A/N: This is set after Season Six.

Sunnydale

Okay . . . Willow Rosenberg thought inquisitively. You can do this, Rosenberg . . . you've mastered the beginners spell books all the way up to the black arts . . . this should be pie. The redhead looked down at the Tuesday Newspaper with a feeling of anxiety. The crossword puzzle was more difficult than usual. Her green eyes scanned over the puzzle as she tried to think of a four-letter word for "medication." In one quick motion, she threw the newspaper down on the coffee table, exasperated.

"What's with the intense irritation factor?" A familiar voice called from the livingroom entrance of the Summer's residence.

Willow looked up to view Dawn Summers, holding a thick, hardback book. "Oh, nothing . . . just the editors trying to get back at me for solving last Tuesday's puzzle . . . "

"Hmm," The sixteen-year-old mumbled. She walked over and sat down beside the woman. "Maybe it's a conspiracy," She thought aloud. Willow's eyebrows raised as she stared at the implausible teenager. "Y'know, maybe it's like the editors are hiring specially trained crossword geniuses who are, like, witches and they cast an unsolvable puzzle spell." Her blue eyes twinkled as she spoke.

"An unsolvable puzzle spell?" Willow questioned. "Are you sure they even have those?"

"Nope, but, anything is possible," Dawn smiled as she opened the book. "Believe me, I should know."

Willow smiled at the young girl as she read her book. She had to admit, for the past years, that the girl had, had it rough. She had a hell god try and sacrifice her, her mom died of cancer, and her sister died for a brief time, but, returned. Dawn had seemed to have grown up just fine for as far as the woman could remember. But, that was just it: Dawn hadn't grown up . . . in fact, she never even existed until a year ago. With compliments from some ancient monks, she was transported from a hell dimension to earth in human form. Willow had always thought it strange to have so many memories of the young girl. She hadn't really grasped the concept that in actuality, they were all false. She watched as a strand of brown hair fell across the girl's face.

"What's that?" Willow asked, gesturing to the book.

"Oh," She started. "It's a new book Giles is letting me borrow . . . it's about mystical talismans and it talks about spells and their roots . . . it's very interesting."

Willow eyed the teenager suspiciously. "Borrow?"

Dawn shrugged. "What? He is!"

Willow continued to stare at her, still unsure. The teen was once caught shoplifting a bunch of valuable supplies from Rupert Giles' store, The Magic Box. Her sister as well as herself was completely oblivious to what she was up to until, Giles' co-worker, Anya Emerson discovered the stolen goods in her room during her older sister's birthday.

"He seriously is, Wills, I didn't steal it or anything." Dawn declared. "I mean, give me a break, it's not as if I could stick this big thing in my purse."

Willow nodded as she explained. "Okay, I believe you . . . "

Dawn let out a sigh as she stood up from the couch. "Geez, steal a few items from a store, and you're branded for life . . . "

"More like a couple of items from each store at the Sunnydale Strip!" A casual voice called from the entrance.

Dawn and Willow looked up to view Buffy Summers, arms folded over her waist. Her blonde hair was pulled in a tight ponytail as her green eyes focused on her younger sibling. "You did the crime, you pay–"

"Okay, you're not seriously going to finish that lame line, are you?" Dawn questioned sarcastically.

The twenty-two-year-old rolled her eyes as she walked forward. "Isn't Xander supposed to be here to pick you up for school?"

Dawn glanced at the clock before answering, "I think so, but, it's only 7:15 . . . "

"Well, what's wrong with getting to school early?" Buffy asked, brows arching.

The brunette snorted as Willow stood up from the couch also. "Nothing at all . . . in fact, I think it's Xander you need to asking . . . " She left the room, carrying her non-stolen book cradled in her arms.

Buffy then turned her attention to Willow, who was smiling. "She is right about that . . . "

"Xander was never on time when he was going to the classes." The blonde noted.

"Yeah, but, he always gave effort to showing up in the middle of the day, right before fifth period." The redhead said gleefully.

Buffy smiled at her friend as she thought back on when the three of them attended High School together. Xander Harris, their beloved friend, was always lazy when it came to his studies. There were so many times where she could remember when he would bring a pencil to class, but, forget to bring a notebook. He always seemed to have something else on his mind during class time. Then again, who could blame him for his mind wondering? Their school was sitting atop the mouth of hell. In High School, it would be crazy not to think about all of the dark forces around them as opposed to the upcoming math test.

