Dawn moved around the living room putting the party plates down on the coffee table near the cake. She looked at Anya and Xander who spoke in hush tones to one another.
"Why does everybody start acting all weird when I'm around?" Dawn frowned getting the sense everyone around was somewhat afraid of her.
"Me? Me not weird." Xander quickly defended himself.
Dawn scowled as Graham and Buffy stepped into the living room from the hallway. "Dawn, no one is talking about you." Graham gently told her then tossed a hard glare at Xander and Anya.
Dawn's arms fell to her sides with frustration, "Oh. Right. Of course. Can't let Dawn hear anything. Fine. I'll just go to bed. That way I won't accidentally get exposed to, like, words."
"Dawnie," Buffy turned as Dawn sprinted past her and ran up the stairs.
Buffy sat between Joyce and Willow who happily gawked at the stunning Dragonfly necklace Graham had given her.
"Here you go, love." Giles gave Joyce an easy smile as he passed her a glass of ice tea.
Joyce returned the smile though she felt the curious eyes of Buffy and Willow. Buffy watched her mother with a small smile as Giles walked back into the dining room where Xander, Oz, and Graham sat around talking over a few beers.
Buffy was happy her mother finally found a bit of happiness that she so much deserved. Buffy couldn't ask for a better companion for her mother.
"So… how long has that been going on?" Buffy asked her mother holding her chin in her hand with a smirk.
Quickly changing the subject, Joyce turned her head back to Buffy and held the pendent in her hand. "That really is beautiful, Buffy. Graham did a wonderful job."
"Must've cost him an arm and a leg." Willow smiled nudging her best friend with her elbow.
Anya sat across the three women with a glass of wine in her hand. She turned her head running her eyes over the handsome ex-military man. "I don't see any missing limbs."
"He also said, he had booked a room for the night at that hotel I've been talking about forever."
Willow's eyes grew wide knowing exactly which hotel Buffy was referring too. "The one we've been fantasizing about since sophomore year?"
Buffy grinned with a nod.
"Oh, he's bringing you there to have lots and lots of sex." Anya said candidly feeling a bit jealous for the blonde Slayer. "It'll probably be the dirty kind." The ex-demon turned her eyes back to Graham. "He seems like the type who likes the dirty kind."
Joyce's eyes went wide trying to erase the image of her daughter having any sort of sex. Buffy glared at Anya with embarrassment while Willow stifled a laugh.
"Thank you, Anya." Buffy glared.
"Yes, well, couldn't we all get a man like Gr—" Anya's attention turned to a figure standing at the french doors, "Oh god!"
Dawn stood holding a knife in one hand and held out the other as blood dripped from her wrist. "Is this blood?" Her voice was frail with shock.
"Dawn!" Joyce panicked jumping up to her feet.
"What did you do?" Buffy snatched the knife away and searched for any sort of cloth to stop the bleeding.
"Its blood, isn't it? It can't be me. I'm not a Key. I'm not a thing…" Dawn trailed off as the tears streamed heavily down her face.
Joyce wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter, "Sweetie, no. What is this all about?"
Graham moved around the women holding a rag over Dawn's wrist. He examined the wound and decided it was not life threatening though it was very close to being so.
"What am I? Am I real? Am I anything?"
Joyce kissed Dawn's temple, "Of course you are, sweetie." Joyce looked to Buffy for her to chime in with support.
Buffy stood speechless, unable to come up with the words to fix her younger sibling's worries. All she could say was, "I think the party is over. Please, go home. Thank you for coming."
One by one, Willow, Oz, Xander, and Anya filed out of the home leaving the rest inside to deal with the immediate 'family' issue.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Dawn glared at Buffy angrily.
Buffy swallowed knowing that this conversation was going to happen eventually. "We were going to—"
"— We thought it would be better to wait until you were older." Joyce interrupted idly combing her fingers through Dawn's hair.
Dawn moved out of Joyce's comforting arms needing a bit of distance. "How old am I?"
