Zigpal- Thanken you. ;-). Glad you liked it. And well...Ethan does get slapped about a bit (as per norm) but well...you'll see why he turned up at Revello Drive. And you just hate Riley with a fiery passion? That's all then? hehe.

rabidreject- 'Excellent as usual'? I like the way you phrase that :-D. haha. And glad you liked the twist and well...it all becomes, erm, untwisted in this chapter...hehe. Hope you like.

A/N: Well, I gave myself a creative pat on the back the other day as I actually have this fiction planned out chapter by chapter all the way to Tabula Rasa. So unless Joyce or Giles decide to give me a bit of a turn and surprise me (Or Ethan decides he'd like to turn up for an unexpected visit) I know exactly where I'm going with all of this so I say bravo for me. Haha.

"Well, look at the family unit here, Ripper"

The group looked over in the direction of the annoyingly familiar voice and saw Ethan on their doorstep.

"Ethan" Buffy stated, her tone of voice making the monosyllabic name instantly sound like a threat.

"You've got some nerve coming here," Giles told him.

"A lot of stupid nerve" Buffy added perkily before she and Giles headed for him, talking to him not being high on their list of priorities.

"Mom, what's he doing here?" The sound of Dawn's voice stopped the two of them and they turned around to see Dawn looking very worried as her Mom had her arms around her. Joyce looked just as scared, but seemed at the same time, to be putting on a brave face for the sake of her youngest.

The two then remembered that Dawn hadn't a clue what was going on, as she hadn't been told anything. And she was going to stay knowing nothing for her own sake.

"Dawn," Buffy began calmly, "Why don't you erm go up to bed while we all…. talk?" The way she said the word 'talk' showed that they were going to do anything but.

"No, I-" Dawn began to protest but Buffy stopped her with a glare.

"Now"

"Fine," Dawn said, rolling her eyes and stomping away from her Mom, past Giles, Buffy and Ethan, through the front door and up the stairs to her room without looking back once.

"Get inside," Buffy told Ethan angrily, "I'm not dealing with you on the front lawn"

Ethan immediately walked inside the house without question and Buffy followed, not taking her eyes off him once.

"Rupert,"

Giles turned around to see Joyce still stood beside the car where she had been holding Dawn. He walked over to her and she instantly took his hand.

"Are you okay?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, yeah- I'll be fine," She looked up at him, "Let's just get this over with"

"Ow!"

Joyce and Giles walked into the living room just in time to see Buffy floor Ethan with one punch.

"Now that I'd like to see again," Joyce commented as she still held onto Giles and Buffy smiled at her, a fist already forming.

"Oh it can be arranged."

"Whoa- hey!" Ethan held up his hands, palms facing Buffy, in surrender, "Before you start hitting me…even more, why don't you listen to what I have to say?"

"Yes, because that worked out so well last time," Giles said sarcastically.

"What have you done to my Mother?" Buffy asked straightforwardly.

"Wait," Ethan frowned, "You think I'm making her ill? I'm the only one stopping it from being worse than it is"

This statement was met with momentary silence.

"Huh?" All three asked with confused frowns.

"Um…moose getting a sponge bath" Tara pointed out another made up constellation as she lay on her back outside, next to Willow, "and erm…little pile of crackers," She saw Willow give her a look and she smiled, "Okay that one was a bit of a stretch," The two laughed. "Now you do it," She pointed out a cluster of stars in the sky, "What would you call that one?"

"Hmm…let's see…" Willow pondered aloud, but a huge big flaming sight disrupted her calm thoughts, "I'd call it a huge, big flaming meteor about to crash into something!"

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked throwing a brief look of concern in her Mother's direction when she saw that she was getting another headache. Giles took her to the sofa where they both sat down.

"Something's been playing with her head," Ethan explained, "All of your heads in fact."

"What has?" Giles asked and Ethan pointed at the stairs, in the direction Dawn had just headed.

"That."

"What?" Joyce asked, shoving all thoughts of her headache aside, "Dawn? Did you just call Dawn a 'that'? How dare you-"

"She doesn't know does she?" Ethan asked the other two, hoping that they knew at least.

"But how do you know?" Giles countered, not actually answering Ethan's question.

"Know what?" Joyce asked them all in exasperation. Buffy and Giles looked at each other sombrely knowing they had no choice but to explain it all to her now.

"Mom, there's something we have to tell you about Dawn…"

"Buffy, we'd love to take Dawn, you know that," Xander explained over the phone ignoring Anya's mutterings of 'no we wouldn't' "But we think we may have a hell beastie to look at. I know you and Giles are pretty much unable to come because of well…everything, but I don't think you'd be too happy with Dawn tagging along"

"No…" Buffy answered honestly, "But what am I supposed to do? I mean we're talking about some…well sensitive stuff that I really don't want Dawn to hear"

"Can't she stay over at a friend's?" Xander suggested, "I mean she's always sleeping over at that Janice's isn't she? Try her."

"Actually that's not a bad idea," Buffy admitted, "Thanks Xander. I'll go call her Mom."

"Okay, and Buffy?"

"Yeah"

"Kick Ethan's ass"

"That's the plan," Buffy told him, before hanging up and calling Janice's Mom.

Luckily everything was good to go there and Buffy was soon telling Dawn to pack her sleeping kit. She made a mental note to send the Thacker family a gift basket.

Walking back into the living room, Buffy came in to see her Mother was still in a state of shock from what she and Giles had told her.

"Dawn…" Joyce whispered clearly going all of the most prominent memories of Dawn in her head. Buffy knew she was doing this because when she found out, she had done the exact same thing.

