Rupert Giles patiently waited for Xander to stop hopping up and down until the last of the dollar bills recently stuffed inside his pants fell past his socks to the floor of the castle conference room. It was only when that young rascal bent forward to gather his latest tips when the Director of the New Council brought up an important question. Though, he didn't direct this to anyone in particular of the four women putting away their empty wallets, merely asking out loud, "Is there going to be any problem with those two doppelgangers possibly meeting each other? God knows why they would, but it can't be dismissed, after all."

In a much better mood after watching Xander prance around the room with an imaginary feather boa, Willow smiled faintly while shaking her head, "No, Giles. It's our own Hellmouth residues that's the main reason to avoid those people for fear the spell which created them will be affected. But since all our doubles are free of this taint, they can interact without any harm."

Glancing up from counting his wad of cash scooped from the floor, Xander joined in the discussion, "What about their Sunnydale Syndrome? If they've got this-"

"They do," confirmed Willow.

"Yeah, well," shrugged Xander, not taking any offense at the interruption, "I meant, why didn't it make them ignore each other, like Dawn, and, uh, You-Know-Who?" He leered at the younger Summers sister sending back at him her best evil eye over nearly saying the name which must never be spoken.

From where she was lounging in an armchair, Faith tossed her offhand comment to boytoy who'd just showed off a damned decent bump-and-grind, "Maybe 'cuz it's just us again who it works on and nobody else."

Willow sent an approving look at the seated Slayer nearby, before switching her gaze back to the closer others around the conference table, which now included Xander. "Faith's right. Anybody who was, er, there at that place won't ever recognize me, thank the Goddess. Unfortunately, it won't work for Mrs. Eriksen. She'll just have to deal with what her double does, like anybody else in real life who has someone walking around looking like them."

"Uh, Willow, can you use your magic now to see if there's any more copies out there, who were created by those stupid monks screwing up?" asked Buffy in a very subdued voice.

The rest of the room glanced with mild surprise at the woman who'd been unusually quiet for her during the last several minutes. Their startled mood quickly shifted into actual worry at seeing the rare somber expression on Buffy's face. Willow was also affected by seeing this, as shown by her concerned response, "No, sorry. It's still impossible for me to find them, except through sheer accident by us. Why?"

At that point, Buffy actually appeared queasy. She reluctantly spoke, "Because I had a really awful thought. So far, all the doubles are Xan's, Dawn's, and yours, right? So, here's the problem: how do we know those are the only ones? Not just the Scoobies here like me, Giles, and Faith who haven't come across theirs yet if they exist. But even worse, from everybody else in Sunnydale who was at the Hellmouth when Dawn got sent there!"

A genuinely appalled silence fell in the room. Quick glances traded by all there saw their pale expressions were shared by the others. Which could only mean they also had the identical feelings about whom might be out there while possessing their loved ones' faces. Or much more unspeakable, their enemies' appearances.

"Is there another Glory somewhere?" whispered Dawn.

Xander wasn't paying all that much attention due to mumbling in shock, "Anya?"

Giles and Faith hadn't opened their mouths, but from the aghast looks on their visages, they were thinking about their own ghosts.

It was Buffy, though, who sounded the most wretched, when she breathed, "Mom…"

Crack!

Around the room, heads jerked towards this sharp noise. They saw Willow Rosenberg, the Red Witch, gazing back at them over the clasped hands she'd brusquely clapped together to get their attention. Any ire at being brought so swiftly out of their remembrances was abruptly quenched at observing this woman's stern features with tears glittering at the corners of her eyes. The others all then realized their friend also had someone she'd lost and would never find again, unless there was a chance encounter with some total stranger wearing Tara Maclay's face.

"People," Willow grimly spoke into the room's sudden hush, "All I can tell you again is what I learned studying the monks' spell. The really important thing, just like any other casting, was the intent of the spell. They wanted the Key in the care of those who'd protect her from Glorificus, and that's what they aimed for. Any other unintended result, like our doubles, is also linked to this. So, as best as I can say, there won't be any lookalikes who either had no connection to Dawn or wanted to hurt her."

