A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed! You guys are always so amazing and supportive. Please keep them up they totally make my day! Sorry this chapter took a bit longer than expected, I haven't been feeling very well. I hope you all enjoy it.

Special thanks to my amazing beta Charlotte!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Twelve

Dawn awoke at the same time she did every morning, only this morning she was struck with the realization she wasn't in her own bed. She stared in confusion at the underside of a vinyl tent. The lack of a wooden ceiling brought the day before rushing back in technicolor and surround sound. Soft breathing sounds came from the sleeping bag next to her and a gentle smile formed on her lips when she turned over and saw her sister lying there.

It had been a long time since Dawn had slept a full night soundly and she could only attribute that to the presence of her sister. She had been so worried over these past few months, terrified her incompetence had gotten Buffy killed as well.

For the first time in her life, she understood exactly what Buffy dealt with daily. She understood with perfect clarity what it was to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she also knew how it felt to fail miserably. For if it hadn't been for Dawn not trusting a feeling that had consumed her for months, everyone might have known about the danger before it got out of control.

When the feeling first started she didn't know what to make of it. She had just started the Watcher's Academy, having finally finishing up her Masters in linguistics and ancient history at Oxford. At first she credited this feeling of wrongness to starting a new school. Like, she was subconsciously second guessing her career path or something. But no, that couldn't have been right either, because she loved what she was learning. She had already surpassed most of her classmates by the firsthand knowledge she'd gained from growing up with Buffy on the Hellmouth and all her teachers had begun to rave that she would be training a Slayer by her second year. So, after a while she dismissed the notion it was school related and tried to ignore it, but it didn't go away.

The strange nightmares started after that; dreams of abandoned cities and overgrown towns. No monsters or enemies populated these dreams, just an empty lonely feeling. Like she was the only person left on earth. She found herself becoming obsessed with odd subjects of study, things she never had any interest in prior. She ate up any book she could get her hands on that had anything to do with survival techniques, hunting, herbal medicine, and map reading. This obsession was confusing and she didn't understand it at all.

She learned many things growing up on the Hellmouth. Monsters existed and her sister was a superhero. Above all, she learned that next to her keyness, she was completely human. Prophetic dreams weren't her thing. She didn't have a spider sense and she was definitely no seer; but when those first reports of cannibalism started to pour in and that urgent feeling intensified, she couldn't ignore it any longer. That was the moment she acknowledged the fear and she immediately called Buffy. When she hadn't been able to reach her, she called Giles in her stead.

Her heart ached at the memory of her surrogate father, and she had to swallow back sudden tears. He was the only one she'd told about the feeling, and he hadn't judged her for not saying something sooner. Not even after Kennedy had succumbed to the illness and attacked Giles did he blame her. Not even when he took his last breath.

It was just too bad she couldn't stop blaming herself.

No one knew of the thoughts and doubts that terrorized her daily. That she had made such a miscalculated error in judgment. She should have known. She should have done something. God, if she'd just made one phone call, everything could have been avoided.

Her guilt was like a heavy dark cloud around her. This was her punishment, living in this world where every dead face she saw was her fault, was her doing. This was what she deserved for ignoring such a red flag.

God, she wondered what Buffy would say when she inevitably told her. She had a pretty good idea, at least, she thought she did. 'God, I hope I do.' Okay, she needed to stop now before she gave herself a panic attack. She was heading into what she lovingly called Buffy-logic-land and that way lead to madness.

The truth was Dawn had no way of knowing on any given day how Buffy would react. It could go one of two ways. Either Buffy would have a freak out session about always trusting your instincts, or she would try and console Dawn and tell her it wasn't her fault. As far as she was concerned, neither of those reactions would help solve anything. They needed to find out what this was and why she was the only one who got any warning. Furthermore, they needed to find out what Pandora's Box had to do with the Key, because Dawn could honestly think of no other reason for her to have felt this otherwise.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much left in the Watchers' archives about the Key. The First had taken care of those years ago, and anything that had been left about her origin she had read in full. She just hoped there was something she missed when they started researching Pandora.