"I know how this a shock," Giles told her, "It was for us-"

"I knew" Joyce suddenly said quietly, interrupting Giles.

"What?"

"I knew," She repeated.

"Mom, what do you mean you knew?" Buffy asked, sitting next to her Mom.

"Not knew, knew perhaps but on some level…I think I knew" She looked at both of them on either side of before carrying on talking, her eyes on the floor, "When I blanked out on her in the Magic Box…" She looked at Buffy, "And sometimes I really didn't remember you and Dawn fighting in the past like you do now…because I think on some level…I knew…"

"Still doesn't explain how you know," Buffy said turning to look at Ethan who was now sat in a chair, but looking anything but comfy.

"Yes," Giles agreed, "You should be effected by the spell like the rest of us"

"Oh I have the memories alright," Ethan admitted, "But there's one difference between me and all of you"

"We have a soul?" Buffy suggested and he threw her a look of disdain

"I won't willingly be manipulated," Ethan carried on, "To be fully effected by the spell you have to be willing to see 'Dawn' as a teenage girl. I'm not. There was a time when you wouldn't have been either Ripper. You would have seen her as I do now. Glowing, green, energy"

Joyce started a little as her mind flicked back to her dream from months ago, last May where Ethan had said the exact same words. That's what Dawn was? Glowing, green energy? No, no matter what, she was still Dawn. She was still her little girl.

"How dare you talk about Dawn like that," Joyce told him angrily, "Like a…like a thing. She's just a little girl"

"Now" Ethan admitted, "But she wasn't always…"

"Ethan, get to the point," Buffy told him, "What has this got to do with my Mom and why you apparently did some protection spell thing…"

"I'd like to know that myself," Giles added. Ethan leaned forward in his seat as he went into his explanation.

"The spell that was cast to create Dawn was very powerful. To manipulate your memories, your lives and not just you, but essentially the entire world. Anyone who ever came into contact with you had their memories altered."

"Her friends…the school…" Joyce whispered, everything still sinking in.

"Exactly," Ethan nodded, "It had many complications for it to be successful. It took enormous magickal energy to create new memories and block the originals" He pointed out Joyce, "She's the only one fighting it"

"What?" Joyce asked as interest and confusion overtook her headache and her fears, "What d'you mean?"

"Maybe not on the same level, but like me, you're not accepting it"

"I'm nothing like you" Joyce argued coldly.

"True," Ethan smiled, "Either way your subconscious self is refusing to accept these memories that have been created of 'Dawn'." He shrugged, before looking at Giles, "You probably have some great profound theory about this. A mother bond perhaps? Deep down she knows she didn't give birth to her?" The look on Giles' face showed Ethan that's exactly what his theory was. "Thought so. Personally, I think it's all to do with her. Her energy"

"Still here," Joyce said in complaint of the fact he was talking as though she wasn't.

"Energy?" Buffy asked sceptically, "Her energy?"

"What? You thought I made that all up last year?" He asked her before looking at Giles, "She's strong and you know that Ripper" He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Clearly more comfortable now that he was confident he wasn't going to have his head kicked in. "And her fighting it is what's creating all this" He grinned, clearly pleased with his own deductions and Joyce recognized it as the same smile that had initially appealed to her last year.

"And what is…'this' exactly?" Buffy asked, since Giles seemed to be stuck in silence for the past few minutes.

"I'm not sure exactly," Ethan said, answering honestly for once, "But I suspect if you took her to a doctors they'd have some scientific explanation. A brain tumor more than likely" He said the devastating information with such casualness that Buffy couldn't believe how truly heartless he could be as she felt her Mother silently break down. Buffy tried to keep herself together. Her Mom had a brain tumor? Worse still, Dawn was the cause of it?

"Oh god…" She heard her Mom murmur. Joyce leant into Giles and he put his arms around her, seeming in control of the situation but Buffy saw the briefest look in his eyes that showed he was very far from in control and was as close to breaking down as her and her Mom. Buffy decided to channel her upset through anger. At Ethan.

"So the hospital could fix this?" She asked him, "The doctors could fix it- so why the hell are you here? Why are you even involved?"

"Well, not exactly," Ethan smiled slightly as he answered, but it wavered when he saw Buffy and Giles both glaring at him, "Well, what I mean is, they could operate on the tumor, but she'll just begin fighting the spell again. Even though she knows the truth now- she'd still be refusing to accept the manipulations"

"I accept Dawn," Joyce told him, "She's my daughter"

"Be that as it may," Ethan accepted, "Your subconscious isn't too keen on the concept and it'd carry on fighting. And the symptoms will reform. Perhaps as another tumor or maybe even a more fatal aneurysm"

Giles momentarily thought back to the dream he had in which he had been attacked by the First Slayer. The image of Joyce dead on the sofa. Just lay there, still, eyes open. As though she had merely sat down and never got up.

"Where do you come into this?" Joyce challenged Ethan head-on. All these explanations were shocking, horrifying and any manner of things, but the one thing that hadn't been reasoned was why Ethan was the one doing the explaining

Ethan yet again smiled the Aren't-I-Great smile.

"I want to help," He told them.

Willow was searching the grounds like everyone else when her torch cast it's light on a ghastly sight. A dead body.

"It went here!" She called out to everyone, her voice wavering slightly in horror. Everyone rushed over to her and stopped suddenly when their eyes fell on the dead man as well. Riley was the only one who went forward.

"No pulse," he announced and Willow rolled her eyes. She'd pretty much figured he was dead considering the whole non-breathing thing. She just wanted to get to the part where they walked far, far away from him.

