Buffy makes her way up the stairs to the reception for her shift start. As she opens the door Vhesthine smiles broadly at her, "Buffy, you survived."
Buffy nods, "I did. Though I think I went overboard at the end."
Vhesthine curiously asks, "Why? What did you do?"
The rest of the room goes quiet as they hear the question. Even Razial opens the door to his office.
Buffy looks down, "I held a friend of mine responsible for all of the deaths, and kidnapping of Dawn. So I sent him with Sweet to be converted into a Demon."
Vhesthine looks shocked, "Is Dawn alright?"
Buffy nods, "She's shaken up, and we need to get her a new dagger, as Sweet destroyed her old one. Destroyed her phone too, and it's less than a week old."
Razial walks out into the reception, "As everyone's here, I have an announcement to make. Simon Jones on the day side didn't make it. Neither did Mike. It is a tragic waste of the time and resources used to train him up. However, I have just received news that the guilty party is currently being punished. John, Ir'in, you need to pick up Mikes work until Vhesthine has adjusted expectations. Buffy, Mike was our primary blacksmith, so you're going to be doing more work with John and Ir'in until you can take on the simpler tasks unsupervised."
As Buffy stands there in shocked surprise, John and Andrew both approach her.
John claps a hand on her shoulder, "Buffy, I know you're not the Slayer in here. But I just wanted to say thank you. Mike was my mentor when I started here 5 years ago, I'm glad that the summoner is being punished."
Buffy shakes her head weakly, "I didn't say anything about summoning."
Andrew pats her on the shoulder, "Listen kid, you don't work here for long without learning a bit about the comings and goings of Demons. You wouldn't be holding someone responsible if they hadn't summoned the Demon. I can't say that I'm happy he's still alive. But you said he was a friend, so I'll take what I can get."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Dawn shivers in her chair outside the Principle's office. She's been jittery all week, and she just punched out Charlie, from English, because he patted her on the back to get her attention. Her hand twitches down to the dagger at her back, only to come up empty yet again. One of the things the Watchers council seems to only supply limited amounts of being harnesses.
The sound of "Hey Dawn" brings a massive smile of relief to Dawn's face, and she looks up into Buffy's face as she sits down next to her.
Buffy places a comforting hand on Dawn's leg, "Are you alright Dawn?"
Dawn shakes her head, "I don't know. I've been jittery all week, and I keep reaching for my dagger, but it's not there. I punched Charlie out, in English, when he tapped me."
Buffy pulls Dawn into a comforting hug, "It will be ok, we'll sort something out."
It doesn't take long for the two of them to be called into the principle's office.
Stevens sighs as he looks at the Summers, "Miss Summers, I'm sorry to call you in like this. Regretfully I need to inform you that Dawn will be suspended for a week, for an unprovoked attack on another student. Were it 6 months ago, I'd leave it at that. However, Dawn's behaviour and grades have been improving steadily since you've been able to take an active role in her life. Please tell me if there's anything I can do to help."
Buffy sighs, "I'm sure you've heard of the deaths over the weekend."
Stevens sighs, "Who hasn't, I've got two dozen students absent for grief leave. And two students that have been confirmed victims."
Buffy nods, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it sooner. Dawn was kidnapped, and would have been one of their victims if we hadn't got lucky. They destroyed the dagger I gave her, along with the belt harness we had for the sheath."
Stevens, "I've read about cases like that. It sounds like what happened earlier was a trauma response. While there's nothing the school can do about it officially. Unofficially, I can say that if you can get an animal recognised as an emotional support animal, and then registered at city hall. The school is obligated to allow Dawn to bring it with her. Still, it would be better if Dawn got counselling to help her deal with the trauma, but I appreciate that you are living off of an entry level income."
Dawn looks at Stevens like he's grown a new head, but doesn't say anything when Buffy squeezes her hand.
Buffy nods, "And the suspension?"
Stevens sighs, and flicks over multiple pages in Dawn's file, "Still stands, as the teacher reported it, and despite her recent improvements, she still has a lot of detentions and truancy on record."
Buffy nods, "Thank you for the consideration anyway."
As Buffy and Dawn stand up, Stevens says, "Dawn, I just want to say that you impressed me last week. I was expecting to have to expel you before the weekend for drawing your dagger on school grounds. However, not once did I see you use it as more than a touch stone. Oh, and Miss Summers, I asked around about your extra-curricular activities, and if even half of what I've heard is true, I'm glad you're here."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
Tara bumps into a miserable looking Willow in the university cafeteria.
Setting her tray down at the table, Tara slips in opposite Willow, "Hey Willow, are you alright?"
Willow looks up from her food and then brightens when she sees who it is, "Tara, when did you get here?"
Tara smiles gently, "Just now. Are you alright?"
Willow moves the peas around with her fork, "I'm ok. I'm on the waiting list for the university dorms, there should be one coming available in the next couple of weeks." She laughs darkly, "I suppose that's one good thing to come out of all the deaths last week. Hey, do you think Buffy will be ok looking after my stuff until I get a dorm again?"
Before Willow can continue, and put her foot in it, Tara nods, "I don't see why not, she hasn't said anything about it yet. Where are you living at the moment?"