Dawn yawned, before studying her sister's sleeping form. Buffy had seemed exhausted last night, like she hadn't slept in days, and judging by how well she knew her sister, that probably wasn't too far off the mark.

Stretching, Dawn stifled another yawn and checked the time on her watch before forcing herself to leave the warmth of her sleeping bag. She figured Buffy could use a couple more hours of sleep after the events of last night. It was still early yet, and Dawn wanted to clear her head a bit before jumping back on the research bandwagon.

She figured if she was going for a walk anyway she might as well make the most of it. Her supply of healing herbs for the salves she made was getting low. She'd mostly depleted them around Wolf City, and she wanted to see what she could find here in Georgia.

She reached for the pack she brought, pulling out a pair of clean clothes. As she was dressing she heard Buffy mumble her name.

"I'm here." Dawn whispered, before pulling her shirt over her head.

"What time is it?" Her sister asked with a groan.

"Still early," Dawn paused. "It's okay. Go back to sleep. I'll be back in a little while." Dawn reached for her leather satchel, as well as the collection jars she brought with her.

"Wait," Buffy said, slowly sitting up with a yawn. "Where are you going?"

The desperation in Buffy's voice coaxed a warm smile to her face. "Going for a walk, just need to clear my head," Dawn paused. "Also wanted to see if I could resupply some of the herbs I've been missing."

"Oh, right." Buffy yawned again, "I forgot you recently got into that."

Dawn cringed slightly, but not enough for her sister to pick up on it in her half-asleep state. "Umm…Yeah…I don't know why. It was really just kinda a fluke thing, you know?" Dawn cringed even further at the panicked lie.

"Yah." Buffy acknowledged groggily while she rubbed at her eyes. She opened them for a second, only to slam them shut again and flop back down on her side with a groan. "Don't go far, kay?" She murmured, and as an afterthought added. "And take a weapon too."

"Already got it." Dawn said, holding up her machete.

Buffy's blood shot eyes squinted at the weapon. "Take a gun." Buffy mumbled. "In my bag," she vaguely gestured around her as her voice tapered off and her breathing evened out.

Dawn smiled softly, stepping over to Buffy and kissing her on the cheek. She reached for Buffy's pack, retrieving the gun out of the side pocket. She checked the safety, before tucking it into the back of her pants and heading out.

*o*o*

Shane was just coming off watch when he saw the young brunette heading towards the woods. He frowned, concern for her flooding his system. He had been planning on talking to Lori this morning about the news of them having a little girl.

Oh, he remembered what she said about it not being his, even if it was, but he wasn't willing to throw in the towel on this one. He had thought about it long and hard all night and came to one defining answer. He could let her go, he could go back to only thinking of Carl as Rick's son and not his own, but Shane knew in his heart of hearts that the little girl growing inside Lori was his. He didn't know how he knew, he just did.

He had planned on asking Lori for the right to participate in the raising of the baby once she was born. He wanted to know his daughter, even if she only called him Uncle Shane and no one ever told her the truth. He felt it was his right to know her, even if that meant sharing her with Rick and pretending she wasn't his blood. Which, would be a real bitch in and of itself, but he could do it. He could be the bigger man. He could compromise. He just didn't want to be treated like he didn't matter in this.

It wasn't right; the way Lori just disregarded the possibility of that baby being his. It made his blood boil just thinking about it. He would never do that to someone, not even if he hated them, and the way she bounced from one extreme to another confused the shit out of him.

He wondered idly when he finally realized Lori wasn't the person he thought she was. He'd been thinking along these lines for the past couple days and the only thing that made any sense was that damn picture he saw, and then last night. God, the picture came to life and the girl was right in front of him. He'd been stunned, completely tongue tied by her, and to make the situation worse he'd just found out she was Buffy's fucking little sister. Like, he didn't already have enough problems to contend with.

If he could, he would simply bed the girl to get this gnawing, festering sensation out of his chest. He wanted his head back in the right place, not in the clouds constantly analyzing every little thing he said or did. Jesus, he'd only just met the girl and he was acting like a fucking school kid with his first goddamn crush. He just wanted to feel normal again, or as normal as one could feel in this fucked up piece of shit world. But, that was just it wasn't it? He'd been in the girl's presence for less than a full hour last night and he felt more like himself in those forty minutes than he had since the world went to hell.