"I don't see any marks on him…" Xander commented, checking the body as well. Willow also headed forward slightly, reluctantly, to get a better look. Which was when she recognized him.

"I-I know him!"

"You do?" Xander asked, "We have gotta find you some better social circles Will"

"No, he was at the hospital. When we were waiting for Joyce after she…. you know, in the magic store." Willow explained, "He was being taken into the mental ward"

"Pull the other one," Buffy said simply after Ethan had claimed he wanted to help. Ethan never wanted to help. Hinder…maybe.

"Really," Ethan attempted to sound sincere but it just came out sounding slightly sarcastic, "I've researched the spells. I've got it all," He grinned, "I can fix it," He looked at Giles, "With your help"

"My help?" Giles asked sceptically. The request made the whole thing seem even more far-fetched. Ethan never helped and he never asked for it either. "To help Joyce? What are you really doing here Ethan?"

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "And why- wait. Wait. If you're not the one causing it then how did you know Mom was ill in the first place?

At that question, Ethan seemed reluctant to answer, but Giles felt everything fall into place and the fact that Ethan was here at all suddenly became more believable.

"That's why you're really here isn't it?" He asked Ethan in realization and he saw that familiar nervous look form on his face.

"What do you mean?" Joyce asked at the same time Buffy merely questioned "Giles?" Giles ignored them both however as he continued talking directly to Ethan.

"After what you did last year, it was broke off mid-way wasn't it?" Giles continued referring to what Ethan had tried to do to Joyce, "so there was an unfortunate side-effect."

"Side effect? What side effect?" Joyce asked.

"Mom is suffering from a side-effect?"

"No," Giles shook his head, eyes still on Ethan, "Not for Joyce. For Ethan." He then looked at Buffy and Joyce as he went into an explanation of what he meant, "Because the…process…" He said carefully, "was left uncompleted, it leaves behind a tie. Something that leaves Ethan's energy linked with Joyce's. An exchange of sorts, I suppose. So whatever extreme Joyce goes through, such as what's happening now, Ethan would feel also." He looked back to Ethan, "So that's why you're really here. You're going to cure Joyce to save your own skin"

"Actually, that does sound more likely," Buffy admitted, looking over at Ethan as well.

"Full marks, Ripper," Ethan commented, "Glad to see you haven't completely lost your touch." He looked at all three of them, "But help is help right? And I know you're all getting desperate."

"Yes, we need help," Buffy admitted, "But not from you. We'll never need it from you. We'll figure it out for ourselves"

"You look just like your Father when he cried," Joyce suddenly told her and Buffy turned to her Mom in confusion, "And what do you think he was looking for?"

"Mom?" Buffy asked in a worried tone.

"Joyce," Giles gently shook Joyce's shoulders and she shook her head as if to clear it before looking at Giles.

"Mmm? Sorry…I'm just a bit tired" She clearly had no idea what she had just said and Giles and Buffy looked worriedly at one another.

"It's the effects," Ethan told them in exasperation, "And she's only going to get worse. You don't have time to figure something out" Buffy and Giles shared a resigned look. Reluctantly they had to admit that Ethan, for once, had a point, "Gotta make up your mind, Rupes" Ethan told him and Giles started.

Giles frowned in confusion at the man when he felt a tap on his other shoulder and saw Joyce stood there, wearing the same clothes, as she had been when he had found her on the sofa a minute ago. He looked in the living room and Joyce still lay dead on the living room floor at the same time as Joyce stood next to him. Spike walked in through the front door.

"You see," He said to him, "You gotta make up your mind Rupes."

"Rules are like grass," Buffy told him, "Bending in the breeze"

"What do we need?" Giles asked Ethan in answer.

"Uh guys, I've got some stuff," Willow announced from her seat at one of the college library computers, "The most recent meteoric anomaly was the Tunguska blast in Russia back in 1917. Some witnesses claimed the meteor was hollow"

"Maybe with a chewy demon center like ours" Xander proposed and Willow nodded.

"They go as far back to the Queller impact in the twelfth century"

"The what?" Tara asked.

"Queller." Willow repeated, a confused look on her face, "I-I don't know why they call it that, it didn't hit a place called Queller or anything. It landed just outside of Reykjavik in Iceland"

"Wait I just saw…" Xander told them as something registered and clicked in his head. He started flipping rapidly through the book he'd just been reading, "Queller. Quell…here!" He announced and began to read the excerpt aloud to the others, "Primitive people used to believe that the moon was a cause of insanity. Sometimes they would pray to the moon to send a special meteor to fix the problem the moon had caused. These meteors were expected to quell the madman!" He slammed the book down on the table to emphasize his point.

"Willow, I can't really deal with this right now." Buffy said over the phone in her bedroom, "We're kinda dealing with Ethan and we're not gonna be done anytime soon"

"Oh you're gonna kick his ass?" Willow asked, her tone chipper and Buffy winced as she thought about the situation that had arisen since Ethan had arrived.

"It's a little more complicated than that to be honest Will," She decided to answer, "How about Riley? Isn't he helping?"

"Yeah, he is. He's doing recon research. Trying to find more victims, where it's headed...that sort of thing." Willow replied, "Apparently it killed all the mental patients at the hospital"

"Oh my god…" Buffy said, but she really didn't have the time to have the luxury of thinking the horrific event over, "Listen, Will, I've really gotta go. Update me later?"

"Yeah sure." Willow told her.

"Okay, bye." And she hung up, headed out of her room and back down the stairs into the living room where Giles and Ethan were sat.

