It was a little after midnight in Sunnydale, and everyone in the Summers household was already fast asleep.

Well... almost everyone.

Dawn was cautiously quiet as she left her room and stepped softly down the hall. She opened the door to Buffy's room gently, careful not to do anything that might wake her sister.

As she approached the bed, she noticed that, even though Buffy was fast asleep, a troubled expression was tainting her normally calm features. Of course, Dawn knew exactly why her sister wasn't sleeping peacefully, and in matter-of-fact, hadn't been sleeping very well for quite some time now.

It was during the summer that Buffy had begun having vivid nightmares, nearly always ending with her waking up in tears. The moment Dawn would hear her sister's cries she would rush from her room to be at Buffy's side, simply holding and comforting her sister, often until the older girl had fallen back asleep. It had taken several such instances before Dawn had finally been able to get Buffy to open up enough to explain the reason for her nightmares.

Suffice to say, Dawn hadn't been pleased with the answer.

Spike.

It was once a name that conjured a feeling of safety and comfort for Dawn.

Although ever since the events of last year, all that name evoked in her was disgust. It was a vile reminder of the pain and isolation that Buffy had been through after the slayer's traumatic return from heaven.

Dawn knew that Spike could have lessened Buffy's downward spiral, if only he hadn't been so damn selfish in his interests. If he had just tried to clue someone else in on what Buffy was going through, or maybe shared what he knew with Dawn and the others, then perhaps they all could have worked to help Buffy deal with her emotional issues.

Unfortunately, it wasn't how things ended up turning out.

Instead of helping her, Spike had tried to drag Buffy further into the darkness, intent on showing her that she was just like him. The blonde slayer had went along with the idea at first, but when she finally found the will to resist and put an end to things, he couldn't understand why she had left him.

He became convinced that Buffy was in denial, that she truly loved him, but when he tried to persuade her to believe that, she rebuffed the idea completely. However, he became desperate to convince her, and in his unstable emotional state his unwanted advances had quickly degenerated into a violent physical attack.

Dawn shuddered at the thought of what he had done, and of what he had almost succeeded in doing, to her sister. So, when she later found out he had left Sunnydale without so much as a word to anyone, she never expected to see him again.

Of course, expectations are not the same as guarantees, and Dawn was shocked to later learn of Spike's unannounced return to Sunnydale. What was worse was the fact that Buffy had found out about it earlier, yet she had neglected to mention it to anyone, even her own sister.

When he had just showed up at their front door, offering to help with their latest demon problem, Dawn was very surprised that Buffy didn't just stake him on the spot. Although truthfully what was more shocking was when Buffy actually agreed to accept his help in dealing with their latest monster problem.

Dawn had immediately wanted to object to her sister's idea, but it was Xander who spoke up first, clearly making known his distaste for the idea of Spike being anywhere near Buffy. The Slayer confidently reassured her friend that she could take care of herself, and though both Dawn and Xander weren't happy with her choice, they had reluctantly acquiesced to her decision.

That night Dawn had patiently waited until Buffy had stepped outside, but as soon as the slayer was out of earshot, she took the opportunity to call Spike aside and give the vampire a simple, yet final, warning...

"Spike. You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep.", Dawn did her best to keep her voice cold and emotionless.

"Yeah.", Spike had replied curiously. "What's your point, niblet?"

"Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep."

She spoke in a matter-of-fact way, lowering her voice as she stepped closer to the vampire.

"If you hurt my sister... touch her in any way... you're gonna wake up on fire."

Dawn's determined look conveyed the seriousness of her remark.

Spike had said nothing in response to her threat, but his stunned expression and silent demeanor was enough to convince Dawn that he had gotten the message.

Or so she had thought.

Now here it is, months later, and Spike was living in the basement of her home. Dawn had been none-too-pleased with the decision, but she had been given very little say in the matter, so she had refrained from any measure of serious protest.

The fact was, ever since Buffy had found out about Spike's newly reacquired soul, the slayer's resolution to limit her contact with the vampire had been slowly eroding away. Dawn knew that her sister's overdeveloped sense of compassion for the ensouled vampire was gradually winning out over the combination of common sense and Buffy's memories of all the negative things Spike had done to her in the past.

Now, at first Buffy had simply enlisted Xander's help in the matter, convincing him to let Spike stay in his apartment, figuring that the school basement was somehow making the vampire crazy because of its proximity to the Hellmouth. Of course, Xander had been very resistant to helping Spike out in any way at all, but in the end he agreed to Buffy's plan, and the initial arrangement had worked out okay for a while.

That is, until Buffy found out about Spike's trigger.

So, instead of keeping Spike at a distance like Buffy had originally planned, he had ended up becoming her pet redemption project. It was almost as if she viewed Spike's soul as a second chance to set things right, to help fix things in a way that she wasn't able to when Angel had regained his soul.

Dawn knew that Buffy would never admit it, but the younger girl was certain that this was the main reason for her sister's change of heart. Yet, she also knew that dealing with this situation was causing Buffy more confusion and pain than the blond slayer would ever truthfully admit. It had left her emotionally divided between her hatred for the vampire, and her compassion for the restored soul that was trapped within. The stress of this internal conflict was slowly tearing Buffy apart, one small piece at a time.

When Dawn had begun to realize how great a toll this was taking on her sister, she committed herself to do something about it. After much consideration, she decided that in order for Buffy to regain her center and rediscover her inner strength, something would have to be done about the situation with Spike.

Fortunately, she had already been preparing for just such an eventuality.

Dawn broke from her reverie, her thoughts returning to the present moment. She was fully aware that as she had been watching Buffy sleep and thinking about their past, she had been coming to final terms with what she was about to do for her sister. For a brief moment, she wonders how the older girl will react when she eventually discovers what Dawn has done. However, she immediately dismisses the thought, firmly resolving to finish her task, no matter what Buffy's reaction will eventually be.

The younger girl brushed an errant lock of hair away from her sister's face, gently tucking it behind the slayer's ear. Buffy's troubled expression softened when she felt the soothing touch, and her features became momentarily calm and peaceful. Dawn leaned forward, placing a compassionate kiss on her sister's forehead, pulling away as she whispered her apologies.

"I'm sorry Buffy, but I'm doing this for you. I know you'll forgive me."

With those final words, she turned and left the slayer's bedroom, intent on saving her sister.