He shook his head in disbelief. There was no way that slip of a girl had anything to do with his new found revelations or the sudden calm he had felt last night. The picture had only been a reminder that Lori wasn't the only fish in the sea and the calm he had felt, well, that had to be left over from the spell they had all helped cast.

He realized now exactly why he had been so utterly jealous of Rick, and why he'd fought his best friend every step of the way. For the first time in his life, Shane has experienced a taste of what having a family was like, and he'd been consumed by it. He realized he wanted it more than anything he'd ever wanted before. He wanted a child he could call his own, and he wanted a woman who really loved him. He realized he was the asshole who stood back and watched everyone's life play out, envious of what others had, but too afraid to go out and find it himself.

As he watched Dawn disappear into the trees, he knew his plan to talk to Lori had been completely shot to hell and he cursed under his breath. He wasn't angry at the girl per se. He was angry at himself. He shouldn't have cared about what happened to her, but was hit with a wave of concern all the same.

She should know better than to go wondering around alone like that. She wasn't a child for Christ's sake. Even Carl seemed to have better sense.

His feet started heading after her of their own accord, and before he even realized it he was following the path she took. It didn't take him long to find her either, and when he did he stopped short at the sight she presented.

She was on her knees with one of them gardening shovels. A trowel he thought it was called. She had gloves on, and she was digging the roots up of a large bush with spikey purple and green bulbs.

She was humming? She was actually fucking humming, and when he realized she had half a headphone on his face pinched in anger. Was she crazy doing that out here in the woods, and what the hell she was doing anyway? But, instead of barking at her like he wanted to, he found himself gruffly saying, "You really shouldn't be out here alone."

Dawn visibly jumped at his voice. Her entire body stiffened and she whirled around the trowel ready to be used as a weapon if need be. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was only him. "God, you scared me." She breathed.

He shrugged. "You're lucky it wasn't someone else. Coulda snatched you up right quick, and we'd of never known."

Dawn blushed at the reprimand. He was probably right about that, though it didn't seem like these woods were inhabited by to many people besides the Greene family. "I wasn't aware I needed to worry about anyone but Walkers out here." She commented, turning back to her task at hand.

Shane smiled at her feistiness, coming over to crouch beside her. "I always say, it's better to be safe than sorry."

Dawn snorted. "I hate to break it to you buddy, but you're not the only one that says it."

Shane chuckled at her quick wit. That was definitely something that both Summers women had in common and he once again felt that strange calm wash over him. He watched as she managed to pull up the first root and finally his curiosity got the best of him. "What in the world are you doin' anyway?"

Dawn smiled. "This is known as Burdock." She said holding up the root. "Its roots are used for healing skin infections, among other natural remedies." When all Shane did was keep staring blankly, she elaborated. "I'm almost out of my stash of natural herbs for making healing salves and wanted to see what I could find out here."

"Oh," He said as understanding dawned. He gave her a boyish smile, before asking. "You're real smart, huh?"

She looked at him sharply, trying to read if it was a slight on her, or him just making an observation. When she realized it was the latter, her face softened and she shrugged. "I hope so. My sister and the WC paid good money to make sure."

He snorted, completely charmed by her sarcasm and modesty. She was absolutely nothing like he expected and definitely not what he was used too. "Where'd you go to school?"

"Oxford." She said matter-of-factly, like that was an everyday occurrence in these parts. Shane's eyes widened at her statement. "I have a Masters in Linguistics and Ancient History." She added.

"Woo wee girl!" Shane said teasing her. "Ain't you just Miss Sophisticated?"

Dawn's eyes narrowed. "I doubt that, I'm just a geek with the means."

"You ain't no geek." Shane said, amusement sparking in his brown eyes.

She looked at him a long time, before replying in her usual sarcastic manner. "I'm not sure you're aware, but since you were in high school," She put extra emphasis on you. "Geek is no longer a derogatory term." Dawn paused, frowning when she realized he was smiling at her. "Are you fu- messing with me?" She cut her cursing off before it could start, 'Thank you Spike, for teaching me that at such a young age.'