"Well, Mom's in bed having a much needed rest," She told Giles, "She fell asleep like instantly." She briefly wondered whether to tell Giles about Willow's phone call, "And we may have some demon meteor thingy to deal with after all this is through"

"Really?" Giles asked casually and Buffy noticed that he wasn't taking his eyes off Ethan for a second, clearly prepared to beat the crap out of him at the slightest wrong move.

"So what's this spell you say we've gotta do to help my Mom?"

At the question, Ethan stood up and walked over to Buffy and her defences immediately went up. She didn't trust him as far as Xander could throw him.

"Before I even begin explaining I'm going to need these ingredients for the spell" He handed the list to Buffy and she snatched it out of his hands and scanned the list. She looked at him with a look of pure loathing.

"You haven't even got the things you need for the spell?" She asked, "You're pathetic"

"No, broke"

"I suppose in there there's an implication that we shall be the ones to pay for said ingredients?" Giles asked.

"Why, Ripper, I didn't know you cared"

"Fine," Buffy agreed coldly, before looking at Giles, "Watch him. Don't let him out of your sight. I'm going getting all this…" She looked at the list of random magickal items, "stuff. We're doing this as soon as possible- to save Mom and to get" she looked at Ethan, "you out of my house"

"Sweet child," Ethan smiled, "Though your enthusiasm is contagious, it's long past shop hours. No stores are open for you to find the items on that list you're clutching so tightly in your hand" Buffy self-consciously loosed her grip on the paper before meeting Ethan with an even stare.

"They don't have to be," She told him simply, before walking to the side table and picking up Giles' keys and heading out the door.

"What's she going to do? Break into a store?" Ethan asked Giles the moment she left, "Like Watcher, like Slayer?"

Giles rolled his eyes before reluctantly explaining.

"I own the local magic store in town,"

"And here I thought you'd left that all behind, Ripper," Ethan smirked, but stopped when Giles threw him a warning glare.

A little while later, when it had moved into the early hours of the morning, Buffy returned, ingredients in hand.

"This better not take very long," Buffy warned as she closed the door, "Janice's Mom will be dropping off Dawn in a bit and I want you long gone by then" She was more moody than when she left mainly because the ingredients on the list had been harder to find than she had originally believed and so it took her longer than she wanted to complete the errand.

"What about Dawn?"

At the question, Buffy looked up to see her Mom walking down the stairs. She had one of her silk nightgowns on and so clearly had only just woken up.

"Oh, nothing bad. Don't worry." Buffy assured her, "Just that she's going to be home in a bit, is all. And I kinda wanted all this done before she got back"

Joyce nodded in understanding as she carried on walking down the stairs and came into the living room along side Buffy.

"And what is 'this' exactly?" She asked.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, putting the bag of ingredients down on the coffee table before folding her arms across her chest, "We've got the ingredients, now it's time for you to spill Ethan. Talk or bleed situation here, your call. What spell are you doing?"

"We" Ethan automatically corrected.

"Me?" Buffy asked incredulously and Ethan rolled his eyes.

"No," He pointed at Giles, who right now was looking over the details of the spell and its ingredients, "him. This is a very high level spell and loathe as I am to admit it, I can't actually complete it without your help Ripper" He paused for a moment, "Not that you would trust me to do the spell alone anyway"

"But what does the spell do?" Buffy repeated her question slowly, getting impatient. It wasn't Ethan that answered though, but Giles.

"You can't break the original spell- it's too powerful…." Giles thought aloud as he continued to look over the different pieces of the spell, "but a lot of these things seem to be to neutralize it…or at least part of it," He stopped looking suddenly in realization. He looked over at Ethan, "You're going to rectify the memory part- the resistance that is presenting itself in the…in the…" He looked over at Joyce, clearly struggling to actually say the word and when he eventually did he stumbled over it, "t-tumor…" He looked back to Ethan, "You're going to make her forget Dawn…"

"What?" Joyce asked, "No. I won't forget Dawn. I don't care. I know she may not be my daughter by birth, but she's still my daughter. We share the same blood. Blood's important…always got to be blood." She looked at Buffy, "We share the same blood as well you see," It was at this point that Giles and Buffy both realize that from a lucid point Joyce had again flowed into mad ramblings. Giles went over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders again so she was forced to look at him.

"Joyce,"

"This is a test isn't it?" She asked him, her eyes watering with tears as she seemed to start crying, "And if it counts for the final grade…I need to know…I need to know now! Teachers should not look down on you"

Unable to bare seeing her Mother like this, in this state, Buffy turned away, biting her lip to prevent herself from crying. As she looked away in the opposite direction she saw Ethan had sat down in the chair again and he wasn't looking too well. He was bent over, head in his hands and was obviously suffering from a very bad migraine. Buffy thought that this, at least, proved that he really did have a reason to make her Mom better.

"Joyce, Joyce," Giles repeated her name, trying to get her attention back to reality, "Joyce it's okay."

She finally lost her glazed look and seemed to actually look at him and see him there in front of her.

"Oh…Rupert, I don't know what I'm doing…"

"I know, love, it'll be okay though…" He told her, bringing her close to him and she happily leant into him, letting him support her. With his arms still around her he turned to look at back at the now-feeling-better Ethan, "Forgetting Dawn? How could you possibly think that's the answer you heartless git"

Ethan put a hand to his chest, feigning hurt at Giles' insult.

"That hurt," He told him sarcastically, before becoming serious again. Or at least as serious as Buffy had ever seen Ethan get, "Now if you would stop jumping to conclusions, maybe I would be allowed to explain"

"Then explain," Buffy told him impatiently.