The woman, herself, was even apart of those forces. She was not apart of the dark side, but, of the good. She was the Vampire Slayer, also known as, the one girl in all the world to stand alone against the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. It had been eight years since her calling, and, she had only died twice during her years. As strange as it sounded, being dead wasn't all it was cracked up to be. The first time was by her supposedly immortal enemy, the Master, who bit her, killing for a couple of minutes. The second time, was as a successful attempt to save her sister from a hell god, named Glory. However, even through both of her demises, she always managed to return from the dead. She was revived from her first death, by Xander, who gave her CPR. She was revived the second time by her other best friend, Willow, by the help of dark magic.

Her mind then started to think back about the woman before her and her past. The woman had gone from being this shy and silent type in High School, to being a powerful witch with amazing skills. They had learned to become the best of friends throughout their high school years to being roommates in college and even after. Her friend had been through a lot since High School. Her first boyfriend turned out to be half-werewolf and ended up leaving her in college after a fiasco with another woman, who also shared the werewolf trait. She also found love with someone else, who turned out to be a young woman, named Tara Maclay. Then after a couple of years, she became addicted to dark magicks after Tara was murdered by one of Buffy's enemies. After having to battle the Slayer and being stopped by Xander, she learned to be herself again by learning how to control her new dark power.

Buffy turned her attention back to the present as she looked at her friend who was peering out the window.

"I think he's here," She informed as she walked to the front door, opening it.

"Okay, there needs to be a rule about getting up this early and getting all ready and then driving out of your garage only to be stopped before you get out of your driveway by morning traffic!" Xander Harris sighed as he entered the Summer's residence.

Buffy smiled as she looked at her friend. "I'm going to take it that your rule was not followed this morning?"

"No! I mean, first you have this idiot who is eating French toast in his car, holding up the left lane!" The twenty-two-year-old hollered. "French toast!"

Willow shrugged. "Well, they say that French toast is proving to be a real eyeopener for oncoming traffic . . . what with the sugary goodness n' all."

Xander snorted as he closed the door behind him. "Well, they need to get a total kick in the ass by my favorite Slayer, that we all know and love." He smirked as he looked over to Buffy.

"Oh, no . . . me directing traffic is not a good sight: mainly, because, I don't own a car and because I'm not the loser who is sitting in traffic." She then looked over at Xander, who looked offended by the comment. "N-not that I'm saying you're a loser or anything . . . just that you're not . . . really a.."

"Winner?" The man offered.

Buffy smiled uneasily as she quickly glanced over to the clock. "Uh, hey, look, it's almost time for . . . Dawn!" She smiled once more at her friend, who was shaking his head.

In a matter of seconds, the girl was trotting down the stairs, ready for school. "Hey, Xander, what took you so long? People eating French toast again?"

Buffy and Willow turned the heads knowingly at him.

"What?" He inquired. "It has happened—just, not today or recently . . . so, yeah, Dawnster, ready to hit the road up to educational boredom?"

Dawn nodded, smiling as she opened the door. "As always," She chirped, exiting the house.

Xander nodded his goodbyes to the two women, following the girl.

Buffy exchanged a look with Willow as they closed the door behind them.

"With stories about French toast and whatnot, he could've excelled in English . . . " The Slayer commented.

Willow shrugged. "Well, that's good 'Ol Xander, always thinking . . . not so much as doing."

Buffy laughed, but was soon cut off by the sound of the telephone ringing. "Well, that's why we love him so much . . . "

Willow smiled as she looked away. Buffy was right . . . that was one of the reasons she loved her best friend. Back in high school, she remembered how she would always try and quiz him on various subjects, but, he would be too busy thinking about girls and women. She remembered how she used to wish that she could be one of the girls he was thinking about 24/7. When she was in High School, the redhead had a major crush on her best friend. It wasn't until he had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend that they had decided to show their feelings for each other. Later on, they just stayed friends after their secret kissing sessions and make-out fiascos. Not to mention, they were caught by their loved ones.

The grinning witch walked over to the newspaper, picking it up off of the table. Her grin slowly faded as she looked over the crossword clue once more. A deep sigh escaped her pink lips as she tried her best to think of the answer. "C'mon, think..." She thought aloud. "It's a four-letter word...medication, four-letter..."

"Giles?" Buffy's voice called from the hallway.

Nope...She thought disappointedly. 'Giles' is a five-letter word. A look of concern crossed her features as she made her way to the hallway. She realized that it usually took something to be very wrong to make Giles to call.

"What...no, I haven't heard about it...." The Slayer's voice trailed. "Well, have you gotten anything out of the local snitch–no luck..." She sighed as she continued to listen to the man speak. "Yeah, Will and I will there in a few...okay, bye."

Willow watched Buffy place the phone down on the hallway table as she looked up. "What was that about?" She questioned curiously.

"Giles said there was a murder last night...someone from the college campus." The blonde informed.

Willow's brows furrowed as a look of trouble overwhelmed her face

"Two punctures on the neck,"