Shane's smile widened. "Maybe." He responded cockily, but before she could respond back, his face became serious. "Figure since I ain't goin' nowhere until you're done with what you're doin', I may as well help you."

Dawn blinked at him in surprise." Seriously?"

"Yah girl." He chuckled. "Your sister would have my balls in a mason jar if I just left you to your own devices."

Dawn frowned at him in annoyance. "My sister knows where I am, Shane."

"Uh huh." Shane said. "And how awake was she when you asked?"

That seemed to piss her off even more he realized, when her frown deepened into a scowl. "Awake enough to remind me to take a gun." She snapped, pulling out the offending object and pointing it at him.

A low whistle hissed through his teeth and he held up his hands. "Damn girl, I didn't mean no offence." He paused, before adding, "You even know how to use that thing?"

Her face went bright red in anger or embarrassment, he wasn't quite sure which. Until, she cocked that hammer on her weapon and asked snidely. "You wanna find out?"

Damn, but she was something, wasn't she? Her blue eyes all full of angry fire like that. She was one hell of a little spitfire he realized. "Now, is that anyway to treat the guy who's just lookin' out for you?"

She snorted at that. "Yeah, I'll believe it when I actually see it."

"I'm here ain't I?" Shane said simply.

Dawn rolled her eyes at him and lowered the gun. "And who exactly decided to make you my keeper?"

His eyebrows shot up at her words, and he shook his head in disbelief. "Your sister," He said again. "Hence, the balls in the mason jar comment."

She made a noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a mixture of amusement and exasperation. "I can take care of myself, thanks. I really don't need a babysitter."

Shane sighed, running his hand over his skull trimmed head. "Well I ain't leavin' you, so you may as well make the most of my company."

Looking thoroughly annoyed at his words, there was something else in her eyes too. He couldn't quite place it, but he almost thought it was gratitude. "Fine," She snapped. "Be a stubborn jackass."

She turned back to her task and didn't say anything for a long time, which was fine with Shane. It gave him more time to study her. She really was quite beautiful. Her soft features matching that of her sister's. They both had a pixie like quality to them, the shape of their faces, the angle of their nose, but where Buffy was hard and cold in her countenance, Dawn seemed to have a quiet cunning way about her. She also looked older than her sister he realized, which he found kind of strange considering their age difference.

He mentally snorted at himself. After everything he'd recently seen nothing should seem bizarre anymore, but wrapping his head around the idea of the supernatural was one hard pill to swallow after being taught all his life that monsters weren't real.

Shane noticed her looking at him out of the corner of her eye every once in a while, until she finally let out a long quiet sigh. She looked at him, the irritation from earlier all but banished from her features. "You really wanna help?" She asked, almost timidly.

He was surprised by her sudden change in demeanor but he didn't let it show. "Wouldn't of offered if I didn't." He said sincerely. "Who knows," He added, a bit of teasing in his voice. "Might actually learn somthin'."

Dawn cracked a smile at that, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Don't beat yourself up about it. We can't all be prodigies."

Shane chuckled, a devilish smile on his face. "I'll have you know I was quite the prodigy back in the day, just not when it came to schoolin'."

"Hmm," Dawn hummed. "I can imagine."

It was on the tip of his tongue to blurt out the sudden remark that popped in his head at her words, and if it had been anyone else he would have. Instead, he swallowed it down and changed the subject back to the original topic. "So what you need me to do?"

She blinked in surprise, almost as if she'd been expecting a different response. She seemed to shake it off quickly though, and the next second she was explaining how to dig the roots out of the soil.

*o*o*

Dawn had been gone a few hours when Buffy was startled awake by a frantic Rick bursting into her tent in a panic. She was on her feet in a flash at the sudden interruption to her sleep. He was lucky she realized it was him when she did or he might have received an up close and personal demonstration of her full strength. He seemed to realize his error too because he froze, his eyes widening at the fist that had stopped a hair's breath away from impact.

