Chapter 2:

Silence erupted after Sam's quiet announcement. Buffy could see the chock in her sister's companions and knew without a doubt that the same questions could be seen in Dawn's eyes if she turned to look at her. But she didn't. Instead she stared at her older sister.

It'd been years since they last saw each other. Years since they'd even spoken a word. Not that they'd been angry with each other, their lives just hadn't mixed very well. And the two of them had always been too different, always had different goals. But it was something she'd come to accept, despite the regrets she still felt over not trying harder to keep in touch with her older sister.

"Buffy?" Dawn's questioning voice broke the silence at last.

"It's true Dawnie." Buffy said softly.

"Wha…?"

"I'll tell you later." She promised without taking her eyes off of Sam.

Sam stared at Buffy, still in shock. She never would have expected, not once, to see her sister here, in Colorado Springs for Christ's sake, out of all places. And by the side of the road with a broken car, trying to get help. Or with a teenage girl by her side.

"I'm Daniel…Daniel Jackson." The younger man said after a while with an uncomfortable smile when Sam didn't seem to remember them. "And this is Jack O'Neill. We work with Sam."

"I'm Buffy; this is my sister Dawn." Buffy said smiling a little.

"Sister?" Sam's voice was low, almost…hurt.

"Yeah…" Buffy turned her eyes toward Sam again, this time with a thoughtful look.

The monks hadn't cared about implanting memories in Sam. That much was obvious now. Surprisingly Buffy found herself wanting to explain everything to Sam, something she of course wouldn't do. She never told Sam about her life as a slayer, so how could she possibly tell her about Dawn then?

"You having trouble with the car?" The older man—Jack, as he apparently was called—finally asked when he seemed to realize no one would say anything.

"Yeah, the engine I think." Buffy replied.

"You think?"

"It's a rental; it was supposed to be working," She replied sarcastically. "I didn't exactly ask how long it would take for it to break down; it's kinda expected to work to begin with."

"You didn't ask the car company if it'd been at the mechanics recently?"

"See!" Dawn butted in exasperated. "I told her before I got on the plan to ask but noooo…and what happened?! We got stuck out here!"

"Hey!" Buffy protested. "I was in a hurry because I didn't want to be late picking you up."

Jack motioned to them to move aside before moving to the hood of their car, trying to find the problem. A little irritated, Buffy sent a quick glare in his direction but didn't say anything, like it or not they needed help with the car and she was anything but stupid. She wasn't about to refuse help when it might be her only shot at getting it.

"Are you here visiting someone?" Sam asked as she hesitantly joined Buffy and Dawn where they where standing as they watched Jack examine the engine with Daniel by his side; though Daniel seemed to be doing all the wrong things since Jack kept slapping his hand away with quiet mutters.

"No…" Buffy cleared her throat a little. "Actually we just moved here. That's why I needed the car, to pick Dawn up from the airport."

"Oh."

Dawn carefully glanced at Sam that stood on the other side of her sister, questions were spinning around in her head, but she forced herself not to open her mouth and ask. Buffy had said she would tell her everything later and she'd better. But it was obvious that Sam wasn't all that comfortable with the meeting, nor was Buffy and Dawn found herself wondering why.

"How's Joyce?" Sam's voice drew Dawn back to reality and she tensed as the words sank in, so did Buffy.

"Mom died a few years ago." Buffy spoke softly but without looking at her older sister.

"It's just the two of us now." Dawn stated. "And Buffy's being a real mom."

Her sister's perky answer made Buffy smile grin a little; she loved Dawn. Regretting taking custody over her was something she'd never once done despite the hard times they'd had. Her sister belonged with her; it was as simple as that.

"Just like you're being a real brat!" She joked.

"Hey!" Dawn protested annoyed. "I'm not a brat."

"You are and I love you anyway." Buffy smirked and put an arm around her sister's shoulders.

Sam stared at her sister; she'd changed since they last saw each other. She seemed so grown up. It made her heart ache that Buffy had to go through her mother dying, and taking custody of her younger sister without her or their dad being present. Suddenly a thought hit her.

"What about Hank?"

"Dad left us when I was 15." Buffy said, her voice strangely calm. "He sends a postcard for Christmas and our birthdays, if he remembers them to begin with."

"We don't need him." Dawn chimed in. "We're doing just fine on our own."

"That's right." Buffy agreed.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Sam's voice was full of regret

"It's okay, I didn't expect you to." Buffy replied simply. "Besides, you didn't know."

Before either of them could say something more, Jack stepped back from the car with a large grin. He looked up and met Buffy's gaze.

"All fixed."

"How'd you manage that?" Dawn's voice was filled with awe.

"Magic." Jack winked.

His words made Buffy come back to reality and pull herself together.

"I guess we better get going then. Dawn's got an early day tomorrow." Buffy said calmly, giving Dawn a hard look when Dawn opened her mouth to speak resulting in her keeping it shut. "I really appreciate the help with the car."

"You should ask the car rental company to give you a discount." Jack said. "This car is a piece of garbage."

"No it's fine. Money's not an issue for us." Buffy said softly before turning to Dawn. "You better get in the car."

"Okay." Dawn said without protesting, something that made Buffy incredibly relieved.

The moment Dawn closed the car door Buffy turned to Sam, barely glancing at Daniel and Jack that had appeared by her side.

"It was…nice seeing you again Sam."

"You too."

Then she left before her older sister had the chance to say something else. It was better if they didn't have any contact. She knew Sam was a military person of some kind, and while she'd never really bothered with finding out what her sister worked with it was best to stay away. If she was going to get into trouble because of this secret military project, like Giles feared, she didn't want Sam to be caught in the crossfire. She'd already destroyed one family because of her life as a slayer; she didn't want Sam to be pulled in as well.

She quickly got in the car and started the engine, smiling when it started humming. Whatever Jack had done it'd obviously worked. She drove away in silence, not looking back once as they left the trio behind on the road.

TBC…