Although I had the idea when I wrote my first BTVS/Yellowstone of writing Buffy as Lee's daughter, kingmanaena, gave me idea for this one. This is after the pilot episode of Yellowstone where Lee has been shot. The reading of the will brings two surprise visitors into the Dutton family. In the BTVS world, it is right after the musical episode of season 6.

Disclaimer: I do not own BTVS or Yellowstone.

Chapter 1: The Will

******Sunnydale******

It was two days after the singing demon fiasco, and the Scoobies were at their all-time low. Giles was leaving today, having decided that Buffy didn't need him anymore. Tara broke up with Willow after discovering she had used magic to wipe her memory of a fight. Dawn was miserable. She thought Buffy being back would make everything better, but Buffy was like a shadow of the person that she used to be.

Dawn went through the mail that was on the table and found something that looked important addressed to Buffy. Deciding it was a sister's right, she opened it up. Her eyes widened as she read it.

Then she quickly went upstairs to Buffy's room.

"Buffy!" she exclaimed, bursting into her room without knocking.

"God, Dawn, learn to knock!" Buffy complained. She was sharpening her knives.

"Sorry, but I just had to show you this," she said as she handed her the papers from the lawyer.

Buffy had said goodbye to Giles that morning and was still freaked out by the kiss she'd shared with Spike two nights earlier. Any distraction was welcomed, so she read the letter her sister thrust in front of her. It was from a law firm in Montana requesting her presence at the reading of the will of someone named Lee Dutton.

"Who is Lee Dutton? Do we have family in Montana?" Dawn asked, excited.

"Not that I know of," Buffy asked.

"We so have to go," Dawn said.

"Flying to Montana in a few days' notice would be incredibly expensive, Dawn," Buffy said. "We don't have the money."

"I'll call Dad and get him to pay for it," she said.

"Good luck with that," Buffy said with a snort.

"Well, we could drive," Dawn said. "You finally have a license, and Mom's car doesn't have that many miles on it. It has GPS in it and everything. There's a lot of open country for you to drive on and get a lot of experience."

Buffy considered it. She did have that emergency credit card that they could use, and she definitely could use time away from the hellmouth. "Willow is a mess, Dawn. We can't leave her," she said.

"Xander will check on her, and she has school. It's not like she will be moping at the house with nothing to do," Dawn pointed out.

"School. You have school!" Buffy reminded her.

"Yes, but I can get my work for the week, and Thanksgiving break is in two weeks anyway. I've only missed like two days," Dawn argued.

"Fine. We'll go," Buffy said. "Only because I gotta get out of town."

"Yes!" Dawn exclaimed. "I'll start packing our warm clothes."

"Do we even have warm clothes?" Buffy asked.

"Jeans, boots, sweaters, heavy jackets," Dawn told her. "We'll be okay."

Somehow, early the next morning the two of them were off to Bozeman, Montana. They told Xander and Willow where they were heading and why. Before school was out yesterday, Buffy went to Dawn's high school and got Dawn to gather up some work for the next five school days even though they would probably be back sooner due to the weekend.

Both girls felt a lifting of their spirits as they drove away from the hellmouth.

Two days later, they were tired but awed by the beauty of Montana as they finally made it to their destination. They checked into a decent hotel and went to sleep after ordering and consuming a pizza in their room.

*****The Reading of The Will*****

It had been a month since John Dutton had lost his first-born son to his youngest son's brother-in-law in a feud over cattle and land rights with the neighboring Indians that his son Kayce had married into. He would never understand exactly what happened that night. Somehow, it ended with his heir being shot in the back, and Kayce shooting his wife's brother for doing the deed. That John was the livestock commissioner and able to create paperwork deputizing Kayce, thus making the shooting legal was the only reason he was not in jail for the shooting.

Now, he at the reading of his son's will.

"Jamie, explain to me why you aren't in charge of Lee's will," John said.

Jamie shrugged. "I don't know. Lee thought it was not something a baby brother should ever have to do even if he was the family lawyer," Jamie said. "He hired another lawyer in Bozeman to do it."