"Mom and Dad's house. They've already been involving me in Shacharit and Arvit. And I've been staying here all day to avoid Mincha. I've had dinner with the Rabbi twice, and they've been trying to persuade me that Kabbalah is much more suitable for a good Jewish girl."
Tara shakes her head, "That sounds terrible. Don't they have any respect for your faith?"
Willow shakes her head, "They've always been like this, even when I was at school. Though they were never this devout, and they've never mentioned the Kabbalah before. How's things going on at home?"
"Ok, the place seems quieter."
Tara chats with Willow until she's finished eating, all the while fighting to not say anything about love or loneliness.
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
On the last day of her suspension, Dawn trudges from Magic Box to Mikes Machining, having finished helping out to pay for her necklace. A necklace that's now an acrylic paperweight on her dresser, as Giles and Anya found the original packaging, and warning. As she walks up the stairs and pushes the door open, she's assaulted by the sounds of mewling from the shelves.
Vhesthine looks up as Dawn trudges past, "Dawn, what's wrong sweetie?"
Dawn looks at her in surprise, "Huh?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "What, do you think I'd do just anyone's nails and hair. So, what's got you all down in the dumps?"
"I got suspended from school, and I've just finished working at Magic Box for a necklace that I can never wear."
"Why were you suspended hun?"
Dawn sighs as she grabs a chair from the office and starts to help Vhesthine with the last of the kittens.
"I punched a boy in English after he tapped me on the shoulder. I didn't even know I'd done it until he was on the floor out cold. The principle said something about it being a response to trauma. I, just, what am I going to do on Monday? What if it happens again?"
Vhesthine glances at the spell on her desk before patting Dawn on the hand, "Dawn, live today for today, and leave tomorrow for tomorrow. You are still a child by human standards, so you should take advantage of that misconception for as long as you can. In a few years, you won't be able to stop tomorrow from intruding on today, so watch Buffy to see how she deals with it. Then, when you're old, and powerful, enough, you can kill her and take her place at the head of your family. Or you could take over another family, that works too."
"Vhesthine! There's no way I'm ever going to kill Buffy."
Vhesthine hums, "That's why I said take over another family. Just don't fail, otherwise you'll end up like me."
Dawn looks at her in surprise, "Why, what happened to you?"
Vhesthine shrugs, "I tried to take over, and I failed. So I was banished from that dimension of hell. I live here because it's safer than living in hell. Also, food's easier to find too, as long as you don't eat too much."
Dawn looks shocked, "I thought you said you prefer eating less."
Vhesthine nods, "I do. But I didn't when I first came here. That was, what, 100 years ago?"
The two of them sit side by side for a short while, before Dawn asks, "Vhesthine, would you be able to teach me how to do my nails and makeup?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Sure, though you'll need to buy your own nail polish and makeup."
Dawn smiles, "I can do that."
For the rest of the evening, Vhesthine goes through the tools in her makeup bag and explains what each one is for. At the same time, she explains how much or little makeup should be used for different occasions.
Soon enough, the end of the shift comes, and Buffy walks through the door with the rest of the workers. Dawn watches as Vhesthine either hands over an envelope or a basket, like she did last month. However, she's unable to help herself from blurting "Buffy!" when her sister is handed a basket instead of an envelope.
Buffy smirks at Dawn's outraged expression as she sits on one of the sofa chairs, and briefly opens the basket to take out the envelope inside, "Dawn, the rest of this is for you."
Buffy stands up and walk over to the reception desk as Dawn curiously goes over to the basket. Leaning on the desk she watches as Dawn's expression changes from outraged, to shocked, to surprise, and then wonder. Surprising nobody that's seen her over the last few weeks, the first thing Dawn does is take the waist harness and dagger from the basket, and put it around her waist. When she pulls a kitten almost the size of a small house cat from the basket, and hugs it, Buffy smiles widely with tears forming in her eyes.
"Thank you Vhesthine."
Vhesthine shrugs, "It came out of your paycheque." She picks up the piece of paper, "This is the spell you wanted too."
Buffy smiles, and takes the spell. Opening her paycheque to put the spell inside, her eyes widen in surprise, "Vhesthine, you've paid me too much."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Razial and Mike spoke together, and that's a bonus for a job well done."
═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════
A still gobsmacked Buffy opens the front door to their house, and lets Dawn pass, before closing and locking it.
Dawn smiles as she sees Tara sitting at Buffy's desk, writing in a notebook, patches playing with the tassels on her dress. Hurrying over, to her Dawn holds out the new kitten, "Tara, look what Buffy got me."
Tara turns round with a smile that turns sparkling when she sees the kitten, "That's a nice cat, what breed are they?"
Buffy smiles, and puts the new cell phone down on the coffee table, "That's a kitten, and it's a Nayarit Ruffed Cat."
Tara shakes her head, "I've never heard of that breed."
Buffy shrugs, "I just asked to take part of my wages in a kitten that would be able to protect Dawn. I also got a spell that would bond it to her, so that it won't attack her or run away. Would you be able to help us with that?"
Tara looks uncertain, "I'd have to see the spell first and make sure it's not dangerous."
Buffy nods, and hands the spell to Tara.