It took them a while. All those planets, all those kids returned to their parents. Seo did most of the actual delivering and talking-things-over-with-parents and that kind of stuff.

Dawn was busy.

She'd found the man she rescued a spare bed. Stayed by his side, as he thrashed and panicked and cried out, his every dream a nightmare, his every second of consciousness spent pleading and terrified and desperate.

And that word, over and over again.

"Brother."

Dawn held his hand. Comforted him. Said soothing things to him, tried to assure him that he was all right. Tried to make him understand that nothing could reach him in here — nothing could hurt him.

Seo stopped by, sometimes. Looked in at them. Her eyes fixed on the form of the young man, her expression unreadable.

She never stayed long.

It took Dawn a week, before she managed to calm the man down enough that she could get anything out of him. Even just a name.

The change happened suddenly. Unexpectedly.

As he thrashed and screamed and struggled, and Dawn soothed and cajoled and calmed, she lay a hand on his arm, and he stopped. Stared at her, his eyes sharp and clear and lucid.

"You," the man said.

Dawn gave him her most supportive smile. "Dawn."

He blinked. Confused.

"It's my name," said Dawn, as she rubbed his shoulder. "Dawn Summers."

He looked down at where she was touching him. Unable to stop himself from trembling. "You… you're not hurting me," he said.

"I'm here to help," said Dawn.

A look of utter disbelief washed across him. "I can hardly remember a time when someone wanted to help me," he said. Collapsed back onto the bed, then seemed to notice his surroundings. "Where… am I?"

"Where I live," said Dawn. "This space ship. Safe." She took his hand in her own. Squeezed it, gently. "I won't let anything happen to you. Promise."

He met her eyes with his own. So much pain, burning through him. So much misery and loneliness. And, for the first time, there seemed a spark of hope in those eyes. A spark of something else.

"Gray," he told her. "My name. It's Gray."

Things were easier, from there.

Every day, Gray seemed calmer. More relaxed. Every time Dawn reassured him, he seemed to believe her a little more.

He never told her where he came from. Or about his family.

So Dawn told him about herself, instead. Her years in Sunnydale. Her time spent defending the Earth at the Slayer Institute. Her many adventures with Seo, traveling around the universe and saving people from slavery, servitude, desolation, and misery.

He sat up, their hands still clasped together. Stared into her blue eyes.

"I don't know how you can be real," he told her.

Which was totally weird to hear, for someone who wasn't real. Was just created from Key energies and a cluster of implanted memories.

"I just kind of am," Dawn shrugged. She shoved some hair back behind her ears. "Totally real. Totally Dawn. Totally fight-off-the-monstersy. That's me."

His eyes flicked to the door. "And… your lover? The blond?"

Dawn gritted her teeth. Okay, seriously, what was up with the 51st century? Any time she and Seo walked around, people just assumed they were lovers! Which was super-duper-creepy, when guys kept coming up to them and offering to have a threesome.

"She's my niece," Dawn said. "Not my lover."

Gray absorbed this. Didn't answer. Didn't say anything.

"I'm kind of… looking out for her," said Dawn with a shrug. "Making sure she doesn't get into any trouble." She gestured around her. "This is her ship. She built it, herself. Pretty cool little tree-fort thingy, huh?"

Gray nodded. His eyes going unfocused. "You… have… siblings, then? A… brother?"

And there it was, again. That shimmer, in his eyes. That fire and determination — which Dawn had caught a glimpse of, back when she'd been rescuing him.

Surviving for the love of a brother…

"Sister," Dawn corrected. "Buffy." She glanced back at the door, imagining Seo pacing the console room, a look of intense concentration on her face. "It's funny, with Seo. Everyone always says she's just like her father, but… whenever I look at her… I see Buffy. So much Buffy."

Gray didn't answer.

Dawn turned back to him. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have a brother?"

"Yes."

And now that expression was mixed with utter pain. Misery. Despair.

Dawn squeezed Gray's hand in hers. "We'll find him," she said. "Promise."

Gray looked down at their clasped hands. Then back up at Dawn. Desperation in his eyes. An almost childlike fear in his voice.

"Don't let go," he begged her. Squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Please. Never let go. I need you."

"I won't," Dawn assured him. Squeezed back. "Promise."

The first time Seo lingered in the room for any substantial amount of time was when Gray was sleeping. The first peaceful sleep Gray had had since he'd arrived.

"Thanks for this," said Dawn, to Seo, as she ate the food Seo had brought in for her. "I'm starving."

Seo's eyes flicked over to Gray, lying, asleep, on the bed. No, not on Gray. On that mark, branded into his neck. The mark of the Yugzode, seared into his flesh.

She smoothed down the bangs along her forehead.

"He's getting better," said Dawn. "I don't know if his parents are still around, or anything, but he's got a brother. Which we could find, if he told us where he used to live."

"A brother," Seo repeated.

But just the way Seo said it, the way she looked, the way she acted — she didn't understand. Would never understand. She was an only child.

Didn't know just how powerful the love for a sibling could be.

Strong enough to get you through the worst tortures, the toughest crises, the most terrifying moments…

"You should meet Gray," said Dawn. She grinned. "He's traumatized, but sweet. You'll like him."