Two girls they didn't know came into the room. Both were attractive. One looked like she might be nineteen or twenty but the taller one was clearly a teenager.

"Why are their children we don't know here?" he asked Jamie.

"Again, not his lawyer," Jamie said. "But they had to have gotten a notice to be here, or they wouldn't be."

John went over to them and held out his hand. "Hello, I'm John Dutton," he said, giving them a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers. This is my sister, Dawn," Buffy said.

John was surprised at the strength of the girl's grip as he shook her hand. The directness of her gaze as she sized him up also was a surprise. She was assessing him for potential threats and didn't miss the fact that he was carrying a weapon. There was a wariness in her eyes that surprised him for someone her age. It was usually something he only saw in people like Kayce—guys who saw direct combat or had been to war.

"Do you always bring a gun to a reading of a will?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm the livestock commissioner," he said. When she gave him a blank look, he added, "That's the equivalent to the police in Montana."

"You go after horse thieves, right?" Dawn asked.

John smiled at her. "That's right," he said.

"Do you shoot them like they do in those old westerns?" Dawn asked, grinning.

"Sometimes," he said with a wink.

Beth and Kayce came in. When Beth saw strangers, her response was typical to her personality. "Who the hell are they?" she demanded.

"This is Buffy and Dawn Summers," John introduced.

"We're from California," Dawn said. "Sunnydale. Our mom died a few months ago, and then Buffy was dead for a bit and got better. The place is a hell hole, so I convinced Buffy when we got the letter about the reading of Lee Dutton's will that we should go to get out of town."

The information dump caused Buffy's face to flame as she shot her sister a glare. "We don't know a Lee Dutton or why we would be in his will, but we were curious, and we had never been to this part of the country. It was a beautiful drive," she added.

"This is my son Jamie, my youngest son Kayce, and my only daughter, Beth," John introduced. "Lee was our oldest son."

"How did he die?" Dawn asked.

"Murder," Beth said coldly.

"I'm sorry," Buffy said.

"I'm sorry that you so recently lost your mother," John said. "You seem a bit older than Beth was when her mother died."

"I'm fifteen," Dawn said. "Buffy's twenty. She turns twenty-one in January."

The lawyer came in. "John, I'm ready to begin. It looks like everyone is here," he said.

"Okay, Bill," John said.

They sat down in chairs, and Buffy and Dawn sat in the back row. This was the first will reading Buffy had ever been to, so she didn't really know what to expect.

"Lee wanted you all here for a specific reason. He wanted me to read this letter that he wrote," the lawyer began.

"Well, I hope I didn't die getting thrown off my horse or Kayce will be ashamed of me forever," the lawyer read, causing some chuckles. "I want you all to know how much I love you and how proud I am to be a member of the Dutton family. I also want you to know that I love you, Jamie, just as much as I do Kayce and have always thought of you and am damn proud of you even if you aren't a cowboy. I didn't choose you to be my lawyer for a reason that will be made very clear in a moment. Kayce, little brother, I hope one day, you will embrace your family and not run from the Yellowstone because the Yellowstone is in your blood. Your blood will need you. Beth, my beloved hellion, I hope you never change except to one day find the happiness that forever escapes you. Dad, I hope you will forgive me for never telling you about my greatest shame. I did something the summer after high school when I went on the rodeo circuit, I met this beautiful blonde California girl named Joyce. We had a summer fling. Nine months later, she had Buffy, who I hope is there, so you can meet her. I never did because her mother never wanted me to. She never knew me as more than a rodeo guy, and she didn't know that I was heir to the largest ranch in Montana. I was going to tell her. I sent a private investigator to find her when Buffy was five years old, and she was so happy. Hank Summers was the only father she knew, and he adored her. Joyce promised me that Hank would always be there, so I left them one last time. What could I offer her that she didn't already have? What I can give her, though, upon my death is my shares of the Yellowstone Ranch, which equals 20 million dollars, my truck, my house, and all the money in checking and savings. Every bit of it, Buffy, is yours. I am sorry that I never knew you. All I ask is that you consider taking my last name. I never married or had another child. I would like to know that my child is carrying my name. I hope you will take time to get to know my family because they are your family, too. For us, family is everything. Know that I have loved you every minute of every day. Your father, Lee Dutton."

