Junkyard, Sunnydale, 2001.

Dawn knew that her mission wasn't over yet. She knew that one part of the future had changed and that things had shifted drastically from the future she once knew. She knew that the danger posed by the Trio was still very real, and that was supposed to be her second and final mission; To take the three of them off the board. It was a strategy that she discussed with Willow and Riley, a strategy they agreed with wholeheartedly. Dawn knew that Warren's team-up with Jonathan and Andrew caused all of them pain, and eventually, it caused Warren to kill Tara which in turn lead to the Dark Willow incident. Dawn remembered staring down at her lovers face before she looked away when her dark and evil self was mentioned. Later, Willow agreed that Tara's death would bring about an apocalypse caused by the redhead herself. And then Xander had to save them again.

And then there were the small things that needed to be settled. It was Dawn's own private mission. She told Willow during their last night together that she was going to do everything possible to pull her away from the dark side of the magical world.

Near the Sunnydale Crater, 2021.

"I know it's made you who you are," Dawn said as she lay her head on the redhead's heaving chest while Willow ran her hand through Dawn's hair, "but… but I never liked seeing you like that. Remember what happened when you took me to Rack's place?"

"I remember," Willow whispered as she brushed her hand down the sweat covered back of Dawn's neck, and down to the scars on her shoulder blades to the small of her back, "that was my lowest point. Ever. That was the day I hurt you."

"I'm going to kill Warren, Willow," said Dawn as she looked up into Willow's green eyes, "I am going to kill him even if he hasn't done anything yet."

"Just like we agreed, baby," Willow whispered as she then wiped the sweat off Dawn's forehead.

"Seeing you with Tara is going to… well… make me a little jealous," Dawn smirked as Willow grinned. The grin lasted for a few seconds before it vanished after Dawn said that she would never go as far as to interfere in their love-life, "but I'll still be jealous."

"I love you, you know that, right?" asked Willow.

"I know," Dawn said as she leaned down and kissed Willow on the lips for a few seconds before pulling back. She looked at the redhead and her lips trembled before she looked away. Dawn then whispered she was going to see Giles again, "and Xander, Anya, Tara, the younger you, Spike, and… and Buffy. Oh God, Willow, I'm gonna see Buffy again."

"Yes, yes you are, Dawnie," Willow whispered while Dawn giggled.

"I'm going to see Buffy again... I'll stop Buffy from jumping into the portal and… and she'll be alive," Dawn spoke between fits of giggles, as did Willow for the next minute or so until they calmed down, "she'll be alive. When I save my younger self, I… I'm gonna see Buffy again. And.. and I don't know what I'll do, Willow. I have no idea what I'll do."

"You won't know until you get back to the past," Willow said softly.

"I'll hug her.., I know I'll cry like a baby and… and I'll hug her," Dawn whispered, "I'll hold on tight."

"You can tell them about what happened, you know?" said Willow gently as Dawn nodded her head, "maybe you can leave out the fact that we've been in a relationship for the past five years?"

"I'll never hide that fact," Dawn said as she lay her head on Willow's chest again, "maybe I'll tell Buffy privately and tell her not to tell your younger self and Tara. I mean… that would be weird but… but oh my God can you imagine the look on Buffy's face when she learns that her younger sister, who travelled back in time to save her younger self, is in a relationship with her best friend in the future while my younger self is still fifteen years old. Buffy's head would explode and…"

"And so, don't tell her," smirked Willow, "and honey? What you just said? You're not making any sense."

"I know," chuckled Dawn before she pulled up her head and looked into Willow's eyes once again, "then help me make sense. We still have more time, and I'm not finished with you."

"You're like a rabbit tonight, we were at it for... and I mean really at it, for what? Two hours?" chuckled Willow as Dawn too then giggled out loud, "take it easy, it's not like…."

"We're never going to see each other again?" asked Dawn. The both of them then stopped laughing as a sudden silence fell around them. They knew that this was the final time they would ever spend with each other. They looked at each other before Dawn lay on Willow's body, her head now resting on the nape of her neck. They held each other tight in complete silence while time slowly passed by.

"Look after yourself, Dawnie," Willow whispered, the current situation crashing down on her, "get a new name, make a new life for yourself, and… and be happy. Find someone to love and…"

"I don't think I ever can," Dawn whispered as she lay a hand on Willow's breast, "I… I don't know if I can."