"Now, there is no way in any hell dimension that anyone is ever going to be able to undo the intricate spell behind all this. To do that, the caster would have to be enormously powerful- beyond anything I've ever seen before."

"Get to the point," Buffy said, sounding even more impatient than before and Ethan gulped slightly, before continuing.

"Well, we can't erase the spell but we can remove…certain parts of it."

"What do you mean?"

"We can remove the key part of the spell that's blocking the old memories…"

"The reason behind Mom's illness…" Buffy deducted and Ethan nodded, "But wait, wouldn't that mean Mom would have the memories with Dawn and the ones without?"

"Yes, she would..." Ethan, admitted

"Wouldn't that be a little confusing?"

"Confusing or dead- you're choice," Ethan told him and he didn't even see it coming in time to duck. Rather than punch him, like she normally did, Buffy had slapped him across the face. Hard.

"You know there are people who are nice, and give you presents, even when you are bad," Buffy heard her Mom ramble from where she stood in Giles' arms. From that one sentence, Buffy really struggled to keep herself together.

"Let's just do the damn spell," She said simply.

"Oh god, get it off me!" Willow called out to the others as the Queller demon lay on top of her dead. A knife protruded from it's back which Tara had stabbed in, to save her lover.

"I got it," Xander said with a grimace as he pulled the demon off his best friend and the Queller rolled to the floor on it's back like a really, really large dead termite. Xander couldn't hide a shudder as he held out his hand to help Willow up.

"Alpha team! Move!" An order screamed out startling the group that was Xander, Willow, Tara and Anya. "Surround the perimeters!" The group looked around in confusion as dozens of commandos ran around them, surrounding the dead demon. One familiar face was among them in civilian dress- Riley.

"You guys okay?" He asked, his eyes falling on the demon.

The spell apparently took a lot of long preparation. They'd been at it hours- each stage of the spell having to be done carefully and slowly apparently. The majority of the furniture in the living room had been pushed aside to make room on the floor for Ethan to cast a circle, while Giles cast the other. The two circles overlapped, creating a center circle for Joyce.

"And you thought your days of spell casting with me were over Ripper," Ethan commented with a smarmy grin, but Giles just met it with a glare.

"Shut it," He told him simply, but that merely made Ethan smirk all the more. Nevertheless, he didn't make another comment and continued preparing his half of the ritual in temporary silence.

Buffy found herself wondering what the two of them had been like when they first started doing magicks. A lot younger obviously and she guessed Ethan would have been just as full-of-himself as he was now and Giles…well she's gotten an unfortunate glimpse at teenage Giles a couple of years ago. Either way, when they met it would have been before they got into the heavy dark stuff she guessed…maybe just a mutual interest and power in the magicks. Kinda like Tara and Willow only male…and Tara and Willow didn't create a demon (as far as she knew)…and Tara and Willow were gay…Buffy then decided, as she looked at Giles and Ethan, that she no longer wanted to think in that vein of thought.

She looked to her left to see her Mom was still fast asleep on the sofa. Her mad ramblings had been enough to keep her awake all night so Buffy and Giles had both decided to offer her some sleeping pills to calm her down, which Joyce, when she was in a period of lucidness, willingly took. She had slept the hours of preparation away, but now she was apparently beginning to stir.

She blinked her eyes open, initially confused by her surroundings, before the memories of the previous night came flooding back to her.

"Rupert?" She asked dazily as she sat up, "Buffy? The door…someone needs to get the door…" She murmured as the sound of knocking entered her head.

"I'll get it," Buffy told her, heading out of the room.

When she opened the front door she saw Dawn stood there. Her sister turned back to look at her best friend and Mom who were still in the car. They waved before driving off. In that brief moment Buffy had time to worry about what Dawn would think when she walked into the hall and saw what was going on in the living room. She had to stop her from seeing anything.

"Are you doing magick?" Too late. "Can I see?"

"No, its bad, bad magick. Dangerous," Buffy told her, "Go to your room"

"You don't want me seeing anything around here do you?" Dawn challenged her older sister as she dropped her bags on the floor with a bang. "Everything's too frail for me. Poor, must-be-protected Dawn. You're not Mom"

Ethan couldn't help looking up when the volume of the argument escalated and he immediately regretted doing so. Luckily he had only seen Dawn briefly the night before, before she had been sent to her room and then to her friends. But now he was seeing her completely and it hurt his eyes. The glowing, green light around her was so vivid to him as he refused to accept the manipulation of a teenage girl. He could make out the form, but the energy she originally was, was so much clearer, and was slowly becoming more clearer than the image of 'Dawn'.

"Mom," Dawn whined, stomping over to her Mother in downright disobeyment of Buffy, "I can watch can't I?" She went to tap her Mom on the shoulder but as Joyce looked at her, she jerked away.

"Don't touch me! You-you thing!"

"M-m-mom?" Dawn stuttered, stepping back as Buffy pulled her away.

"Get away from me!" Joyce carried on, looking at Dawn in absolute disgust, "You're nothing, you're, you're a shadow!"

"Joyce, it's just Dawn, it's okay," Giles walked over to her while Buffy was seeing to Dawn. Joyce wouldn't pull her gaze away from her youngest daughter though.

"I don't what you are or how you got here…"

"Joyce, it's Dawn," Giles repeated as said daughter ran off up the stairs, clearly and understandably upset.

"Honey!" Joyce called after her, apparently suddenly lucid again, "Sweetie, what's wrong?" She looked from Buffy to Giles in honest confusion.

"She'll be fine," Buffy assured her before heading off up the stairs after her sister.

"What's happening to me?" Joyce asked Giles worriedly, not aware what she had said to Dawn, but aware that she had forgotten it.

