Hank

Disclaimer: Still don't own the characters, nor do I suspect I ever will...

A/N: Thanks again to all the people who reviewed. And please keep the reviews coming. They make me happy.


Chapter 9

Hank screamed. He wasn't proud of it later, but when the first demon you've ever seen comes running at you after materializing out of some silvery goo, what are you supposed to do?

"Spike! Get him out of here," yelled his daughter, who, Hank noticed, was not screaming. It felt wrong. She was tiny and blond. She should be screaming.

As Spike pulled him up by the back of the shirt, he watched in a daze as Buffy did a back flip and kicked the second demon he'd ever seen, Spike pulling on his shirt-back reminded him that he was being pulled to safety by a vampire. He stopped screaming, but his mouth stayed open as Buffy dodged a sword thrust and punched the demon in the gut.

Spike pushed him next to the couch and leapt into the fight with a roar, only to have his attack foiled by the demon disappearing. Into thin air.

"Where'd it go?" asked Dawn, looking nervously at the spot where the demon had been a moment ago.

"That's the demon I killed yesterday," said Buffy.

"The demon you thought you killed," shot back Spike.

"Can we use magic for this too?" asked Hank, bewildered.


Anya was restless. She didn't like this feeling. Richard had been stabbed. Xander had been hurt trying to help Buffy's ill-equipped father, and she didn't like that either. The man just kept sitting next to the couch, staring at things and asking questions like, "did mom know about this?", "can you chop it's head off?" and "why aren't you all screaming?" Anya didn't really like him either.

It was so hot, why was it so hot? Even though Xander told her it wasn't, told her she was freaking out, she knew it was hot. She also knew the reason why.

Dawn had to know something. She had to. Her reaction to everyone wanting to leave was suspicious, but no one seemed ready to check it out.

And they weren't willing to do what had to be done to leave. Tara had yelled at her for trying to get Willow to do a spell. Couldn't everyone see? Willow was their best hope. That, or finding out what Dawn had done.

Anya brushed off Xander's objections and started going through Dawn's room. She knew it had to be here. Something. An amulet, a spell, something that would show everyone Dawn was guilty.

Anya didn't even notice the other people in the room until Dawn yelled at her.

"Don't touch that!" Anya poured the contents of the box on the floor. There were amulets all right.

Dawn ran.

Anya chased.

"Half of this stuff is from the Magic Box!"

Dawn looked guilty. Buffy looked over at her gift.

"Oh…Dawn?"

Dawn's eyes widened. "No! Buffy, I bought that!"

"She did. I was with her." Spike didn't want them to tear her to pieces over something she hadn't done. He felt guilty again. But he'd warned her! Sticky fingers…

Anya rooted through the wads of bills and handfuls of merchandise. She came across Hank's credit card info. "Did you buy it with this?" She asked.

"I…no!"

Hank got up from the couch and took the piece of paper. "Oh," he said faintly and looked up at Dawn with hurt in his eyes. "You only had to ask, Dawnie."

"How are we supposed to trust you, Dawn?" Asked Anya, softly. "You say you didn't put us here, but look at this stuff."

"I didn't do anything! I—"

"But how can we trust you?" asked Buffy.

Dawn sat on the couch next to her gift to Buffy. She ran her hand over the picture. "None of you know."

"Know what?" asked Anya, clearly confused.

Dawn looked up at her. "How lonely it is."

"Lonely? But, Dawnie, you have us," said Xander.

"Not really. You're never free. It always 'one of those nights.' There's been a lot of loss." She scoffed humorlessly. "At least, that's what my guidance counselor says."

Buffy looked confused. "Your school has a guidance counselor? I thought they were still looking for a replacement."

"Didn't the last one get vamped?" asked Willow.

"If not, staking him was a bad call," replied Buffy.

"She was new," said Dawn, still looking at her hands.

Anya looked worried. "New? Did she have a pendant?"

Dawn looked up. "Ummm…yeah."

"Did you make a wish?"

Dawn looked worried. "Maybe a little one."

Anya looked annoyed. "That was Halfrek. A vengeance demon. You made a wish to a vengeance demon!" She turned to look at the ceiling. "Halfrek! Hallie, get your ass down here!"

A puff of smoke and a female demon materialized in the living room. "You rang?"


Hank was trying hard not to start screaming again. This woman had appeared in a puff of smoke, been stabbed through the gut and then stood up and informed them that she preferred the term "Justice Demon". It was too much.

He wasn't really listening to what she was saying. Instead he was trying to figure out exactly what he'd gotten himself into. Demons were real. His daughter fought them.

