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Beta'd by Leon Stryfe. Banner by nmcil12, thank you I love it!

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I go over my memories to attempt to discern if I ever knew or noticed anything off about Dawn during our acquaintance. I must admit that I find no lapses that should have given me any inkling as to her not being genuine. It has made me wonder though; Angel always seemed uncomfortable around the younger Summers’ girl. He never put much effort into interacting with her, even going out of his way to avoid being alone with the girl. Then again, he never tried particularly hard to interact with any of us. Spike, however, took to the girl immediately without any hesitation. Recent discoveries have made the reason quite clear to me as to why both vampires reacted this way in regards to Dawn. I will discuss those discoveries later and in detail but I am doing all that I can to write this in as precise a manner as possible.

At first Buffy only shared her discovery about Dawn's true origins with myself and Spike. I was leery about telling Spike simply because at the time I still questioned his motives. Looking back with the knowledge I now possess, all I can say is that I was purposely blind to what was right in front of my eyes.

As Joyce’s illness progressed we discovered that she could also tell that there was something different about Dawn. It was then that Glory came looking for her key. Buffy's first instinct was to keep the knowledge of who the Key was safeguarded from the others. Her need to protect everyone that she loves was the deciding factor in her decision, but Spike was able to make her see that asking them to risk their lives without knowing exactly who or what they were risking them for was doing them a grave disservice. But Buffy was unmovable on one issue, flatly refusing to tell Dawn and forbidding Spike and I from telling her ourselves.

Secrets are hard to keep at the best of times so it came as no surprise that shortly thereafter the issue of telling Dawn of her origins as we knew them became moot. Glory paid a visit to the Summers’ home demanding her key. Buffy and Spike arrived before Glory could hurt anyone in the house but afterwards Spike finally convinced Buffy to let Dawn know what we had been keeping from her. The poor child seemed very distraught at first, and it was to my extreme surprise at the time that Spike of all people was the one who was able to reach her. As I listened unobtrusively to their conversation I could hear the caring and love Spike has for Dawn. He couldn’t answer her questions about where she came from and why she was here or even if she was good or evil, but I think he was able to allay some of her fears. I can see that Dawn, having had such a blow to her sense of family and security, was concerned about how the others would react to her now. Spike let her know that she would always have him on her side and I believe it relieved her greatly to know that.

The day came when we found out what was causing Joyce’s illness. When the doctors informed us that she had a brain tumour Buffy and Dawn were devastated by the news. I later found Spike in an empty room of the hospital crying. I never really understood until that moment just how capable he truly was of caring for another person.

Joyce was released from the hospital to await her surgery date in the comfort of her own home. It was then that we discovered another effect of Glory being in Sunnydale. She sustains herself by feeding upon the brainpower of her victims, literally sucking it from their brains. This causes those unfortunate souls to lose touch with reality; it seems that this condition also allows them see what Dawn really is. We later learned that Glory’s human host contacted a Quellor Demon in an attempt to rein in the number of disturbed people Glory has created.

That demon attacked Joyce in her home and Buffy and Spike managed to kill it. During that incident Spike had given Dawn a weapon and had set her to guard her mother. After the demon had been killed Buffy was quite upset with Spike for his decision to place Dawn in harm's way. While I can understand Buffy’s need to keep Dawn safe and out of the fighting I can, and it pains me to admit this, also see and even agree with Spike’s point. He made a valid argument, that even if Dawn is not involved with slaying she should be taught self defence at the very least.

I can honestly say that at the time I did not know what prompted Spike to take his next action, but I cannot dispute the results. Joyce had her surgery and the doctors told us that it was a success. For reasons known only to Spike, he arranged for Joyce to see a local healer immediately after her discharge from the hospital. After their visit Buffy informed me that the healer discovered that Joyce had developed an aneurysm at the site of the operation. The healer was able to repair it and Joyce should live a long and healthy life. 

Conversations I had following his intervention have revealed that Spike believed that he heard something amiss with the flow of Joyce's blood. I can only take his word for it; I assume vampires are able to discern blood flowing through their victims' veins, but I question the voracity of a vampire being able to pinpoint something like an aneurysm and I have developed my own theory regarding his actions. In discussions with Buffy she relayed to me Spike’s deepest secret.

Whilst he was human his mother was dying of tuberculosis. After he was turned he tried to sire her in order to cure her of her illness. The siring of his mother did not end the way he had hoped. Unlike Spike, she had retained none of her humanity and was no longer the woman he remembered. He assumed that his mother would rise again as he had, the same loving caring individual he had been in life, albeit with a more than a touch of darkness. He believed that his loving mother would survive the transformation. Disgusted and heartbroken by the creature she became, Spike was forced to stake his mother soon after he turned her. This failure is what I believe prompted him into taking Joyce to the healer. He views Joyce not only as a friend but as a mother figure and I don’t believe he would have recovered if she had died. It all adds to the picture of the very unique vampire Spike is.

My discrete inquiries, at least I thought them discrete, regarding Glory have brought the Watchers Council to our door. They have informed us that Glory is actually Glorificus a Hell-God. During one of the meetings with the Council, Spike interrupted with news that the intern who had helped care for Joyce while she was in the hospital was working with Glory in some fashion. The council was to say the least not pleased that Spike was a part of our group and we can only be thankful they never learned the full extent of his involvement with Buffy. I have no idea what action they might have taken should that fact have been learned. They immediately started to make demands in exchange for the information that they had on Glory. I am pleased to say that Buffy turned the tables on them and they left after giving us all they knew. She is, to quote Spike, beautiful when she gets riled up and I must say he is right.

We also have yet another group looking for the key. The Knights of Byzantium, an ancient order, who’s sole mission is to destroy the key to keep Glory from obtaining it.