"Jesus, Rick." Buffy chastised groggily, lowering her arm. "I could have killed you."

"Sorry." He breathed, shaking his head. "But we gotta real big problem."

She gave him her full attention. Her sleep addled brain quickly clearing at his words. "What?"

"Randall slipped his cuffs." Rick admitted. "And we can't find Shane neither."

The mention of the latter made Buffy's eyes travel to the empty sleeping bag, and the muddled memory of her sister leaving slammed into her like a freight train. 'Okay, okay! Dawnie was a level headed girl. She wouldn't be stupid enough to go for someone like Shane unless she knew him. Would she?'

"Well," Buffy said a humorless laugh spilling from her lips. "We may have to kill Shane. Or," She added underneath her breath. "I might have to kill them both."

Rick's eyes traveled to the empty sleeping bag after that and he frowned. "Where's your sis?"

"She went for a walk to see what healing herbs she could find." Buffy answered, a hysterical note entering her voice as a thousand different horrible scenarios played out in her head.

"When was this?" Rick asked, understanding dawning in his eyes.

"Early." She said worry lines etched on her face. "Probably around five. I-I didn't check my watch."

He frowned. "That's right around the time Shane woulda been coming off his shift." A weight slowly began to lift as a relieved sigh hissed from his lips. If Shane noticed Dawn wandering into the woods Rick was almost positive his former partner would have gone after the girl. He was pretty sure Buffy wasn't too happy about it, but a selfish part of him didn't care.

He didn't want to fight with his friend anymore, and he knew exactly where their recent rivalry was heading. It was a path Rick couldn't even imagine taking no matter how hard Shane pushed. He found himself relieved by Buffy's sister's presence. He'd seen the way he looked at Dawn last night and found himself thanking whatever God was listening for the immediate interest Shane had taken in the young woman.

Buffy glared at the man. She could almost see his thoughts by his facial expressions. "That's what I'm worried about."

Rick was startled out of his musing by Buffy's voice, and he looked at her in surprise. "I don't think he would act on it Buffy, at least not this soon. If Shane did accompany her, it was to protect her."

Buffy looked at Rick a contemplative frown marring her face, "I know," She finally answered. "I don't think he's that kind of evil." She paused as her shoulders slumped. "I'm just being the overbearing big sister I suppose. I just don't want to see her hurt."

"Buffy," Rick started, "There ain't nothin' wrong with that, but you gotta admit Dawn being here is definitely gonna ease the tension between me and him. You saw how he looked at her." Rick paused. "I aint never seen him look at a girl like that." He sighed sadly, finally adding. "Not even Lori."

Buffy's eyes softened into one of sympathy and she was about to respond when both of them heard a far off cry. It sounded almost like a bird at first, but the pitch was off and the way it suddenly cut out, rather than tapering off, had Buffy's eyes widening in horror. There was only one person in this world capable of belting out a scream of that magnitude and Buffy was moving before her brain even registered what was going on.

*o*o*

Oz walked around the inside of the barn, a frown plastered on his face as he sniffed at the air. "Man, I don't know why Rick and Dale are so sure Shane had anything to do with Randall escaping." He shook his head annoyed and looked at Daryl and T-dog. "He hasn't even been in here."

Daryl nodded having already discerned that from the few tracks he could see on the ground. "Ain't nobody recently been in here except Carol, and there ain't no way she woulda set him loose."

"So then where the hell is Shane at?" T-Dog asked.

Both men shrugged. "Ain't really our problem now is…" Daryl abruptly stopped and frowned at the strange cry he suddenly heard. He didn't notice the way Oz stiffened or the way the man pupils had grown to an inhuman size, he was too focused on the strange noise coming from quite a long distance away. It cut off suddenly and his frown deepened. "Ain't never heard no bird that sounded like that before."

"That's because it wasn't a bird." Oz said, his voice already deepening as he felt the wolf take a bit of control, "Only one girl capable of screaming that loud." He said, his feet already carrying him to the exit. "And if she's hurt, whoever did it's gonna wish they were never born."

