"No," Buffy's tone was resolute and determined, though her eyes still showed the surprise she had obviously felt at Dawn's request to go out on a date with Richie Ryan. Dawn, for her part had been expecting the reaction and had planned her defense accordingly. She loved her sister, but knew that she was still very set on the idea that Dawn was still a child and would be so until she was old and grey. She had to convince her sister that she was old enough to make her own decisions and the only way she could be able to was by calm, rational discussion.

"Why not?" It was the best place to start. She made sure her voice was level and not angry. Buffy didn't seem angry yet either, although she did seem pretty firm on the idea.

"You're seriously asking me this?" She sighed as if the answer should be fairly obvious to Dawn. She had her theories as to why Buffy would be opposed to it, but waited for the answer in silence. "He's older than you Dawn. Way older."

"He's immortal, so that's pretty much a given." Dawn replied, acknowledging the point. "But from what he's told me, he only became an immortal a few years ago so he's still technically within his mortal timeline. And hello…older guys? Pretty much a been-there-done-that for you isn't it? With guys WAY older than Richie."

"This isn't about me," Buffy said as if that much should be obvious. Dawn fought the urge to roll her eyes at her sister's cluelessness. "Mortal timeline or no, it still puts him around the age of thirty and you still at seventeen. Not a good."

"You can't honestly be using the age card!" Dawn exclaimed, abandoning her resolve for calm. If this was going to be her sister's entire objection Dawn was prepared to fight it. "And yea, I can bring you into this, considering all your boyfriends, even the mortal ones have been way older than you. Why is it OK for you and not me?"

"It's not just his age Dawn…it's what that means. He may look about 19 but he isn't and that's because he's immortal." She smiled sadly at Dawn, which irked her slightly. "Immortals live dangerous and violent lives."

"Like we don't?" Dawn scoffed, unable to keep from interjecting. "That's been all I've known for a good long while. Why stop now?"

"Because we can!" Buffy exclaimed. "Because we're away from all of that. Dawnie! Everything I've done over the past few years….the gift to the slayers…all of that was so that you and I could live normal lives. I want so much for you to have what I never did. Richie is part of a world that you don't need to belong to. A world I don't want you to belong to."

"You know I can handle myself." Dawn said quietly. She resented the implication that she still needed protection. After all they had been through, surely her sister must realize by now how able she was both as a fighter and as a thinker. Richie certainly did.

"Maybe you can," Buffy conceded. "But I don't want you to have to. Richie is a great guy Dawn, but he's also a killer. That's what immortals do to survive. They don't have a choice. And if you date him you'll see that first hand and I don't want you going where I can't protect you."

"You mean where you can't follow." Dawn supplied flatly. "Buffy I get it. I know you want me safe. I do too. And Richie would never endanger me on purpose. He cares about me a lot. I know I haven't known him long, but I know that. And I know how I feel about him. You should be grateful I'm telling you this instead of just doing it like you did when you were with Angel."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy's voice was defensive and Dawn could tell she had picked at a sore spot. She hadn't meant to, but it looked as if she would have to go for whatever would help her win the argument.

"You snuck around with Angel because you knew Mom would never let you date him. She would have said the same things you are saying to me…well, she wouldn't have said he was a vamp, but she definitely would have had age issues…and without even knowing just how old he really was!" She paused and gathered her thoughts. "My point was, you loved him so you did it anyway. I'm not saying I love Richie, but I know I care about him. I could have lied to you and snuck around like you did, but I don't want that. I don't want us to have secrets Buffy. I want to talk to you about this. I want you to be OK with this. It's just one date. It's not a marriage proposal."

"Angel and I were different Dawn, we were…" she trailed off, obviously not wanting to go that route just now. "Anyway it doesn't matter. Angel and I ended badly and maybe I should have told Mom so she could have talked me out of it. If there had been anybody to warn me…really warn me about him, they would have been right. As it is, even Giles just let it take its course and look what happened. People died."

"Even if somebody had forbidden it outright would you have listened?" Dawn shot back. She knew just by the look on Buffy's face that she had her cornered. Slowly, regretfully, she shook her head.

"No, I would have done it anyway." She admitted. "Is that what you're telling me? That you'll go out with Richie no matter what?"

"Yea, I think I am." Dawn replied. She sighed heavily, disliking that she had to resort to this ultimatum. "I love you Buffy and I respect you, but I'm seventeen years old. I am old enough to date who I want to and to make my own mistakes…just like you did. You know what kind of person Richie is…you know that he's a good guy and that he won't hurt me on purpose. My eyes are open here."

"Yea, I guess they are." And this time she looked at her…really looked at Dawn and smiled sadly once more. "I just don't want you to go through half of what I did Dawnie. I want life to be…easier for you."

"It's never gonna be easy." Dawn replied voicing a truth she had learned unequivocally the day her mother had died. "But that's why we need people to stand by us. I don't have many people in my life like that and for once I feel I might. Easy might be too much to hope for, but Richie makes my life less hard…and that's a good thing."

"You're getting way too smart for your own good," Buffy grumbled. "I guess I can't really say much given my extreme hypocrite status. Still, I….be careful OK?"

"Careful is my middle name." Dawn said with a happy smile. She was glad she wouldn't have to carry through on her threat to date him anyway without Buffy's blessing. It was so much easier if her sister was on board.

"And you let him know," Buffy continued, "that if he ever puts you in any situation that even falls into the realm of life threatening, I will cut off some parts of his anatomy that he can't afford to spare."

"I'll pass the message along," Dawn said wryly. She met her sister's gaze and the two dissolved into quiet laughter. "In any case, I think there are plenty of immortals to go around. What about Adam? I mean, you two have been looking pretty cozy lately."

"Adam and I are friends." Buffy said firmly as if she was tired of the argument. The thing was, Dawn was almost certain that nobody had made the insinuation about her and Adam before, except for Willow. She smiled as she realized that this argument that was tiring her sister so much was probably raging in her own head. There was no way that she wasn't into him. It was in every movement and gesture and so obviously reciprocated.

"Yea, and I'm the Pope!" Dawn said with a laugh. "Seriously Buffy, when are you guys gonna wake up and smell the chemistry?"

"Right about when you start minding your own business," she retorted, although she didn't sound angry. "I can't be with Adam right now Dawnie…or anybody for that matter."

"Because of Spike?" The look of surprise on her sister's face was almost comical. Did she really think Dawn hadn't noticed the pain and grief that filtered across her face every time someone mentioned him? "It's OK to miss him Buffy, but there's probably a statute of limitations on isolation. I bet he'd want you to be happy."

"Spike was…." She trailed off, unable to voice her thoughts properly. "It was complicated. And I can't do complicated again. I'm just too…I don't want that."

"Whatever," Dawn said airily although it was clear that the topic was far from closed. "I can't tell you what to do, but from what I've seen it's the complicated ones that are the most worth it. Think about it."

And with that she left to find Richie and tell him the good news.