In the short pause after Willow's last words, someone unthinkingly muttered to herself in a low, forlorn tone which was nonetheless heard by the others, "Guess that lets me out, then."

From where Dawn and Buffy were huddled together at the conference table, the younger woman's head abruptly snapped up, a look of actual fury now upon her tear-stained face. Scrambling to her feet, which caused the chair she'd been using to skid back, Dawn then fiercely clamped a hand onto Buffy's arm. This forced her sibling to also get up and be pulled along, when Dawn stormed away from the table while still dragging her astonished sister after the other Summers daughter.

In her own armchair, Faith quailed at the sight of these two women advancing in her direction, unquestionably due to what she'd just said. Frozen in apprehension, Faith watched disbelievingly when Dawn dropped to her knees on the floor by the Slayer's chair. Buffy was also forced to do this at Dawn's other side by that girl's irresistible grip. Unwilling at any point of this to use her superhuman strength to break free, Buffy instead started to open her mouth, about to demand some kind of explanation. Only to become mute in utter bewilderment when Dawn simultaneously reached out to put both arms around her companions' shoulders, and then pulled the two Slayers into an intense, three-sided hug, with her in the middle.

Nearly nose-to-nose with each other, Faith and Buffy traded wide-eyed stares of amazement past the back of Dawn's head, with their partially hidden features pressed against the Key's hair. This meant the older women were nearly deafened by Dawn loudly declaring with all her heart, "Faith, don't you ever dare say anything like that again! You're part of our crazy family, now and forever! Any of your doubles, just like all the rest out there who might share the faces of those we cherished but don't know anything about them, they should be proud of looking like you and them!"

Gazing from a few inches into Buffy's quick smile of agreement, Faith still had to protest past the sudden lump in her throat. She husked, "Dawnie, didn't you hear what Red said? Never mind alla the crap I pulled and how it mixed with our weird-ass memories; I sure as hell wasn't even around in the 'Dale when you turned up there! 'Bout then, I was enjoyin' the fine hospitality of the California State Penal System, remember?"

In response to that, Dawn just laughed. Her delight spilled out in clear mirth, and she hugged the pair in her embrace even harder. During this, Faith sent an appealing glance towards Buffy, who simply lifted a bemused eyebrow in her own confusion.

Eventually, Dawn calmed down enough to speak again. "So what? Wils also said those stupid monks intended to send me to the Hellmouth in the first place. Why, when they could've put me anywhere else in the world? Nope, I got turned into Dawn Marie Summers because it was the only way to make the best kick-ass bitch on Earth totally adore her little sister! Which was nobody but the Slayer herself, and exactly who were sharing Sineya's spirit then? You, Faith, and you, Buffy, that's who!"

Continuing to learn towards Dawn from her chair, Faith felt Buffy's hands reach out to press against her back in yet another hug, all while the Hemery High transfer student enthusiastically nodded her support of her sister's assertion. Not daring to move at first, but still compelled to do so, Faith slowly reached out herself past Dawn's body, and she gingerly hugged Buffy in return. Both Summers sisters joyfully giggled at this dazed acceptance of a long-missing sibling over at last joining their family.

Of the other three Scoobies at the conference table, Xander, Giles, and Willow were proudly watching in misty-eyed approval. Up to the point when the whole room once again heard Dawn earnestly announce, "Got that, Faith? It doesn't matter how far away you were, my other older sister still had to be affected by that accidental spell. I'm sure you have at least one or two doubles out there!"

Much later while standing at the outskirts of a Pasadena park, Faith Summers had to wryly smile about Dawn's explicit challenge to the perversity of the universe, which those who well knew the dire consequences of taunting this fiend had dubbed none other than 'Murphy.' Once her little sis inadvertently attracted the attention of that specific imp of irrationality, it'd for damn sure gotten busy. Oh, you betcha.

It wasn't just one or two. Counting today, Faith's known lookalikes had now attained a grand total of five.