Did stuff like this happen all the time? Did people get stabbed and attacked and stuck in houses? Was life always this dangerous? How had Buffy managed to live this long?

Hank thought back to when he and Joyce were still married. Buffy had come home, scared out of her wits, raving about killing a vampire. He and Joyce had taken one look at each other and driven her to the nearest psychiatric hospital to get her checked out. About a week and a half later they let her go. The doctors had said it was just stress. Hank felt like an ass. It had been real. How long had she been doing this alone?

Something in the conversation going on around him caught his attention. He looked up, shaking himself free of his thoughts, and met the eyes of the demon woman.

"Yes, you. I'm taking to you, Mr. Absentee Father. Like I told Anyanka, the children need me. They need me to punish men like you. Men who leave and don't come back when they're needed. What kind of a role model were you for your eldest daughter? No wonder she learned to ignore her sister. And you think money will make it better? Money is not all that these girls need. I can't think of a better punishment for you, Mr. Summers." She looked around the room at the others and Hank looked down, clenching his fists, unwilling to accept what he knew was the truth. "You people deserve to be cursed. Enjoy your time together. From now on all you have is time. Time…and each other. Good luck!"

The woman waved her hands in front of herself and nothing happened. A look of embarrassment crossed her face and she began to mutter to herself. She tried the waving again. Hank wondered vaguely what she was doing.

Anya sighed. "It's the curse, Hallie."

The woman simply looked more embarrassed. "Oh, for crying out loud. Fine! The curse is lifted! We can all leave now!…Damn it!" She waved her hands again and disappeared.

Everyone in the family room looked relieved. Xander grinned hugely and then his face fell. "Richard! We have to get him to a hospital!" He and Anya ran up the stairs.

Sophie looked down. "I'd better go call my mom. Umm, Buffy? Happy Birthday." She practically ran to the next room.

"How much you want to bet she avoids me next time we work together?" Buffy sighed.


Dawn lay on her bed again, face down, picking at the cloth. She felt almost…happy. Before he'd left Spike had asked her if she'd be all right, glancing sidelong at Hank. Dawn had assured him she would be.

"If there's any problem, you just stroll on over to my crypt, yeah?"

Dawn smiled. "I will."

She knew she was going to have to do a lot to help Anya, and she didn't mind. She deserved to be working there for nothing, and if she could help Anya make some money, then even better. It just felt good to have the woman care, though Dawn suspected she always did in her way.

And Buffy had stayed! She could have left and gone patrolling or gone to the Bronze, but she'd stayed and asked Dawn where they should hang the picture, before helping her clean up and cracking a joke about nothing but a cupcake with a candle for next year.

The only unsure note was Hank. He hadn't moved since Halfrek had left. He hadn't even looked up. Buffy had asked him if he wanted anything and he'd just grunted, so they'd left him alone. Dawn felt a fresh wave of guilt. It was one of the things she wished she could take back. The look of pain in her father's eyes when he'd seen the credit card information…she didn't realize he cared enough about her to be hurt by what she'd done.

A light tap sounded at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in, Dawn?" It was Hank. Dawn froze, not wanting another lecture, but she realized that she needed to get this out of the way, needed it to be over.

"Sure."

Hank opened the door slowly, still looking down. He came in and stood awkwardly by the side of the bed. "Dawn, I…"

Dawn readied herself to hear, "I'm not angry, just disappointed."

"…I'm sorry."

Huh?

He finally looked up and she could see tears in his eyes. "Dawn, I'm so sorry. For leaving. For taking so long to come back. For not noticing that you were in pain." He sat heavily on the bed, looking down again. "I'm so sorry."

Dawn was shocked. Not what she'd expected.

"I've been so worried about Buffy. She's hardly there all the time and…I completely ignored you and…there's no excuse. I'm sorry." Hank looked up at her again. "You're my daughter too."

Dawn gaped at him. He wasn't freaking out about the Key thing? She looked down. "I'm sorry too, Dad." Dawn looked up to see Hank smiling.

"You know, that's the first time you've really called me that since I got back."

Dawn opened her mouth to protest and then shut it, realizing he was right.

"I can't promise I'll get everything right, because we both know my track record isn't the greatest," Hank began, "but I promise to try."

Dawn smiled. "I promise to try too."

Hank looked sidelong at her. "You're not going to fry me with your powers or anything, are you?"

Dawn's face fell. Was that the only reason?…until she noticed he was trying very hard not to grin.

"Ha, ha," she said and giggled.

Hank grinned wide. "Just covering my bases.