AN – This fic started off as the start of another one I was planning to write, but before I knew it the thing had written itself and become totally irrelevant to my storyline. I then decided to make it a one-shot dealing with how I thought Dawn would have felt being surrounded by all those slayers. Anyway, hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Disclaimer – I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters. (Although I'd trade my brother for Spike any day!)

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The rain fell heavily as a dusty yellow bus slowed to a halt and its doors squeaked open. A young brunette girl stepped out of the battered vehicle and glanced around nervously. She hitched her bag on her shoulder and sighed. The hood of her jacket hid her face and sheltered her from the ferocious downpour. Not for the first time that night, she wondered why she was doing this. She pulled out her mobile phone and flipped it open. The small screen informed her that she had five new messages and eight missed calls.

"No doubt from Buffy." Thought Dawn as the rain pounded down on her head. "I can't believe I'm late!"

The phone suddenly started vibrating in her hand. Dawn jumped and dropped the offending item in a rather large muddy puddle.

"Shit!" Yelped Dawn.

The slayer's younger sister bent down to retrieve the phone. Grimacing she held the very soggy piece of tech to her ear and prepared herself for the usual lecture.

"Hello?" She asked timidly.

"DAWN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

Dawn winced and held the dripping wet phone away from her ear. It was amazing how intimidating Buffy could sound even when you couldn't see her face.

"Calm down Buffy." Pleaded Dawn. "I know I'm kinda late-"

"LATE?! LATE IS A BIT OF AN UNDERSTATEMENT!!! YOU WERE MEANT TO BE HOME 4 HOURS AGO!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR PHONE?!"

"I dropped it in a puddle and it broke?" Offered Dawn hopefully. It was practically the truth and totally believable. Buffy, however, didn't buy it.

"Oh, and that would be why you're talking to me now on your broken phone." Answered Buffy sarcastically. Thankfully, the opportunity to tap into her limitless well of sarcasm had calmed her down slightly.

"Dawnie, this going off on your own thing is getting out of control." Buffy said gently. "I know it must be hard trying to fit in with all the slayers, but you can't keep doing this."

"You sound a lot calmer." Said Dawn, having obviously not listened to anything Buffy had said. "Does that mean I'm not in trouble?"

"You bet you're in trouble!" Answered Buffy. "There's no way in hell you're getting out of this one! Where are you? I'm coming to pick you up and then you and I are going to have a nice long chat."

Dawn groaned inwardly. That was one thing she didn't need.

"I'm at the bus station." She answered finally. She couldn't see a way out of this one.

"Alright. I'm on my way."

Dawn sighed as Buffy hung up and took a seat on a dripping wet bench. On some level she knew that Buffy was right. Her wandering off was becoming a problem. Ever since the battle with the First, Buffy and Faith had been recruiting and training new slayers. They had moved to Cleveland, fixed up an old abandoned building and turned it into Slayer HQ. With Willow and Giles in England and Xander disappearing off to search for new girls, Dawn had become less sure of her place. New slayers were turning up in their hundreds and Buffy seemed to have less time for her sister. Dawn felt truly alone and it terrified her. It didn't help that the majority of the new slayers viewed Dawn as a helpless mortal who couldn't hold her own against a vampire.

Dawn snorted. This was not the first time she had considered leaving but it was the first time she had actually gotten past the front door. Her plan had been quite simple. She had told Buffy that she was going to take the bus to the mall. She'd even managed to get Buffy to give her a lift to the station! She'd had had no idea where she was going or what she was planning to do when she got there. She had eventually hopped on a bus to LA. Maybe she could visit Angel? All she knew was that she wanted to be known as Dawn Summers. Not Dawn Summers, the slayer's baby sister. Upon arriving in LA, however, she found that something was drawing her back to Cleveland. And so with a heavy heart, she had jumped back on the bus and headed home.

Dawn groaned and tilted her head back so the rain was falling directly onto her face. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Buffy's car pull up. She could see her sister's stony face through the window. To say she was annoyed was an understatement. Buffy was furious. Dawn stood up and made her way over to the car. It was going to be a long night.