"Fourteen," Joyce softly smiled. "You know that."
"No. The Monks…When did they…" Dawn stared at Buffy for the answers.
Graham tossed the bloody rag in the corner with the intent of dealing with it later. He took another rag from Giles and held it around the teenagers wrists. "About six months ago," he replied.
"I've been alive for six months?" Dawn scoffed at the hilarity of it all.
"No, honey, you've been alive longer than that to us." Joyce said panicking on losing her daughter she loved so much.
Dawn shot her mother a steely glare, "You don't know that. You don't know anything! I'm a Key—everything about me's just… made up."
Buffy shook her head having heard enough, "Dawn, Mom and I know what we feel. I know I care about you, know I worry—"
"—You worry 'cause you have to. I'm your job. 'Protect the Key,' right?"
Buffy's face fell and shook her head, "No, I worry because my sister is cutting herself."
"Yeah? How do you know? Maybe it's just another fake memory from my fake family."
"Dawnie," Graham sighed and watched as Joyce reached out to touch Dawn's face.
Dawn moved away from her mother's grasp and softly said, "Leave me alone." As she backed away towards the stairs.
"Honey," Joyce tried again.
"Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Leave me alone!" She screamed and bolted up the stairs and slammed the door of her bedroom.
Magic Box
The walk to the Magic Box was a silent journey. Buffy kept her eyes firmly ahead pissed off and heartbroken for her younger sister. Graham knew it was useless to try converse with Buffy when she was like this. She was stuck in her own head replaying the events over and over trying to pinpoint that exact moment when it all went south.
When they made it to the door, Graham held it open for Buffy to enter first. She walked inside without acknowledging Graham. She was completely oblivious to the world until Willow's arms circled around her, breaking her from the racing thoughts.
"Buffy, is everything okay? How is Dawn?" Willow asked eyeing her best-friend carefully.
Buffy looked at the redhead, "Did you find anything knew?" She promptly asked not wanting to get into the dirty details of the events at her house.
"We're looking but… " Xander frowned noticing someone missing. "Where's Giles?"
"At home… with Mom and Dawn." Buffy answered. "He's keeping an eye on them while we're here."
Oz looked up from the books spread out across the table. "All these books are saying the same things."
"We need answers." Buffy demanded. "We need to find out everything about the Key. What its for? Who created it?"
"And why Glory got a big girl God-jonesing for it." Xander added.
Buffy shook her head, "No, this isn't about her. It's about Dawn. She deserves to know where she came from. She needs to know. Or—or it's just going to eat away at her." Buffy felt a pair of hands around her shoulders giving them a slight squeeze.
"We'll find it. Relax." Graham whispered into her ear as he massaged her shoulders. "Does anyone have any idea how Dawn could've gotten those books?" Graham's eyes darted around the room.
"Oh, gross!" Anya squealed holding an urn found behind the counter. "Who's been using the Urn of Ishtar as an ashtray?"
Graham felt Buffy's mood change from heartbreak to pure disdain. He looked down at his girlfriend, recognizing the livid glow in her green eyes. Oh, no.
Spike's Crypt
The large wooden door of the crypt flew open, slamming against the stone wall. Buffy stomped down the steps just as Spike glanced up from the sarcophagus immediately feeling defensive.
Graham followed behind standing at the top step watching as Buffy cross the crypt.
Spike smirked running his eyes over the petite Vampire Slayer, "'Morin', sunshine. If you've comin' 'round for eggs and sausage, I'm fresh out—" Buffy grabbed the lid and pulled it out from under the vampire. Spike toppled back into the sarcophagus with a thud. "Hey! Careful! These are wet!" He held out his newly painted fingernails.
Buffy angrily slammed the heavy lid into Spike's chest pinning him. "You let Dawn find out like that? From books and papers? You hate me that much?" She forced the words out through gritted teeth.
Spike rolled his eyes, "I was just goin' along for the ride. Not like I knew she was a mystical glory key-thing. Nobody keeps me in the bloody loop, do they?"
