Her hands were sweating. Buffy stared around her, trying to get her bearings in the alien surroundings of the municipal building. She didn’t want to be there, but Dawn had messed up big time and she was terrified. Alone and adrift, this was something she knew she couldn’t slay. Bureaucracy – it won every time, she was in a Kafkaesque nightmare.

She rubbed her hands over her eyes and blotted the insipient tears, and then briskly fluffed her hair around her shoulders. Buffy rubbed them on her skirt and tried to paste on a confident smile. Dawn’s petulant presence to her left wasn’t helping. When she had hauled Dawn out of class for the meeting, they had screamed and shouted the whole trip, Buffy cursing herself for not getting her permit so they could fight in the privacy of the jeep. Instead, they had walked the whole way into town yelling at each other. She glanced around at Dawn and was met with a spiteful glare. Buffy sighed, knowing that Dawn was on the defensive because of her screw up.

Looking away, Buffy tried to find something to distract her from reaching over and strangling her baby sister. All Buffy could see was the demon that was the Kroger monster. The social worker sat at her desk sipping her coffee and ignoring the two girls seated in the waiting area.

“Dawn, keep still. We need to make a good impression,” Buffy hissed at her fidgety sister.

Dawn ignored her and stared down at her hands, she knew all too well what was coming. The letter Buffy received was just one of seven she had managed to hide from her sister. But she had been running late for school and Tara had rushed her out of the house before she could check the mail. Dawn sighed. She was screwed. Some of the letters she had intercepted listed her skipping class, the others about her shoplifting. All of which she had managed to keep from her sister. But now this…and just when they were getting on and Buffy was starting to let her in.

“I miss Spike,” Dawn sighed. She missed the flinch Buffy gave at the mention of the dusted vampire and the tears that collected in the wan face of her sister. She knew that the vampire would’ve probably ripped off her head for being caught shoplifting and skipping school, but he would’ve helped her out. Maybe even worked out a way to stop the Social Services from finding out. Now Dawn was freaked. Buffy hadn’t said what the last letter was about. She’d gotten that pinched look around her eyes, the same one she got when mom died. So Dawn knew it wasn’t good. She felt sick to her stomach for letting Buffy down.

“Summers, this way please.” Doris Kroger gestured for the two girls to precede her into the supervisor’s office.

Buffy leapt nervously to her feet and adjusted her skirt and hair. Giving Dawn a steely glare, she gestured for her to follow. Both girls ignored the sympathetic yet smug look the older woman directed at them.

“Ms Summers, we meet at last.” The director of the department looked over his glasses at the frail looking blonde woman perched on the edge of her seat. “We were beginning to think you were dead!” he joked, missing the startled looks the sisters exchanged.

“Sorry, but as I told your assistant on the phone, the letter I got this morning was the first one I saw.” Buffy reached into her bag and pulled out the crumpled sheet of paper and placed it on the desk nervously. “I spoke with Dawn and she admitted that she took the others and burned them.” Buffy wrung her hands together nervously and looked over imploringly at the man. “Please don’t be mad with her. She didn’t realise.”

“Ms Summers, we all know what teens can get up to if they are motivated, and Dawn was definantly motivated. Her list of wrongdoings would make me go grey if I were family.” He fixed a firm stare at the brunette teen who stared mutinously at him, her arms crossed defensively.

“I know, but surely we can work something out?” Buffy tried to smile but faltered when she saw Mrs Kroger frown. Her heart began to pound and her hands got clammy.

There was a long pause and the supervisor shuffled his papers, unwilling to meet the pleading gaze of the young woman. Finally Doris coughed and forced him to look up. He hated this part of the job. He could see by the older girl’s reaction that she was innocent in this and that only because of her little sister’s stupidity were they even in this situation.

He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But I don’t wanna…pleeease Buffy, don’t let them!” Dawn cried as she wrapped her arms around her sister’s shaking shoulders.

