A/N:So after many maybes here's finally a new chapter. It's a bit short and I swear to God I tried to make it longer but time ran out and I thought it was better to post a little than nothing. LOL. A Big THANK YOU to Caitlin for helping me beta this chapter and a big hooray for all of you great reviewers out there ;) /i

Chapter 7:

"Can't you drive any faster?" Dawn whined.

"No." Replied Willow with resolution in her voice.

"Why not?"

"For one thing there's a police car behind us; I'm not about to go over the speed limit and get fines for something that wasn't even needed of me to do, to begin with."

"Oh."

"I know you're worried Dawnie, but we're almost there and Giles is with her and it was Buffy who suggested that I'd pick you up…"

"Giles is here?" Dawn interrupted shock evident in her voice.

"Oops, did I forget to mention that?" The Wicca said sheepishly.

"Yeah, you did," the teenager sighed.

The rest of the ride progressed in silence, neither of the two women spoke. Not even when they arrived at the house, or when they excited the car. It wasn't until the front door had closed firmly behind them that Dawn immediately yelled for Buffy whereas she got the reply they were in the kitchen, making her race there and almost colliding with her sister as she entered the room.

"You're okay right? Buffy? You're not hurt, are you?" Dawn rushed out as she tried examining the blonde who, a bit annoyed, shook off her younger sister's worried hands.

"I'm fine, Dawnie. Didn't Willow tell you that?" Buffy gave her friend an irritated glare. "Didn't you tell her I was fine?"

"I did; she didn't believe me." Willow huffed.

"What's going on Buffy? What's happened?" Dawn asked, worriedly.

"Aren't you gonna say hello to Giles first?" Buffy intercepted, knowing full well she was avoiding the subject but beyond caring. She rolled her eyes when the teenager promptly rushed over and threw her arms around the older man sitting by the kitchen table, making him elicit an oomph in the process.

But it didn't take long for the teenager to realize that her sister was stalling. And when neither of the other occupants in the room seemed to be very keen on sharing either the brunette finally turned around and glared a little at the petite blonde, questions evident in her eyes.

"Buff? What's going on?"

"We've…eh…run into some trouble." Buffy finally admitted, adverting her eyes.

"What kind of trouble?"

But when Buffy didn't say anything else Giles finally opened his mouth and began explaining softly everything that had been discovered. When he told the young girl about Sam being involved in the very same project that her sister had been sent to Colorado to investigate, the brunette froze. And she stared at her sister for a long moment, knowing full well how much the new facts must've hurt her. Dawn might not be an adult, but she was grown enough to understand that the entire situation had gone from bad to worse.

"So what do we do now?"

"We…wait, and lay low." Giles replied tiredly. "We don't have the full picture yet, there's no use in acting rash, it would with all probability just make things worse."

"But what about Sam?"

"There's nothing we can do about Sam." The blonde slayer finally said her eyes sad. "She's an adult, she's made her choices."

"She could be in danger!" The teenager exploded, not able to understand what the others were thinking. "She's our sister Buffy! We can't just do nothing!"

"I know it's hard Dawnie, but you have to understand…"

"Understand what? How you're willing to let your own sister die to protect the greater good?" Dawn mocked, her eyes angry. "Why did you save me then?"

"Dawn…"

"Don't…don't look at me like that. I'm not naïve or stupid. She's our sister Buffy, we can't…we can't just let her die."

"No one's saying anything about dying here, Dawn." Giles spoke up, looking at the girls. "For all we know, this project could be something harmless. Something we never even should have worried about."

"Giles is right," The Wicca finally opened her mouth, smiling reassuringly at the teenager. "We wouldn't even have known anything about this if it hadn't been for Riley and his big mouth."

"I just…I don't want more people to die." Dawn admitted, her eyes teary when she looked Buffy. "She's our sister. Even if she'll never know about me, I don't want her to die too."

"I know." The slayer said softly. "I know."

Buffy walked over to the teenager and hugger her hard, holding on to her for dear life. She didn't know what she'd have done if she'd lost Dawn those years ago. As long as she knew her little sister was safe, she knew she'd survive anything. Even this. Even knowing Sam was involved in something potentially lethal. Maybe it made her cold hearted. But the blonde knew that she wouldn't hesitate to bring the project down if it turned out to be something dangerous, something that in the end might hurt Dawn, even if it meant hurting Sam. Or endangering her.

But that wasn't something she was ever about to admit to her younger sister. Despite everything, Dawn was still young, and she deserved to keep whatever innocence she still had left. Buffy wasn't about to change that.

"Look, don't go worrying about this just yet. It's not worth it." She smiled at her sister. "Whatever happens we'll deal, it's no use in wondering about stuff that hasn't happened yet. Or that might never happen."

"If you say so." The teenager mumbled before announcing she had homework to do a second before she turned around and walked out from the kitchen, leaving the three adults alone and in silence.

Buffy waited till she heard her sister disappear up the stairs before she turned around and looked at her companions, a hard look in her eyes.

"I don't want her involved in this anymore than necessary. I mean it. I don't want her to worry."

"Noted." The witch stated firmly, understanding apparent in her eyes.

"You won't always be able to protect her Buffy, you do understand that don't you?" Giles said softly after a long moment of silence, looking somberly at his charge.

"I don't want her to get hurt Giles. She's been through so much already; I don't want her to get hurt because of this too."

"It's bound to happen. Sam is involved in this, you can't ignore that."

"I'm not ignoring it!" The slayer said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I just don't want Dawn to get dragged in any further. That's all!"

"And I understand that; we both do." The watched replied. "But she's already involved in this; wouldn't it be better if she knew all the facts?"

"How can you say that? She watched me die Giles! I'm not about to let her watch another sister die too."

"Buffy…"

"No…I don't want to hear it Giles." The slayer retorted angrily, starting to walk out of the kitchen. "I'm going patrolling. Don't wait up." And with those words she left, banging the front door hard as she closed it, leaving the two remaining people in the room in silence.

TBC…