"You could've stopped her. You could've—"
"— Oh, yea, here it comes." Spike released a heavy unneeded breath. "Somethin' goes wrong in your life, blame Spike." Spike stood flipping the sarcophagus lid to the ground letting it crash. "Newsflash, Blondie: 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 lookin' over 'er shoulder."
Buffy pierced her lips, "She shouldn't have found out like that!"
"You don't think you could hide the truth from 'er forever, did you? Maybe if you had been honest with 'er in the first place, you wouldn't be tryin' to make yourself feel better with a round of 'Kick the Spike'."
She bit the insides of her cheeks, pursing her lips, too furious to form a coherent thought. "You have no idea how I feel." Buffy spun away on the heel of her boot heading out of the crypt. She brushed passed Graham without sparing him a glance.
Spike scoffed shaking his head with annoyance. Graham watched the platinum blonde vampire take a cigarette out from the front pocket of his jeans and place it between his lips.
Spike took a long drag and looked up at the ex-military man, "That girl of yours, mate goes around blamin' everyone but 'erself. How do you deal with a chit like that? Does she kick you when your down as well, mate? I'll tell you, that bloody Slayer is a bleeding crazy bint." Graham did not respond. He quietly stood at the top of the steps listening to Spike ramble on. "Oh! And it's my fault the kid wants to sneak out in the middle of the night?—Like hell! I'm the only one who gets the girl… and Buffy for that matter. I understand her." Spike waved the cigarette in the air with each word he said. "I understand her better than anybody but she would never admit it."
Graham silently stepped down the stairs and crossed the crypt just as Spike started to move past him to sit down in front of the rundown television. Graham reached out taking Spike by the front of his T-shirt and slammed his back against a stone pillar. Graham drew back his fist and socked Spike straight into the nose hearing it crack. "Ow! Bloody hell!" Spike cringed in pain.
"You don't know the first thing goin' on in that kid's head. And you definitely don't know a thing about Buffy. 'Newsflash Blondie': You're nothin' but a neutered vampire, desperate for attention. And she ain't gonna give it to ya… She doesn't see you, Spike." Graham kept his tone frightfully even.
Through the pain and blood of his nose, Spike stifled a chuckle, "Look at you, thinkin' I'm all hot for your honey."
"Honestly? I haven't really given it much thought. You're nothin', Spike. You'll never mean a damn thing to Buffy." Graham rolled his eyes over Spike with disgust. "You're just a cranky kitten that can't bite. Nothin'." Spike spat the blood from his mouth off to the side nearly catching Graham's clothing. "Next time you pull shit like this again, I'll kill you and Buffy won't be there to save your sorry ass." Graham dropped the vampire turning back up the stairs and slammed the crypt door closed just as Spike threw a piece of the sarcophagus at the closing door.
Standing outside the door, Graham listened to Spikes cries of pain after triggering the chip.
1630 Revello Drive
As soon as Graham entered the front door of the Summers home, he was greeted by Buffy pacing back and forth in the foyer.
Buffy stalled mid-step and glared at him. "Where have you been?" She asked him accusingly.
Graham tossed the keys into the bowl and leaned against the wall, "I had to take care of a few things."
Buffy's eyes dropped to his right hand to see dried blood stains painted across his knuckles. "Oh." She lifted her chin watching Graham remove his jean-jacket and placed it on the coat hook. He then followed Buffy into the living room.
He sat down on the couch suddenly exhausted. Buffy sat down beside him and leaned back, resting her head against his chest. "So much for a chaos-free birthday." She muttered sleepily.
"What are you talkin' about? I sure had a blast." Sarcasm dripped in his words which earned him a small smile from Buffy. He tightened his arm that was around her. "Besides, a little chaos is good for the soul."
"I did warn you that there was a big—big possibility that celebrating my birthday would come with mega drama."
"Like rocket launchers?"
Buffy tilted her head up with surprise, "Who told you about that?"
