Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry I took so long to put this up, I have alot of the dialogue in my head, I just can't concentrate on a computer at the moment. Any suggestions as to how I can make it better? I will be putting a couple of Sunnydalers in, though they will be different, as Buffy was never in their lives! I'm trying to think of a conflict and drawing a blank... Help! Enjoy.

She took half an hour to calm down and think things through. She tried to make a list, figuring out whether this was real, or she was just crazy. She came to the conclusion that

1. She was stronger then she had ever been

2. Nobody but Buffy's doctors and her father new about the 'delusions', everyone assumed that she was just schizophrenic so the guy at Burger King couldn't have known

3. The documents looked real, they answered questions 4. Was she really so self-obsessed that she thought someone would go to such trouble, just to mess with her. And 5. Surely if you think that you're crazy, you're not crazy. 'Cause if you were, you wouldn't doubt anything, and you'd just go along with it.

So, logically, Dawn was some kind of mutant. But did that make her a hero? A warrior? Why did she have to fight? One of the last things Buffy had said to her echoed through her brain "I'm the only one! Nobody else can do this. If I don't fight then people will die, you'll die Dawnie, and mom and dad. You've got to help me!" Dawn shuddered. She hadn't helped her sister. She had only been four. She just cried and ran into her mother's arms.

Buffy thought being a Slayer was a good thing. She had left everything to do it. But what if Buffy was crazy as well? What if these people, these Watchers had been using her? Dawn's head throbbed as she tried to reason it out. Finally she came to a conclusion. There was only one Slayer at a time, there were millions of vampires and demons in the world (thinking back, Dawn wondered if her Freshman biology teacher, Ms French had been one), the slayer had the, what did they call it? 'strength and skill'. So she had to fight, she had to help.

She stepped off the bed and ran her hands through her hair. What should she do now? She thought about going back to school and shook her head, she was exhausted. She picked up the package and put it on her desk, a sheet of paper fluttered out 'Easton Cemetery, 7:30pm' it read. She looked at the clock beside her bed. 2:18… It was going to be a long wait.

She spent the rest of the day in the attic, looking through the hidden boxes of her sister's belongings. She was resigned to it, she was just like Buffy. Only she wouldn't tell her father about it. She would be like Clark Kent, without the bad suits. She sat up there for hours, reading through Buffy's old journals and looking at her yearbooks. Her phone buzzed at 6:15 she picked up a stake from the false-bottomed trunk and made her way back to her room. Quickly she changed into faded blue jeans, cream converse, a grey thermal tee and a stripy grey hoodie. She tucked a stake into a worn brown messenger bag and turned her acid green Ipod to an old K's Choice song. She scooped up her car keys and ran down the stairs. She got in the car and lit a cigarette to calm her nerves. She sat behind the wheel for the next fifteen minutes, chain smoking, and her heart pounding. Finally, at 7 she started the car and made her way to the cemetery.

The first thing the guy, her watcher said to her as she walked through the gates of the cemetery was "You're not wearing the cross." He frowned. Dawn rolled her eyes,

"Isn't it like false advertising? I'm not a Christian and I certainly don't want the image of a torture device around my neck." She said, calmly.

He looked at her curiously.

"Well, it's not my prerogative. I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." He held out his hand and Dawn accepted it in an awkward handshake.

"I guess you know who I am, coming all this way to teach me and all." She smiled weakly.

"So, for our first session I propose that we test your fighting skills and then reconvene to a safe location so I can answer any questions you may have." He said, authoritatively. Dawn nodded.
"And take that contraption out of your ear," he said, pointing to her Ipod. "You'll strangle yourself, more than likely."

She nodded and put the ipod into her pocket.

"Lesson the first; never give a vampire any weapon to use against you." He said. Dawn bit her lip, a comment on how pompous he was threatened to spill out.

"So, are we going hunting or just sitting here waiting to be eaten?" She asked, pulling out the stake and gripping it tightly.

"Your sister's?" He asked quietly, nodding to the weapon.

"Um, yeah. I think anyway. It was with her stuff."

"Dawn, Miss Summers-'' Wesley started.

"Dawn, I guess we'll be spending enough time together," she smiled slowly.

"Dawn, the council regret what happened to your sister. We had an operative in the hospital with her, and another on the way. But it was too late. From her records, it seems that she truly believed she was, for lack of a better word, mad." He said looking her in the eyes. Dawn blinked, as if holding back tears.

"I understand, I don't like it but I understand." She replied.

As Wesley began to stand up there was a blur of movement in buy a mausoleum. On instinct, Dawn shot up and ran over, there she saw a monster, 'a vampire' she reminded herself, feeding off an elderly groundskeeper. Seeing her, the vampire dropped the old man and lunged forwards. Immediately Dawn stepped to the side, and the vampire (whom Dawn now realized was male) almost lost his balance. As he righted himself and dove towards her she drew the stake back. He loomed over and she plunged the stake into his heart. The force of this movement made her dizzy and she almost lost her balance as he turned to dust.

"How do you feel?" Wesley asked, running to her side. Dawn's mouth broke into a beatific smile.

"I feel strong." She said hoarsely.

Over the next few hours she dusted several other vampires. She learnt that she could now do flips and rolls whilst barely breaking a sweat. She also, as she fought her third vampire, learnt that they were every bit as strong as her. That she had to evade them before she fought back. Wesley was dumbfounded with a sort of pride for her. She had all the instincts; coupled with a brown belt in karate (he had researched her, of course). He felt safe, for the first time since he was a child.

A little after midnight they had patrolled the whole cemetery (the biggest in the city) and they walked to her car.

He coughed, "I'm staying in a hotel for now, but we really should talk." He started. Dawn smiled. "My dad's out of town, we could go to my house, it's a twenty minute drive." She said, "Follow my car."

So they drove, Dawn chugging on a can of Red Bull as she drove through the familiar streets. Wesley smoked a cigarette with the window open in his rented sedan.

When they got to the house, they sat down in the kitchen.

"What exactly am I?" She asked, lighting a cigarette.