"Shh, it's okay. It'll all be over soon." He told her soothingly.

"I don't know what I'm doing…what I'm seeing…" She shook her head; "I don't think I'm even able to read the TV guide anymore"

"Of course you could," Giles said and she looked at him with an expression of uncertainty.

"How? How do you know that though?"

"Well, I believe so because the TV Guide comprises of mainly pictures which require no reading at all" He told her with a slight smile and Joyce laughed in spite of the situation. He could always make her do that. Find the light in the darkest of situations be it on purpose or accidental.

"I think Dawn'll be okay," Buffy announced as she came back down the stairs, before her attention was pulled by the fact Ethan had stood up and was heading in the direction of the kitchen, "Whoa- hey, where d'ya think you're going?"

In answer Ethan silently held up a bowl that Buffy thought would do great for holding salad, but knew that Willow would no doubt tell her had some deep ceremonial meaning.

"It needs water," He told her and when she looked at him blankly he rolled his eyes in impatience. Was this what he had to work with here? He liked Buffy- as hard as that was to admit- she was a lively character who seemed to work as naturally with chaos as he did, though she didn't seem to acknowledge the fact. Her fiery temper and humor was also appealing, but sometimes she couldn't half be slow on the uptake, "For the spell…" He elaborated and Buffy nodded in reluctant acceptance and he headed into the kitchen quickly.

"Mom, are you okay?" Buffy asked, walking over to where her Mom and Giles were sat.

"I think so," Joyce answered sounding just as unsure as she felt.

"Right erm," Giles said standing up, "We need to uh, get Joyce into the middle circle that has been cast." At this statement Joyce stood up also and squinted at the intricately designed and cast circles on the floor, wondering which one was the middle circle.

"You realize how unhappy I am about this right" Buffy checked with Giles.

"What?" Giles questioned, his tone quickly becoming a sarcastic one, "And this is my skipping through the daisies scenario? I think not"

"Okay," Buffy agreed, "So we're both not happy"

"Hello-Third party here," Joyce spoke up and Buffy nodded in acceptance.

"Okay all three of us are unhappy about our non-choice. One thing is for sure though- if anything goes wrong I will personally kill Ethan myself," She paused for a moment, "Where is Ethan? He said he was just going to fill the bowl thingy with water."

Instantly suspicious, Buffy left her Mom and Giles stood in the living room as she walked quietly toward the kitchen. She walked slowly in not knowing whether she expected Ethan to still be there or not. He was though. Stood in front of the fridge, with the door open and leaning in.

"What are you doing?" She asked abruptly and in shock at hearing her voice he jumped and hit his head on the top of the fridge. "I thought you came to get water"

"I did," Ethan agreed, closing the fridge door as he rubbed his head, "I was hoping for bottled" He smiled at her in an attempt to exude confidence, but Buffy saw the flicker of nerves there, "It'd be better you see." He picked the bowl off the side and poured ordinary water from the tap into it, before walking past her without another word. Not trusting a word that came out of his mouth, Buffy walked over to the fridge.

Pulling open the door she inspected the contents of every shelf. It was unusually empty- but then again her Mom had an unwritten rule of only shopping once a week at the most and the assigned day wasn't till tomorrow. There were some eggs, milk, OJ, cheese that the age of which Buffy didn't like to think about, some foil bars of chocolate no doubt left there by her Mom, Dawn or herself, and one of Dawn's weird sweet things she was addicted to. Some processed meat was in there too for rushed sandwiches. But that was it. Nothing out of the ordinary. No bad magick-ticking-time-bomb things. Maybe Ethan had really been looking for bottled water. After all, the spell was benefiting him as much as Joyce so he would want it to be the best it could be.

She closed the fridge door with a shrug and headed back into the living room where they were ready to begin the spell.

It was strange. One moment I was sat there, just in my living room Buffy sat on the sofa watching as Rupert and Ethan sat on either side of me. I was quite nervous. Make that very in fact. Well, one moment I was sat in my living room and then the moment both Ethan and Rupert started chanting…whatever it was they were chanting…I'm not quite sure- I've never been very good with all the magick things the group always seems to talk about, but the moment they started chanting everyone and everything around me just seemed to disappear. Not quite a fade-to-black moment, more of a fade-to-something else. It was strange really.

I seemed to be flipping through memories, the most prominent ones anyway, of Dawn and I, or Dawn, Buffy and I. Just little things sometimes like watching an old film on the television when Dawn was only eight. She'd gotten so easily bored by the film- Gilda- but then another had followed, another Rita Hayworth- I think there was a Hayworth theme on the channel more than likely- You Were Never Lovelier. She preferred that one, because she enjoyed the singing and dancing. She tried to copy it briefly before exhaustion and frustration made her give up. To be honest it had been more entertaining to watch Dawn than the actual film.

Then on Dawn's eleventh birthday- a year after we moved to Sunnydale. It was just Buffy and I on her actual birthday; we were going to throw her a party on the following Saturday as her birth date had fallen on a school night. It had been Buffy's idea to put those permanently lit candles on the cake. You know the ones that don't blow out? It hadn't had the humorous outcome Buffy had predicted though as Dawn had become so incredibly upset by the entire thing- wondering why on earth the flame wouldn't go out.

Then suddenly I began to remember that she didn't. It was just Buffy and I watching Gilda together and there was no candle upset because there was no cake.

One of the first memories that seemed to stand out so clearly was Buffy's seventeenth. I remember how Dawn had been that night- in what Buffy named Pester Mode, much to Dawn's annoyance.

