AUTHOR'S NOTE I mentioned a lot of Max's other siblings – those in my "Max's Family" universe – a full description can be found in chapter two. Enjoy! Sorry for the delay! And FYI, in case you didn't realize it, this is a Buffy AU in which nothing that came after "The Gift" happened, so Tara's not dead and Buffy still is.

DISCLAIMER Don't own them, except the ones that I made up. List in chapter two.

…

Chapter Nine

Dawn looked nervously at the clock on her stove. Willow laughed. "Don't be so nervous! She'll be here."

Dawn looked at her, surprised. "How can you tell I'm nervous?"

If Willow could have glared, she would have. "Dawn, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I don't still know you. Syl will come. Don't worry."

Dawn sighed and dropped onto the couch. "Okay."

Willow sat down next to her. "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"What does Syl look like?"

Willow's question caught Dawn off guard. "Uh, what?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I was just wondering what she looked like."

Dawn glanced around the room, wanting to look anywhere but Willow. The truth was, she didn't want to talk about what Syl looked like, because she looked very much like Buffy and it was killing her. "Why?"

"I don't know, I'm just curious." Willow sighed. "It's just this feeling, okay? Like I know her from somewhere. I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe it's just because she's a Slayer. Buffy and Kendra and Faith probably gave off the same vibe and I just didn't realize it."

"Maybe."

Dawn and Willow sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. The whirlwind that was Syl rushing into their apartment scared them. Dawn stood up. "Syl! I'm glad you made it."

"Something is going on!" Syl cried.

Willow joined Dawn as the latter watched her Slayer tear around the room. "Syl, is everything okay?"

"No, everything is not okay!"

Dawn tried to approach her. "Why don't you sit down for a minute?"

Syl turned on her, eyes flashing dangerously. "I don't want to sit down! I want answers! I want to know what bullshit magic this is that's causing these dreams that won't leave me alone!" Tears sparkled in her angry eyes.

Dawn took her by the arm and forced her onto the couch. The tears spilled down Syl's cheeks. "What dreams, Syl?" Dawn asked.

"I dream about being in Sunnydale," Syl said. "This you already know. And I've seen both of you and the Slayer and others running around the empty streets like ghosts. And there have been shadows, like people, but I can't see them. And there's been this girl who's tried to talk to me, but I can never hear what she's saying." Syl stopped and took a deep breath. "But then last night, the dream changed. Those shadows that I'd been seeing turned into real people!"

"Did you recognize them?" Dawn asked.

"Of course I recognized them, they were my sisters!" Syl snapped. She calmed herself and continued. "The living ones anyway. When I was little, I had ten sisters and eleven brothers." She didn't explain any further, assuming that Willow and Dawn already knew everything about her and her siblings being at Manticore. "Only six boys and six girls escaped. Max and Zack had to turn Brin back in to Manticore and they rebrainwashed her. Tinga died not too long ago. And then Max we lost in the attack on Manticore last month." Suddenly Syl stopped. "Wait…"

Dawn watched her closely. "What happened?"

"Well, when those shadows turned into my sisters, they turned into Jace and Brin and Jondy and Sari and Max. Except…Max is dead." She sniffed softly. "Max is dead. Why did she show up and not Tinga or Eva or Etta? Or Kora or Vee?"

Willow pressed her on. "Where did you and your sisters go?"

"Well, they met me in front of this house. It was on a long residential street outside of the center of Sunnydale. It had a number too…1630 I think." Syl didn't notice Dawn and Willow turn pale. "That same girl came out – the one who was always talking before but silent. She talked to us all of us. She said her name was Tara."

"Tara!" Willow cried. She smiled. "Oh Syl, you have no idea what this means!"

She looked between her Watcher and the witch. "Well of course I don't, why do you think I'm telling you all of this?"

Willow laughed. "Syl, Tara is my, uh, my…" She blushed.

"Her lover," Dawn filled in. "A very powerful witch. If she's appearing in your dreams, it just means that you are without a doubt the next Slayer. You see, she speaks for the first Slayer. She has made it her purpose to appear to every new Slayer who is called, once they are ready to listen."

"But why were my sisters there?"

Dawn ignored the question for the moment. "What did Tara say to you?"

Syl furrowed her brow. "Something about not knowing what I am or what's to come and beginning. What about my sisters?"

"That sounds like a Slayer dream," Willow murmured.

"Except not all that prophetic or anything," Dawn replied. "I wonder…do you think it means…?"

"No Dawn, we can't. Syl can't, not yet. Not right now."

"That could be what the dreams means. And isn't Tara waiting for you there?"

"Yeah she is, but she knows that we might not be coming back for a while. She's holding down the fort on the home front."

"I think it's time that a Slayer held down that home front again."

"Dawn, no! Not yet!"

"STOP!"

Willow and Dawn stopped their argument and turned to the Slayer. "What are you talking about?" Syl demanded. "Tell me what the Hell this dream means and why my sisters were in it! They aren't a part of this."

Willow put a hand to her forehead. "Oh God…"

Dawn immediately turned to her. "Willow? What's wrong?"

"A part of her. Dawn, that entire unit shares genetic material. If her sisters are present in a Slayer dream…"

A cold chill crept down Dawn's spine. "They all might be akin to the Slayer. We could have more than one."

"Not more than one. One Slayer and more part-Slayers."

"Wait, wait, wait." Syl held up her hands. "Are you saying that my sisters are Slayers too because we share DNA? Is that what the dream means?" She shook her head. "Nope. Not buying it. If all the girls in the dream were Slayers, why was Max there? She can't be a Slayer. She's not here anymore."

Willow and Dawn shared a look as much as possible. "There's only one way to find out." Dawn looked at Syl. "Syl, your training will have to be pushed back. We're leaving Vancouver and you and Krit are coming with us."

"What? Why?" Syl looked slightly frightened. "I can't go back into the United States. Not with Manticore possibly still after me."

Willow stood up. "I'm afraid you have to. We're going to Sunnydale."