“I…I…ca…can’t, Dawnie,” Buffy sobbed as she cradled her baby sister to her and stroked her hair. She sobbed loudly and stared over at Tara, utterly lost. She tried to explain to her sister on the way back home that there was nothing they could do to change their minds. It was a done deal. She had thought Dawn had understood that she had to be on best behaviour since their mom had died, but obviously the teen had not. Now she was reaping the results of her rebellion. Buffy wanted to throw up. She had failed at the one thing she had promised her mom, to keep Dawn safe. Instead she had died, thinking that would be the one thing she could do to guarantee her sister’s ongoing safe existence. When instead it had led her off the rails, cutting class and stealing. When she had come back, Buffy had tried to communicate with her angry sibling but teen hormones had gotten in the way, and then Spike. ‘Oh god! It had all gone wrong when Spike had died…she had become a hermit and Dawn had needed her…she needed to fix it.’

The quiet girl stood there wringing her hands together and staring at the soggy mess of the sisters with tear-filled eyes. She was totally lost. She had never thought this could happen; all of them had fought so hard to keep Dawn safe from the monsters and Hellgods that they had forgotten about humans. “Buffy, what can I do?”

Buffy looked over that the distraught wiccan and shook her head. “Nothing. It’s out of our hands. They are coming tomorrow and that’s it.”

“I’m so sooorrryyyy…” Dawn cried as she hyperventilated and then dry retched over and over. Guilt filled her and poured out of her. She had messed up big time and there was no way it could be fixed. She didn’t want to go.

“I know But sorry isn’t gonna cut it this time. Why didn’t you tell me? If I had known then maybe something could’ve been done,” Buffy whispered and rocked Dawn in her arms. They were curled up together on the couch, shivering in each other’s arms; Tara sat down behind Dawn and gently stroked her shoulder. She winced at the tension in them, but carried on soothing her.

“I couldn’t. You were so blue and hiding in your room and I know what I did was wr…wrong. I didn’t want you too be ashamed of me!” Dawn whimpered. Buffy gritted her teeth and managed to suppress the impulse to slap her sister for her monumental stupidity. She knew that they were both to blame in some ways, but now there was nothing that could be done. No magical save, no diving head first off a tower to save the day…nothing but the cold hard harsh reality of life.

“Ho…how did they find him?” Tara asked hesitantly.

“Some sort of financial search. It appears the IRS knows more about my dad than his own family,” Buffy replied bitterly. She wondered what her dad had thought when he got the call; he had managed to avoid all his parental responsibilities until now.

“I don’t wanna go. I don’t even know him,” Dawn sobbed.

Tara spoke, her voice firm, surprising the heck out of Buffy. “Well, Dawn, you should’ve thought about the consequences of your actions beforehand. It’s way too late now, sweetie.” Buffy stared at Tara over Dawn’s shoulder wide-eyed. She mouthed ‘thank you’ for voicing everything she had wanted to.

Dawn pulled out of Buffy’s arms and stormed upstairs without a backward look, her bedroom door slamming breaking the silence of the house.

“When is he arriving?” Tara reached over and took Buffy’s achingly thin hand in hers and held it gently. .

Buffy tore her eyes away from the stairs and looked over at Tara with a wobbly smile that faded away almost instantly. “Tomorrow morning. He’s driving down from San Francisco tonight and staying in a motel.”

“Did you talk with him?”

Buffy shook her head. “No, he was already driving. I dunno what to say. Think he wants to take me as well?” she asked bitterly. She knew full well that the only reason he was coming for Dawn was because the government had told him to, otherwise he could face a court summons. That would so not look good at work. She knew that was the only reason he was collecting Dawn and imagined that within days the novelty of being a dad again would wear off and Dawnie would be packed off to boarding school.

