Lauren left Margaret to help Dawn into her night clothes, and settle her into the bed in the library. She found William sitting in the kitchen, and looking very pensive. "What's the matter dear?" She asked her son gently. William looked up to see his mother standing beside him, but looked away before answering. "Nothing mother." Lauren sighed and sat down next to her son and settled him with a stern look. " I am your mother, whether you are a 28 year old man or no, I am still your mother, and I can tell when your lying to me. Now what is the matter?"
William sighed and slid his fathers Watcher's Diary over to his mother, open to the page that he had read and had caused Dawn to faint. " You know more than I do. I was never interested in fathers Watcher Duties. I never cared about what slayer was going to pop up next. I just knew there were slayers. Apparently our house guest knows more about demons and what ever else fathers work consisted of, than I do." Lauren looked at her son for a moment. "You regret not being more involved with what he did for a living." William reluctantly nodded slightly. "But that's not all of it.-- What happened with Dawn that you are not telling me William."
William sighed and then looked up at her. " When she read that page in the diary, she fainted. And then she started mumbling in her sleep about some one named Buffy, something that wouldn't stop until it had blood, and that this Buffy had to let her go. And then she began glowing green. When she stopped glowing she woke up, and some voice, I don't know who's said something like, 'It is done. You will soon know what to do. Good luck little one.' and then all of this began taking place." The entire time that William was explaining this to his mother, Lauren was fixated with the page in front of her.
'So my husband was right. The Key would be sought out to be killed. And the only way for it to be killed is for it to be human.' Lauren thought to herself before looking in the direction of the library. 'Something wants that poor girl killed just because the monks that were protecting the key could no longer protect it.' Lauren couldn't help the tears that began coming to her eyes as she thought of the kind of life that poor girl must have been living.
"Mother? Are you alright?" Williams concerned voice broke through her thoughts. She turned back to him. "Yes, William, I am fine. But there are some things you should know about Dawn." she said calmly. William sighed and leaned back in his chair very ungentlemanly like. "She's evil. Why do I always take a liking to the girls that I can not even get a chance with." Lauren couldn't help but smile at her sons depression. She did hope that Dawn liked her son as much as William liked her. William deserved some happiness after Cecily rejected his interest in her.
"Well then it is a good thing that our Dawn is not evil, now you can continue on with your liking of her." Lauren couldn't help but add a tiny teasing note to her declaration. "She is not evil?" William asked her cautiously, yet with a tinge of hope. "Not at all. In fact quite the opposite. You see when your father was a watcher, the council had began talking that if the monks that were taking care of "The Key" they would have to place it in the possession of the appointed slayer of the time. You see The Key is What holds of the worlds good together. It is the purest form of good you will ever find. So naturally all things that are evil are going to want The Key eliminated. So the council and the monks agreed that they would have to disguise it. So to do that they agreed that they would put it into human form as someone the slayer could and would protect. The most logical would be to give the slayer a younger sister." She paused for a moment to let William take in what she was saying. "So why would that cause Dawn to faint?" William asked her confused.
"You said that she was glowing after reading this, and she knew when she saw these that your father was a watcher. The only way for her to know and do all of this is if she was in close relations with a slayer or a watcher. You said that she was mumbling about something to someone named Buffy. All slayers are female only. I'm guessing that Dawn is in fact the little sister of a slayer. And that would make her The Key in human form." William looked at his mother while he thought about what she was saying. All the pieces seemed to fit into place. The only thing that didn't fit was why she was here. Lauren could read her sons question in his eyes. " She is here from a different time William. When I was talking to her a little while ago, her fever caused her to slip about time travel. And the only thing I can think of is that The key in her knew she was in danger from something evil and sent her somewhere it knew she would be safe. I'm assuming that the glowing she was doing was her accepting her responsibility of being the key."
William sat there in shock. Someone wanted Dawn dead just because she was formed to carry The Key inside of her for the rest of her life. He looked at his mother and then at his fathers diary. " So What happens now?" Lauren didn't want o have to say what she was going to say next, but she had no other ideas. "We find a way to send her home so that her sister can protect her." Lauren answered her son sadly.
Little did they know that Dawn had managed to get her self up. She needed to use the bathroom and then went to get a glass of water. Tears began coming to her eyes at the thought of Buffy dieing for her again. Dawn leaned her head against the hall wall and closed her eyes and watched her sister jump of the tower for her one more time. When she opened her eyes again her face was now covered in her silent sobs. Over the years since Buffy had come back she had learned how to sob silently, so that so one would worry about her. But the one person she could never seem to hide her crying from was Spike. And apparently even now she wasn't going to be able to hide them, because the next thing she heard was… "Dawn?" a concerned voice came from the distance, and then William rounded the corner and saw her. "Dawn, what is the matter?" he asked again concerned as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Dawn lowered her head for a moment to try to stop her tears, but when she closed them she saw her sister flying of the tower again. She let out a heart wrenching sob and collapsed into Williams arms.
William held Dawn close while she cried and looked up at his mother. She had her hand over her mouth trying not to cry at the sight of the torn girl crying in her sons arms. All three were like that for a little longer. Once Dawn's crying slowed down, she spoke in a tone that neither William or Lauren had ever imagined they'd hear coming from her. "I will let what ever damn evil that is after me to kill me before I let Buffy die for me again." Dawn said through clenched teeth. After she said that William just held her tighter. And Dawn was reminded of when Spike would hold just like this the summer after Buffy had died. And with that thought Dawn buried her head farther into Williams chest.