"Xander. I gotta say, I'm totally pissed I wasn't there to see you holdin' that thing. I bet you were smokin' hot."
Buffy released a laugh and hugged her arm around his waist. "Oh, yeah, I was really something." She ran her fingers over his bristled chin. "I like that you do that."
"Do what?" He took her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers.
"Make me smile even when I'm miserable."
"It's one of my many superpowers."
"Oh? What other superpowers to do you have?"
Graham thought for a moment and pretended to count on his fingers. "One, just being delightful; Some even describe me as a 'ray of sunshine'." Buffy giggled girlishly. "Two, I'm a tiger in the sack." Buffy smiled nuzzling her nose against his. "And last but not least, makin' you smile even when you're miserable. Shall I continue?"
Buffy dramatically thought about it but shook her head. "No, there's no need." She ran her hand over the side of his face. "I know."
Joyce entered the living room breaking up the sweet moment between the couple. She sat down still utterly worried about Dawn. "We can't just let her sit up there all alone."
Buffy sat up and looked at her mother, "She needs time, Mom. We can't force her to be all right with this."
"That's your answer? Leave her alone and hope everything works itself out?" Joyce defensively argued.
Graham shook his head wanting to defuse the emerging argument, "No, that's not the answer, Joyce. What I think Buffy is tryin' to say, is if we were in her situation… I don't know… At least for me, I'd want a little space to figure it out. Its hard to… process when my mom and sister are comin' at me."
Joyce considered his calm words for a moment and nodded her head, "Her school called today. She's been suspended. She told one of her teachers to… " her voice trailed off unable to repeat the words. "She's never used language like that before."
Buffy ran her hands through her hair, "She probably feels like she can say or do anything right now. It won't matter because she's not real. We're not her family. We don't even know what she is."
From the bottom steps, Dawn listened to the whispering conversation. She let the tears roll down her cheeks. In a fit of depression, Dawn bolted back up the stairs and tore through her room ripping apart her diaries tossing them into a small trash bin.
Downstairs in the living room, Graham watched an argument ensue between the mother and daughter. There was no room for him to interject between the shouting voices.
"How can you talk about Dawn like she's a thing?" Joyce furiously shot up from the chair.
"I'm not." Buffy stood, following her mother's movements. "I'm saying that's how she feels."
"Then we need to show her it's not true. She needs to know that she's still apart of this family and we love her."
Buffy shook her head regretfully, "It's not that simple. We're not going to fix this with a hug and a kiss and a bowl of soup." Graham ran a hand over his face knowing that those were the wrong words to say. "Dawn needs to know who she is. She needs real answers."
"What she need is her sister, Buffy. Not the Slayer."
"The Slayer is the only thing standing between Dawn and a God from the Bitch Dimension that wants to stuff her in some kind of lock and give her a good twirl!"
"Buffy," Graham said firmly halting the argument. He stood from the couch and stepped between the women staring each other down angrily.
Buffy took a deep calming breath, 'I need to be out there doing my job or else—"
Suddenly, a piercing screech alarm split through the tension.
"Willow's spell. Glory—" Buffy ran around the house searching for the God.
"— No, it's the fire alarm!" Graham confirmed sniffing the smell smoke. "Dawnie." Graham bolted up the stairs leaving the women behind. He rounded the corner and turned the doorknob of Dawn's bedroom door. It was locked. Graham slammed his shoulder against the wooden door, breaking the door lock from its hinge. "Goddamnit!" He cursed covering his mouth and nose from the smoke with the front of his T-shirt. Graham moved around the room to the trash bin fire.
"Damnit, Dawn," Buffy stood in the doorway noticing an open window Dawn had snuck out of.
"Buffy? Where's Dawn?" Joyce panicked. "What did you—"
"— I don't want to hear it. She could've burned the down house." Buffy pushed past her mother angrily stomping down the stairs.
Joyce followed Buffy down the stairs and to the door. "Buffy,"
"And now I have to go find her." Buffy threw on her coat with frustration and stormed out of the house.