Tara tried to smile, but failed. Everything was going wrong. It was getting worse daily and she was starting to lose faith that the goddess could help. The sisters were about to be torn apart, and after everything Buffy had sacrificed, Dawnie had to mess it up. “I’m sorry. Did they say if it was on a trial basis or permanent?”

“Until she’s eighteen.” Buffy curled her fingers around Tara’s and started to weep. She was so tired and now this, everything she loved was being taken from her and it wasn’t fair. She couldn’t cope…it was too much.

“Can you visit?” Tara was grasping at straws she knew, but the distress emanating from Buffy was overwhelming.

“They said it was up to Dad.” Buffy’s doubtful expression told it all.

“Oh sweetie.” Tara took her in her arms and held the shivering Slayer tight.

~~~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry.” Dawn rested her head on Buffy’s shoulder. They were seated on the stairs of the porch watching the street for their dad. Behind them stood Tara, Xander and Anya, silent sentinels all in faithful attendance offering their support.

Buffy sighed and wrapped an arm around her lanky sister’s shoulders. The two of them had curled up in bed together and talked all night, Buffy exacting promises that Dawn would behave for their father and that she would keep in contact. Dawn had been subdued and promised anything. She wanted to cry but stopped herself, not wanting their last night together to be a soggy mess of weepiness. She had sat in her bedroom most of the afternoon, contemplating running away. She had wished that Spike were still around, hanging out in his mouldy old crypt so she could sneak out and go talk to him. In the end she had stayed, not wanting to break Buffy’s heart anymore. She could hear her sister crying with Tara and all the recriminations as well. Buffy blamed herself for what had happened and part of Dawn shrivelled and died that night.

“I know, Dawnie. I know,” Buffy sighed. She so did not want this, her dad making an appearance and taking away the only family she had left. A small part of her wanted him to take her too, to make it all better, but from the embarrassed looks yesterday, Buffy realised that her dad hadn’t even asked after her.

“Buffy.” Xander’s voice was subdued as he gestured to the car that drew up to the curb. Buffy had been too busy memorising Dawn’s face to notice. Sighing, she pulled Dawn up and turned to face the car. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the Mercedes that idled at the curb.

“Looks like dad’s been doing well,” she muttered to Dawn as she picked up the first of her sister’s suitcases. Bitterness filled her at the memory of the pile of unpaid bills sitting on her mom’s desk.

Dawn pulled back, unwilling to meet her father for the first time. She had wanted to for so long, but not like this. Not when he was coming to take her away from Buffy and everyone else. Not when she had messed up so badly that they were separating her from Buffy. She felt dizzy and sick. It was all her fault and there was no changing it now. She wished over and over that her mom had never died and wondered if it was because she was here that Mom had died. Sometimes in the dark of night, the thoughts would clamour around her. Had her arrival and need for Buffy to protect her with her life led to their Mom’s death? It was all about balance, wasn’t it? That was what Spike said-- and so had Anya. For every spell there was a consequence. The monks had used some serious mojo to create her, had her mom’s tumour been the payment for the new life?

Something cold clutched at her heart, magic—balance – Buffy. Dawn looked over at her red-eyed sister. ‘What price would they have to pay for Willow bringing her back?’ Terror etched lines around her mouth and she tried to say something. To warn them that they had to pay the price, but she was interrupted.

“Ms Summers.” Doris Kroger stepped out of the car and stood by the curb fiddling with her paperwork. Buffy glared at her, wondering if she could get away with puking on her shoes or something. If the busybody hadn’t interfered then Dawn would be staying. Buffy wanted to stomp her foot like a child and scream at her. Or at the very least, frighten her into early retirement. But before she could act out her childish imaginings, another door opened and he stepped out of the car in front of her.

“Buffy.” Her dad’s voice hadn’t changed. She looked over and there he was. Time and screwing his younger women hadn’t been kind to him. She hated him for so much, especially for the way his eyes drifted dismissively over her and focused on Dawn.

He was there for Dawn, the pretend sister. Not for her.