*o*o*

Dawn couldn't stop giggling at the story Shane was telling. She had tried not to let him charm her. She really had, but he was real smooth in the way he managed to slip under her defenses so quickly. He'd gotten her to smile at him. Which, she tried with all her might to prevent, and now he'd gotten her to laugh.

It wasn't that she was trying to be a bitch for bitchiness's sake, and it also wasn't because she didn't find him attractive. She so totally did. She just wasn't stupid. The look on Andrea's face at Shane's sudden interest in her, and the look on Shane's face when Lori had found out she was having a girl painted a pretty obvious picture. Shane was what she loving referred to in college as a manwhore, or at least she thought he was. Now, she wasn't so sure.

He had been a perfect gentleman all morning, barely even flirting with her. That definitely threw her for a proverbial loop and she was irritated he wasn't acting like she expected. He wasn't supposed to be funny and sweet. He wasn't even supposed to be halfway smart. He was supposed to be a meathead. He was supposed to be a cocky, arrogant, asshole. That way she could hate him and ignore the heated looks he shot her every once in a while, but now here she was laughing at his story and giving the looks right back. Dammit, she was so going to find a way to blame this on him.

"I can't believe you did that to your Principles car." She said shaking her head, as the giggles began to die down.

"Yah, well, I was a lot more fun back then." Shane said, a small chuckle leaving his lips.

She smiled at him. Her eyes once again going to the fading bruises she could see on his face. She didn't mean to ask. She really didn't, but before she could stop herself her curiosity got the best of her and the words spilled from her mouth. "How'd you get the bruises?"

Shane sobered at her words, his eyes immediately finding the soil on his hands interesting. "Just had a disagreement is all."

"With Rick." She concluded.

At first she thought he wouldn't confirm it, but then he let out a long sigh, his hand immediately rubbing at his skull trimmed hair. "Yah." He said quietly. "Yah it was Rick."

Dawn bit her lip, wanting to push a little bit more, but not sure if she should. The next second she realized she didn't have to because his words pretty much verified what she had been suspecting since last night.

"Your sis tell you what's goin' on? Tried to warn you away from me?" He asked, his dark brown eyes meeting hers.

Dawn shook her head and said quietly. "She didn't have to. I have a pretty good set of eyes and I'm very perceptive."

Shane smiled gently at her, almost sadly. "That you are girl. That you are."

Dawn was quiet for a long time, finally getting the courage to ask. "You wanna…you wanna talk about it?" She smiled at him softly, before adding. "I've been told I'm a very good listener."

Shane shrugged, his dark eyes breaking contact. "Ain't a lot to talk about, thought Rick was dead. Me and Lori got…close." He chuckled bitterly and shook his head. "Obviously I was wrong."

Dawn frowned at the man. "How long was Rick gone before you guys, you know."

He looked at her, shrugging again. "About a month."

She bit her lip in contemplation. That really wasn't a whole lot of time, but then again people did stupid things when they were hurting. Dawn could attest to that from personal experience. Her next question she almost didn't want to know the answer to, but she was never one to run from things so she forced herself to ask. "Do you…Do you love her?"

Shane looked at her surprised and just as he opened his mouth to reply, Dawn caught movement out of the corner of her eye, but by then it was too late. The plank of wood slammed into Shane's face eliciting a sickening crunch as it shattered his nose. He went sprawling on his back with a loud thud and painful groan.

Dawn screamed in horror as she watched the assailant strike Shane again in the face knocking him unconscious. She scrambled for her gun. Her fingers finding the cool steel, but before she could raise the gun fully, the kid slammed the plank down on her wrist eliciting another ear shattering shriek from the girl.

Dawn was almost positive her wrist was broken, the pain making it difficult to think or see straight. She scrambled away blindly; adrenaline the only thing guiding her, but it was far too late. She felt the barrel of the gun press against her temple as a hand wound itself in her hair and she froze.

"Well now." A voice said. "Aint you just a pretty little thing."

E/N: So as you can see we are starting to get to the end of Season Two of TWD, and hope nobody minds that I've changed so much. I would also like to request anyone with fanart talent, and I would be eternally grateful if someone made a banner for this story. I hope you all enjoyed it, and don't forget to review.