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Buffy carefully regarded the drenched seventeen year old sitting next to her. After spending the past four hours angrily planning punishments and lectures, the slayer couldn't bring herself to shout at her little sister. One look at the lost expression on Dawn's face made her heart ache.

"Of course Dawnie feels lost." Murmured a sly voice in her head. "She's living in a house full of strange girls who treat her like something that needs protecting, her own sister barely even notices her anymore, the one person who saw the real her died in the battle with the First and the only people she had anything in common with are constantly jetting off to new exotic places. She feels alone and scared and you didn't even notice."

At that last thought, Buffy was suddenly reminded of the last time Dawn had felt this way. Her baby sister had had so many issues it still made her feel guilty for not noticing. It had taken a vengeance demon, a stolen jacket and a wish gone wrong for Buffy to see the pain Dawn had been in. Well, that was not going to happen this time.

Buffy suddenly slammed her foot on the brake and the car screeched to a halt.

"BUFFY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Yelled Dawn as she was flung forward. "YOU CAN'T JUST STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!"

Buffy fixed Dawn with stern glare.

"I can stop wherever I want Dawn. We need to talk and I'm thinking HQ is not the best place to do that. So I'm not moving this car until we deal with everything that needs to be dealt with. And I shouldn't have to tell you to watch your mouth. Your use of language is appalling, young lady. Mom would have a fit!"

"I'm pretty sure mom is already having a fit after what I tried to do today." Muttered Dawn to herself.

Unfortunately Buffy's slayer hearing picked up on this and she frowned in confusion. She felt totally at loss here. Her usual approach would be to demand an explanation and yell until she got a reasonable one. Somehow, though, she knew that Dawn wouldn't respond well to that and her sister was upset and lonely. She was going to have to take a different approach.

Buffy sighed and switched the car engine off.

"Dawn, sweetie." She began, turning to face the younger Summers. "Where were you today?"

Dawn looked up at her and once again Buffy felt her heart clench. The expression on her face made her look so much younger and Buffy was reminded of the difficult time when their parents had gotten divorced. It was the exact same face Dawn had worn when the two sisters had had to listen to their mom and dad arguing for hours on end. The same look of hopelessness and fear.

"I-I was shopping." Answered Dawn quietly. "I-I went to the mall."

Buffy shook her head.

"Dawnie. Please don't lie to me. You were four hours late and you came back without any shopping." She said gently. "Why won't you tell me where you were?"

"Buffy, I can't. You'll be so mad." Said Dawn, tears springing to her eyes.

"I promise not to get mad, Dawnie. I promise. You're upset and that's more important that a lecture. Although, I spent ages coming up with a really good one."

Dawn smiled slightly through her tears.

"C'mon Dawnie." Prompted Buffy. "You can tell me anything. You know that."

Silence filled the small car as Buffy waited in suspense for Dawn's answer. She could tell that Dawn was on the brink of giving in and telling her everything. She just had to wait.

"I-I went to LA." Dawn finally mumbled. "I just couldn't take it anymore."

Buffy sat in shock as she considered the implications of the words that had slipped out of her baby sister's mouth.

"Y-you were going to leave?" She asked in disbelief. "As in run away?"

Dawn nodded and waited for the screaming and shouting that she knew would follow that statement. To her utmost surprise, Buffy reached over, picked her up and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." She murmured. "I should have seen this. You were alone and scared and I didn't even notice. You're my baby sister and I almost lost you because I couldn't open my eyes wide enough to see what was right in front of me."

Dawn shook her head at the astonishing turn of events. When she had hopped on that bus that morning, she never thought that by the end of the day, she would be sitting in a small dingy car in the middle of the road, absolutely dripping wet in her big sister's arms confessing her fears and plans to leave.

"Dawnie, you need to tell me everything." Said Buffy. "I need to know what I've been doing wrong."

Dawn nodded and suddenly shivered. For the first time she noticed that she was still soaked from the rain and the cold was starting to get to her. Buffy seemed to notice too.

"Alright." She said smiling at the shivering girl in her arms. "We need to get you home and changed into some warm clothes. Then, after some hot chocolate, we'll talk."

Dawn sneezed and her big sister laughed slightly.

"I love you Dawnie." She said, kissing her forehead. "Don't you ever leave me."