Seo's eyes lingered on Gray for a long while. A very long while. Her brow furrowed, her lips in a thin line.

"Maybe," said Seo, turning and walking out the door.

For a few moments, there was silence in the room. Dawn frowning, wondering what was up with Seo. Yeah, sure, Seo never really acted the way anyone expected, but… Dawn could just feel it. With every fiber of her being.

Something was wrong with Seo. Very wrong.

"She doesn't like me," Gray muttered.

Dawn jumped a mile high. Spun around, hand on her heart, trying to catch her breath. "Okay. Thanks for the freak-out session. Just let me try to find my lungs, and I'll get back to you."

Gray gave a small smile, opening his eyes. He'd been pretending to sleep. Overhearing.

"Seo's… just… having a teenage moment," said Dawn. "She's been getting a lot of those recently. I think." Unless there was something else going on, and Dawn wasn't ruling that one out. She just couldn't figure out what else it could be! "But… trust me, Seo is super-nice. One of the sweetest, most caring people you'll ever meet. The moment she meets you, properly, she'll be all with the supportive." She walked over to him, giving a little laugh. "Just don't call her 'Cupcake'. For some reason, that really ticks her off."

"She's… your niece," said Gray. "Your… sister's daughter."

"Yeah."

Gray looked over at Dawn, sitting up. "Tell me about your sister."

Dawn peered at him, carefully. "Who? Buffy?"

He nodded.

Dawn sat down, beside him. Hands tucked into her lap. "Well, I guess… she's just… Buffy. You know. Amazing." Her eyes drifted off into the distance. "She always saved me. No matter what. No matter how impossible it seemed."

"She never let you go," said Gray.

"And she never would," Dawn confirmed. She gave a soft laugh. "When I was fourteen, I was nearly sacrificed to a Hell Goddess. Some spell ceremony type thing. The whole world and the whole universe — and the whole multi-verse — was falling apart, and only my death could stop it. So Buffy… gave herself up, in my place."

Gray didn't answer.

"Like I said," said Dawn. "Amazing. Still is. Still out there, saving people and doing the impossible, every single day."

"She's still alive?" Gray asked.

Oh. Uh… right. Yeah. She'd totally just told Gray that Buffy had died, and then mentioned that Buffy was alive, now.

Oops.

"She… survived the whole self-sacrifice thing," Dawn offered.

Because that was a lot easier than telling the whole truth, which was weird and mystical and most people didn't believe.

Gray nodded. Absorbing this.

"Then what was the point?" Gray asked. "She gave up her life for yours. But she's still alive. What was the point of it all?"

Dawn frowned at him. "Huh?"

"She should be dead," said Gray. "Her life for yours. That's what you said."

Damn. Gray must have totally worked out about the whole resurrection thing.

"Look, it's super complicated," Dawn admitted. "And mega weird, and I don't actually get how it works, myself. But she's alive, now, and I'll never forget what she did for me."

"What she failed to do for you," Gray corrected. "Failed to give."

Dawn stared at him, her brow furrowing. "What?"

Gray sunk back down onto the bed. "Nothing." His eyes drifting closed. "I'm tired, Dawn. So tired. I think… he is the only meaning my life has left."

Dawn helped him to walk. Helped him to get out of bed and wander around the ship. Helped him as he recovered, holding and supporting him every step of the way.

When he looked at her, with that fixed stare, that intensity and wonder in his eyes — it made something inside her want to reach out to him. Hold him. Help him.

"You're beautiful," he said. Facing her. Both his hands entangled with hers. "Amazing. Impossible."

For a few moments, Dawn thought he was going to kiss her.

But he didn't.

She tried to ask him about his home. His past. His childhood. But he never told her anything specific. Said he didn't have a childhood. Had been snatched away from it. A childhood stolen from him.

"Everything before that… is just a haze," said Gray. "A blur." His eyes sharpened. "Except… for him. My brother. I remember him."

"What's he like?" asked Dawn.

The fire rose in Gray's expression. "The hero," he said. "The leader. Everyone looked up to him. I always thought I could depend on him."

"Where?" asked Dawn. "If you give us a place, we can go there. See if he's still—"

"He won't be home," Gray said. "He always said he wanted to leave. First chance he got." Gray's eyes drifted to the windows, watching the distant stars twinkle, as Oliver floated through space. "He's out there. Somewhere. I just need to find him." He squeezed Dawn's hands a little tighter. "I can't rest until I find him."

"You'll find him," said Dawn. "Trust me."

Gray looked back at her. His eyes fixed on hers, that expression of utter gratefulness and almost worship washing over him. "I do," he said. Stepped in a little closer. "Trust you like I've never trusted anyone before."

Okay, either Seo was screwing with the thermostat, or Dawn was blushing like crazy. Geeze, she hadn't blushed like this around a guy since high school!

"I don't understand how you can be," said Gray. "How you can exist. But here you are. Dawn Summers. The most amazing, perfect woman in the galaxy."

He leaned in. And Dawn was sure. This time, he was going to kiss her.

But then he stepped back. His eyes falling out the window, again.

And never did.