"You will, Dawnie," Willow whispered rubbing the back of Dawn's head, "you will find someone, and you will move on. But first, give Buffy a hug when you see her. Give her a hug for me, Giles, Xander, Faith, Riley… for everyone who died. Give her a hug for all of us and… and keep us with you."

"Always," Dawn whispered as she moved her hand from Willow's breast to her left cheek. They looked at each other while Dawn said, "Always." She then leaned forward and passionately kissed Willow.

Junkyard, Sunnydale, 2001.

Just as Dawn told Willow, she was holding on tight to Buffy while sobbing uncontrollably. She looked at the younger version of her sister who shrugged her shoulders before saying that the older Dawn saved her life from Doc.

"Doc was going to cut me if Glory couldn't do it herself," Dawn said as she looked out to the edge of the platform and shuddered as she imagined what could have happened. She then looked at her older self, and then she looked back up at Buffy, "she shot Doc after he pushed Spike off the platform, Buffy."

"But you're not cut anywhere, are you?" asked Buffy as Dawn shook her head before explaining that her older self was thorough when she was patting her down. Dawn then stepped forward while listening to her younger self sobbing, and wondered why she travelled back in time. Dawn wondered if the portal had opened and hell had come to Earth. She looked at Buffy looking back down at the older version of Dawn before wondering if maybe they were part of some resistance movement, 'maybe things were really bad and I travelled back in time to this very moment in time. I guess it could be.'

"Dawn?" asked Buffy as the younger girl looked over at her sister. But then realised she was looking down at her other self. It was then that Dawn realised they needed different names for the both of them as Buffy placed her hand on the short haired woman, and called her name again, "Dawn?"

The older Dawn looked up with tear stained eyes and then lowered her head again before shaking her head and wiping the tears coming from her eye. She then wiped her eye with the back of her hand before getting up to her feet while sniffling.

"Dawnie?" asked Buffy as she looked at her younger sister while thinking to herself, 'or older sister? No… it's definitely Dawn. But what happened? Why the scars and the eye patch, and… and how bad could the future be for her to travel back in time? And then… she.. she said that I was alive. I was alive now which means that… whoa. Am I dead in the future? Does the portal get opened and I do something crazy and then all hell breaks loose and.. well… does Dawn comes back because of that?'

"This.. this place is a bit unstable, Buffy," said the older Dawn while she continued to wipe her tears away from the one good eye, "we… we need to get out of here. You, me, and… well… me." Dawn looked at her younger self and chuckled before looking away, "I'll tell you and the others anything you need to know. Well, at least what I remember."

"The portal opens up, doesn't it?" asked the younger Dawn as the older woman looked at her, "the portal opens? In your future, Doc was successful, wasn't he?"

"He opened the portal," said the older Dawn, "but… but we can take about that later. We need to go to the Magic Box where I can brief you guys. We have a lot to talk about, Buffy… Dawn… we have a lot to talk about."

Buffy nodded her head before she held the hand of the younger Dawn, and then gently pulled her away. The older Dawn followed them down the stairs slowly while listening to the shouts from the bottom by the Scoobies. The older Dawn heard the blonde Slayer yell that she alright, and was coming back down. Then, as the older Dawn reached a landing while Buffy and her younger self walked down the stairs, the older Dawn felt a pain in her chest. Stopping and grabbing the railing while Buffy and Dawn reached the next landing, the older Dawn clasped her chest as she felt her body heating up.

"B… Buffy?" whispered the older Dawn as she fell on one knee while panting. Buffy, hearing the whisper, turned and looked up to see the older Dawn on her knees as an ethereal green glow was covering her body.

"Dawn?" said a worried Buffy as she ran back up the stairs with the younger version of her sister. She then, just as the older Dawn collapsed into the landing with a thud, told the younger Dawn to run as fast as she could to the lower levels and call for Giles to meet them. "Go!"

The younger Dawn looked at her sister holding onto her older self who was staring back at her with pain etched on her face. Dawn watched, for a second, as her older self-twisted her body in pain as a green energy started crackling over her body. Dawn watched her older self grit her teeth while panting before she quickly turned. She then started running down the stairs and yelled, at the top of her lungs, for Giles.

