Later, as Xander and Cordelia lay in their bed, discussing the day's revelations, Cordelia suddenly began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Xander asked.

"Before, when we first discovered your hybrid status, Jenny said I would probably never need to worry about a roving eye and I haven't and yet somehow, you have a kid with another woman. It's like a giant cosmic joke."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm a month and a half month shy of my twentieth birthday and I've just found out, I'm the father of a thirteen year old. And a woman other then the mother, has memories of being pregnant with and giving birth to her, with someone else being the father. It's like the set up for a joke, but its actually not a joke. Dawn's real and half of her comes from me. Thank you for being so good about this is. I know we thought all of the kids I fathered would be with you and I swear to all the gods, that was my intention, but someone had other ideas."

"I meant what I said, I love Dawn too. How she came to be isn't as important as the fact that she exists. It's no different then if you had fathered her in the traditional way and I was her stepmother, I'd still love her."

"I love you, my Queen."

"I love you too, my Doofus." Xander kissed her, long and deep and they moved together in expressing their love with each other.

Faith lay alone in her bed in her apartment, also thinking over the day's revelations. Some how, there was a kid with half her genes out there. A kid someone wanted to use to destroy them somehow. But, bottom line, she agreed with Xander, Dawn existed and needed to be protected. She would do everything she could to keep her safe.

Buffy was also thinking over everything she'd learned today. Dawn wasn't her sister, not biologically, some monks had made her from Xander and Faith. Because Xander was protective and Faith was the Slayer. She, Buffy was a Slayer. An extra. That was boggling her mind. Somehow, she'd thought Faith was the extra. And then there was her mom and her headaches. She had an appointment tomorrow, Buffy was worried about what they'd find. And did the fake memories have anything to do with those headaches? Yes, alot for her to think about.

Joyce was worried. Her girls, actually all of the kids she loved, had massive burdens to bear. Dawn's might be the biggest, being guardian to some mystical whatsit. She was so young. But she was Joyce's baby, no different then if she'd adopted her. She loved her and would take care of her.

Dawn was also deep in thought. 'I wasn't born, I was created. To protect something that could destroy us somehow. I can't let anything happened to it, to me. This is scary. How do I keep it safe? And what is it? Where did they put it in me? Can it come out?'

Giles and Jenny were also talking.

"What do you suppose the Key actually is?" Jenny asked. "All I found was some sort of energy in Dawn that I don't recognize."

"To be honest, I don't know. I've never heard of anything refered to simply as the Key. But it must be something extremely powerful for these monks to go to such lengths to protect it. So many layers of protection around it. And the power needed to make it happen."

"We have to protect her, Rupert. She's just a little girl. She didn't ask for any of this. She must be so scared. We can't make it harder for her. She needs answers, we all do. We have to find everything we can about this Key and this Abomination that's after her. And most of all, we need to keep her safe."

"Agreed."

A sentiment each and every Scooby currently in the know was feeling. The only one that didn't know, was Oz. The rest, Willow, Tara and Amy, were all equally as determined to help protect the fragile young child the universe had gifted to them. Whatever it took.