to strip down on your doormat, right here, right now." She pouted prettily, as she unbuttoned the blouse fully and showcased the bra underneath.

Giles blushed, then shook himself out of the moment. He cleared his throat and forced himself to keep a level head.

"Why do you…need an invitation?" he asked quietly. His heart beat heavily in his chest, and, although his mind wanted to jump to conclusions, he wasn't willing to delve into any of the dark ideas that were pressing on the outer banks of his consciousness.

"Come on, Rupert," she rolled her eyes. "I'm cold, out here. Can I come in, please?"

His face steeled. His heart sank.

"I'm not sure you can," he whispered.

Jenny laughed lightly. "What?" She became more serious, when Giles' expression remained unchanged. "Rupert," she responded in an equally tender whisper, "what is this? Can I come in or not? Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

"Jenny," he spoke evenly and clearly. "Why do you need my permission to enter?"

She laughed, again. "I don't need permission! I was just trying to be a polite, well-mannered girlfriend! Sorry if I-"

"I have a terrible feeling," Giles interrupted, "that you can't come in…because you can't cross the threshold without an invitation." Her head tilted in disbelief. "But I would be beyond relieved, if you would prove me wrong."

He turned and walked away, walking back toward the staircase railing and waiting, anxiously, to hear the sound of footsteps on his hardwood floor.

But, when he faced her once more, her true countenance was on display.

The ridges in her forehead and the bridge of her nose cut along her smooth skin. Skin that would, in her human form, be forever smooth and unblemished. Unaging. Her deep, soulful brown eyes were replaced by the eerily-bright yellow that gave her a hardened look. She sneered at her former lover and showed off her deadly fangs.

"I should've known you'd figure it out, Rupert," she spoke with a low growl. "So smart. Such a clever boy."

"Jenny," he whispered, collapsing to sit where he was at. "What happened to you?" His voice cracked.