I'd just returned from the kitchen with Buffy's sorry excuse for a cake. I'd been shamefully busy lately so to celebrate Buffy's seventeenth was a cupcake and one solitary candle (The type that do blow out.) Buffy was curled up on the sofa, looking lost as she watched the film on the TV while Dawn was sat on the floor, a bowl of sweets in her lap as she attempted to catch M&Ms into her mouth by throwing them into the air.

"Did I miss anything?" I asked as I set the items on the table. An M&M clattered next to them, "Dawn," I sighed "Don't do that"

"Sorry," She mumbled in apology her mouth full. I just rolled my eyes and let it slide. It was Buffy's birthday so I wasn't going to get into a petty argument with Dawn over candies.

"Sorry I didn't have time to make you a real cake," I apologized, but Buffy had seemed unbothered.

"No. This is good" Buffy said sadly. I knew something was up, not just by the way Buffy was, everything about her, but also because when an M&M hit her cheek she didn't even flinch or shout at her sister like normal.

"Dawn," I said in frustration, "Put those down. If you're not going to eat them properly…"

"Fine," Dawn said, rolling her eyes- the first sign of the teenagedom to come no doubt.

"So what'd you do for your birthday?" I asked Buffy, "Did you have fun?"

"Got older," Was all Buffy said in reply and it had been heart breaking.

"Yeah and you can tell as well," Dawn said, oblivious to the atmosphere that had developed, "A friend at school once told me that you start getting wrinkles at seventeen"

"Dawn!" I hadn't meant to shout, but Buffy was clearly upset and it was hard to split my attention. Plus, seventeen? I prayed that that was just another childish rumor Dawn had heard at school, because if it was true well then…there wasn't much hope for me, and I personally like to think there is.

"It's alright Mom," Buffy told me, smiling slightly, "Let's just watch the movie."

"You don't wanna light the candle on your cake?" I asked and Buffy shook her head, as she slid down lying slightly on me as she sat comfortably to watch the film.

"We'll do it later Mom…"

Except that wasn't how it went. Not really. Not originally. I said more to Buffy, or maybe it was Buffy that said more to me if you think about it.

"So what'd you do for your birthday?" I asked, "Did you have fun"

Buffy just stared at the table where the cupcake and candle lay.

"Got older," She told me simply. The answer was so simple yet so complicated all at the same time and that alone seemed to bring truth to the statement and I felt my heart go out to her. Why couldn't I spare her the painful parts of growing up? Just leave her with the happy? Wasn't that what a mother was supposed to do? Protect her children. I looked at her carefully, trying to read her expression, but like so many times over the past couple of years she was unreadable. She never let me in, never shared anything. It was always secrets, secrets, secrets.

"You look the same to me," I told her and she still did in some ways. She was still my little girl. As Buffy sat there silent, I leant forward and lit the candle on the cake before blowing out the match and leaning back in my seat beside Buffy. "Happy Birthday," Not even a flicker of a smile. Nothing. I attempted a joke in a hopes of bringing a little bit of the light and sparkle back to her eyes, "I don't have to sing do I?"

Buffy laughed lightly, but it didn't seem heartfelt. It sounded more pitiful than anything.

"No," She told me quietly, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Well go on," I smiled as I gestured towards the cake, hoping it would be contagious. Sadly, it wasn't. "Make a wish"

"I'll just let it burn," That statement had sounded so sad, so much like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. It wasn't fair. I reached up to stroke her hair softly, pushing it slightly back, out of her face. As I did so I remember she leant over and rested her head on me as I continued to brush her hair with my hands and it was like, just for one moment, she was the sweet, carefree little girl from so many years ago.

I love Dawn. With all my heart, I love Dawn. Even as each memory was revealed for what it truly was, I still felt that no matter what that Dawn was my daughter. She may not be mine, but she still belonged to us.

But it was everything that had been changed that made me feel violated. It was like none of my memories were my own anymore- they'd been tampered with. And all those times with Buffy, quality time, bad times, good times, had just been taken away.

I loved Dawn. But that fact just didn't seem fair.

Poor Dawn though. She didn't even know...

Then everything went black.

When Joyce opened her eyes she was vaguely aware that she was lay down on the floor and the living room was dark. It was nighttime already and none of the lights were on. She squinted through the shadows, her eyes focusing to see Giles and Buffy both coming to also.

"Is everyone okay?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, I've got a bump the size of Canada…" Buffy told him, glaring at the offending knocked-over lamp she had hit her head on.

"What happened?" Joyce asked.

"It's the impact of the spell," Giles explained while trying to get his bearings in the darkness, "Once it was completed I believe it sent off a sudden burst of energy-"

"Like an explosion?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, exactly," Giles agreed, "Which is the most likely reason for our…being knocked out"

"Again in your case," Buffy told him happily just as she heard Dawn run down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Her younger sister asked energetically, hinting that she was leaning towards panic, "The lights have all gone out"

"That's also a side-effect," Giles added.

"The electricity's blown?" Joyce asked worriedly. She didn't think she had near enough candles to last the night.

"I'll go fix it in a minute," Giles assured her.

"Why 'in a minute'?" Buffy asked thinking that she personally would prefer lighting now. She stood up and wobbled on her legs as she felt a wave of dizziness pass over her. She sat back down on the sofa. "Oh that's why…"

"Are you all okay?" Dawn asked, concerned, "Y-you're all acting really weird"

It was then Joyce first fully realized that she was stood there in the room with them. She remembered her being there and her not. All the mother-daughter things she and Buffy had done without Dawn there, all the sibling rivalry that hadn't existed. It was all so confusing. Buffy was her only daughter…but Dawn was her daughter also. Spell or no that was never going to change.