"What the fuck?" Beth exclaimed.

Buffy was flabbergasted, unable to catch her breath while Dawn was excited. These people were their family.

John was stunned and angry at his firstborn. He had a granddaughter who was a grown woman. He stood up and turned and faced her. The revelation seemed to shatter her while her sister seemed excited at the news.

The lawyer went over to her and began talking to her, but Buffy couldn't focus on his words. "I'm sorry. I can't hear anything you're saying," she said. "I just found out that my entire life is a lie, and I could care less about the money."

"I insist we get a DNA test," Beth said.

"Why don't we go to lunch and talk?" John suggested.

Dawn knew that Buffy needed some time, and it was a bit early for lunch. "Why don't you suggest a place that we can meet you at around one?" she told him.

John thought that was a good idea and gave them the name of a nearby restaurant, explaining where it was located.

When the girls left, John looked at his sons. "You guys knew nothing about this?" he asked.

They shook their heads. "No," Kayce said.

"This explains why he didn't want me to do his will," Jamie said. He was relieved because it had bothered him. Lee's words, though, touched him. He would do what he could to help his niece navigate her new inheritance.

"She's a Dutton," John said. Lee had a daughter. Of course, he was pissed that he didn't know her, but she was there now, and Lee's legacy would live on through her. The girl was tough, clearly had grit. "Did you see the way she was sizing me up when she met me? I should've known she was a Dutton." He grinned, pleased. "The grip on her handshake. She's like Beth. A lot tougher than she looks."

"I thought her sister was interesting," Kayce said. "She said their mom had died this year and that Buffy herself had died but got better. What do you suppose she meant by that?"

"She was in an accident of some kind and flatlined," John said. "She may have had a good childhood, but I looked into her eyes. That girl has been to hell and back. She needs us."

"She has a sister—a teenager," Beth pointed out. "They're going to be a package deal. You guys barely handled dealing with me if you recall."

"Well, it's a good thing your firm transferred you back to Montana," John said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

John was eager to get to know his granddaughter.

The granddaughter in question was flipping out as they entered their hotel room.

Dawn looked at her sister in concern. "Are you going to speak?" she asked. Buffy hadn't said a word since they left the lawyer's office.

"I just can't believe Mom never told me," Buffy said. "When she got sick and knew she could die, why didn't she tell me then? I went through all her stuff. There's no letter or note with a confession. Why would she not tell me this? I just don't understand."

"She was probably ashamed," Dawn said. "Some secrets just seem more and more awful the longer they go unsaid. If she thought Lee was some loser she could never explain properly, I could see her not wanting to tell you. You and Dad were so close."

"We were. Not in a long time," Buffy said flatly.

"This means they are my family, too, Buffy," Dawn told her. "You have to make them test my DNA, so I can be a part of their family, too. I want a grandpa and a cool aunt that says the F word. Our grandpa carries a gun. He's a real cowboy. They all are, Buffy. It's super awesome! We can learn to ride horses! Momma always said we'd go horseback riding, but we never did."

"I did once with a friend in Los Angeles," Buffy said. "It was fun."

"This place is so far away from monsters and the hellmouth, Buffy," Dawn said. Maybe they could stay there, and the dead look in Buffy's eye would finally go away.

Buffy didn't know how to tell her that she would never be free of being the slayer. It would follow her wherever she went. Her blood would draw the monsters to her no matter where she went.

She gave Dawn a contemplative look. Maybe, though, the Duttons could be the safe harbor Dawn needed. A place she could finish growing up without so much death and violence.

Then she recalled how her father died.

There was no such thing as a safe harbor.

*****Chapter End*****