Giles heard the yell as it travelled down the tower, and rushed up past the mentally drained humans who were simply lying on the ground helplessly babbling incoherently, while Glory's minions ran away at the moment of her death. He rushed up the stairs with Willow close behind him. Both Xander and Anya stayed back on the ground level with the still dazed Tara who had her mental energy returned to her thanks to Willow.

"Dawn!" yelled Giles as he rushed up two steps at a time when suddenly there was a blood-curdling scream. A scream that made the younger Dawn stop running and then look back as she heard her older self scream in pain once again while Buffy was yelling for Giles to help them. Her heart racing as the time to use the Key passed, Dawn rushed back up the five levels while Giles was close behind with Willow.

"Buffy!" yelled the younger Dawn as she stopped at the landing looking up at Buffy holding down the body of her older self who continued to convulse. The younger girl watched, just as Giles and Willow rushed up to either side and looked on in wide-eyed surprise at what was happening on the landing above them.

"Giles!" cried Buffy as she looked at her watcher, and then back at the older version of her sister, and back to Giles again, "help me, please. She's…."

A loud guttural sound escaped from the older Dawn's lips as she stopped convulsing, but the green energy crackling along her body increased. The energy increased in intensity while Buffy stared at the young version of her sister, her very frightened sister, and then looked back down at the unconscious woman on the floor of the landing. Buffy rushed back to her feet just as the energy crackling on the older Dawn's body intensified. Buffy ran down the stairs, which were a short distance, down to the lowers landing just as she wrapped her arms around her younger sister. She used her body to shield the younger Dawn as Willow and Giles covered their eyes and looked away when the energy coalesced just above the body before giving off a bright green flash of light.

Once the light faded, Buffy and the others opened their eyes, as did Dawn, and stared at the ball of green pulsing energy that hovered over the older Dawn's unmoving body.

"What's that?" asked Buffy as the younger Dawn felt an attraction to it. She felt as if it was calling out to her before it shot straight down towards the Earth. The others looked over the side of the railing as the ball of green energy shot down past a slowly recovering Spike, and into the Earth. Buffy, Willow, and Giles looked at each other while Dawn slowly walked up the stairs to her older self who was still lying on the landing. Dawn saw her chest moving up and down, and she felt relieved that her older self was still alive.

But she knew there was no mistaking what that green energy ball was.

"That was the Key," said Dawn after she walked up to the third step and looked back at Buffy and the others, "that was the Key."

"But…" Giles said as he stared at the younger Dawn in surprise, and then at the woman lying on the landing as Buffy rushed past him and went up the stairs to the older Dawn while the younger version rushed to Buffy's side and watched as Buffy felt for a pulse. Giles took a few steps up the stairs with Willow and got a closer looked at the injured woman. To him, when he first arrived at the landing and looked up, he thought he had seen an older version of Dawn. But he told himself that it was the light making him see things.

Now, though, as he looked closer, Giles knew it was her. It was Dawn.

And Willow was stunned as well as she rushed up the stairs and stood behind the younger Dawn and Buffy.

"Dawnie?" asked Willow as she looked at the younger girl who looked back at her. She told her and Giles what happened when she was about to be cut by Doc.

"She saved me," the younger Dawn said. "She said she's from the future; I think she said something about an alternate future... but she was mumbling."

"What happened to her?" asked Willow as she looked at the older Dawn's body, and then up at her face and noticed the scars… and the eye patch with the visible scars that crossed the eyebrows. Willow then shook her head before saying that it was very likely that whatever the older Dawn used to travel back in time meant that her timeline splintered off, "but it's not wiped out of existence. I mean it's a wild guess since she's still here. But… I mean I'm at a loss…"

"We'll have to research this phenomenon back in the Magic Box," said Giles while Buffy held the younger Dawn's hand while smoothing out the older Dawn's short hair, "in the meantime, we need to take her to your home, Buffy. Let her have some rest, and then we talk to her. I have a few questions that I'd like answered. Number one, why is she still here if the Key left her system… and we also need to know why it left. And then we need to know why she was sent back in time."

"Whatever happened was bad, Giles," said Buffy as she stared at the older Dawn's scars, "really bad."

TBC.