"Yeah, of course we're okay honey," Joyce told her, calling her over, "Come here"

Dawn walked over to her Mom and sat down beside her as Joyce gave her a tight hug.

"Where's Ethan?" Buffy asked abruptly, interrupting the sentimental mother-daughter moment and the group looked around as though trying to find Ethan hidden in a corner.

Giles realized his former friend had done one and got out of there fast. He cursed loudly and badly.

"Rupert!" Joyce chastised, covering Dawn's ears.

"Did all he needed to save his own skin and then cleared off," Buffy summarised grimly, shaking her head in disbelief though she really didn't know why she was shocked. It was Ethan after all- what else did she expect?

"Should we be worried?" Joyce asked the others, thinking an Ethan on the loose couldn't ever be considering a good thing. Buffy thought for a moment as she fully contemplated the question. Eventually she shook her head.

"No, I don't think we'll be see him again. Not for a while anyway"

"Not if he knows what's good for him," Giles added, the threat evident in his voice. He looked over in Joyce's direction and though it was dark he was starting to see more clearly and could see Joyce sat there, Dawn in her arms. "Are you okay now?" He asked.

Buffy instantly recognized a 'private moment' coming on and she stood up, thankful that she was now steady on her feet.

"Come on Dawn," She said, walking over and pulling her sister up, "Be my electricity buddy. I don't know about you but I like the lights on at night"

The moment the two left the room Giles went over to sit next to Joyce

"Is everything…"

"Normal?" She finished his sentence, punctuating it with a small laugh. "Everything's a little confusing to be honest. I mean I can remember Dawn growing up and all the things she's done…" She smiled wistfully at the thought of some of the more amusing memories, before looking at Giles. His eyes the only clear feature in the dark, "But I also remember her not- I remember all the times I spent with Buffy…without Dawn there." She took a deep breath, "It hurts to know she isn't really mine…and to remember that"

At that, Giles instantly felt guilty, selfish even, that they had done this. Maybe they could have found another way around it all- instead of putting Joyce through this. He went to say something, apologize perhaps, but Joyce carried on talking.

"But it's better than me not remembering at all…or me not being here to look after her…" Joyce's voice broke a little as she thought how close everything had come. She took a hold of Giles' hand as though really desperately wanting to put across the point she was trying to make, "I just wanna protect her. With Glory after her…after what she used to be…she's still my little girl. I don't want her to get hurt, ever. I can't let it."

Giles used his grasp on her hands, to pull Joyce gently closer to him and she contentedly sat against him as he hugged her.

"We'll both watch out for her," he told her, "I will personally make sure nothing happens to Dawn"

Buffy was tossing and turning in bed. It was too hot to sleep properly and for once there wasn't even Riley beside her to keep her calm, encouraging her to sleep peacefully after they'd…well, slept restlessly. Plus, she had too many things on her mind, revent events playing over and over, for her to sleep easier. She woke up, eyes wide, desperate for a drink of water. Rolling onto her side she looked at her bedside table where an empty glass stood. She groaned as she realized this meant she'd have to get up. Throwing the covers off herself, she grabbed the tumbler off the side and headed out of her room.

She walked down the hall to see Giles hadn't yet gone to sleep either (She briefly wondered when this thought had ceased to give her the wiggins as much as it used to.). He was stood in the doorway of his and her Mom's bedroom (This thought had also started decrease in wiggyness), apparently just watching her Mom sleeping.

"Giles?" At the sound of his name, Giles jumped slightly and turned around to see Buffy stood there in the hallway, "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"I just can't believe how close we came to loosing her," Giles said, looking back at Joyce. Her sleep was definitely more restful now as she was no longer tossing and turning painfully.

"Well, we don't know that," Buffy reasoned, "The doctors could have fixed it…and everything would have been fine" Giles just looked at her, showing he knew her to be as unconvinced by that argument as he was. She sighed in resignation, "Fine, but it's all fixed now thanks to…and I can't believe I'm saying this…thanks to Ethan" She frowned, "Allow me never to say that sentence again"

Giles didn't answer, but just kept looking at Joyce and Buffy got the feeling this was kind of a private moment so went to edge off, but she stopped as Giles spoke.

"I don't know what I'd do without her, Buffy"

Buffy fell into stunned silence as she was taken aback by the no-holds-barred on the feelings front. She knew that her Mom and Giles must love each other- they were getting married after all- but she'd never actually heard either of them attest to that fact. It was one of those unspoken things. This was the first time Buffy had heard anything close to that…and she really didn't know how to reply.

Uncomfortable with the atmosphere Buffy went for a slight change of topic by asking the question that had been on her mind since the other night when Ethan had turned up on their doorstep.

"You know like Ethan said the reason behind Mom's illness…was the spell the monks used to create Dawn?"

"Yes," Giles nodded, turning to look at Buffy.

"Why didn't I see it?" She asked, "When I cast that revealing spell"

"Well, if what Ethan said was correct and I assume it was- though I have no idea how he came across all the information and in fact I think it would be better on the whole to choose not to know- well, then the effect of the spell were present in the-" Giles paused as he went to say the technical term but changed his mind part way through, "…part of Joyce's brain that stores memories. So as memories aren't visible to the naked eye…the spell wasn't visible on Joyce either…"

"…Which was why it showed itself in the photos…" Buffy deducted. Silence fell again.

"Erm, why are you up Buffy?"

"Oh erm," She held up her empty glass, "Drink. Of the needed"

He nodded silently, before becoming lost in his thoughts again and Buffy quietly headed down the stairs to the kitchen.