Buffy looked up from the book she was reading. “Not good. You want to go with me to school to thrash Dawn? She didn’t come home Sunday night, and never mentioned anything to me about heading straight to class from Kim’s house on Monday morning.”

Willow winced. It was never a good thing to not let people know where you were. “Sure. Can Tara come?” She asked gesturing to her girlfriend.

“Yeah, let’s hit it. By the way, did you hear from Wesley this weekend? I thought he was going to show up today to help research,” Buffy commented as she grabbed her purse.

“No. Maybe he took some books back to his hotel room,” Willow commented.

During the drive to the high school, Willow and Buffy came up with some creative tortures for Dawn. Tara laughed a bit, but didn’t join in. When they got to the school, however, their good humor disappeared.

“What do you mean, she didn’t come to school today?” Buffy screeched at the secretary.

“She didn’t show up for homeroom,” The lady said calmly. “You are her guardian, right?”

Buffy snorted. “Yeah, I am. She spent the weekend at a friend’s house. Thanks for all the help.” The three girls flew down the hall and back to the parking lot.

“Do you think she skipped again?” Willow asked breathlessly.

“She’d better be sick and at the hospital,” Buffy growled. “I’ll call Kim’s mom and see what they did this weekend.”

Willow and Tara waited anxiously while Buffy made a very brief phone call. From the look on the Slayer’s face, all was not well. “What did she say?” Willow asked nervously.

Buffy looked over at the witches. “She said that Dawn called on Friday and said she wasn’t coming over. They didn’t see her all weekend.”

Tara and Willow looked at each other. “What?” They said simultaneously. Willow began to babble, verbally wondering where Dawn could be. Had someone grabbed her, or maybe she ran away, or she’s just on the prowl, or…

“She went after Xander,” Tara murmured.

“Huh?” Buffy grunted. “She’s not that stupid. I mean, we don’t know anything about those crystals.”

“But she was mad last week about how little progress we’d made,” Tara reasoned. “No, she’s not stupid. But she is…impulsive.”

“We should check on the crystals. There should be four left at the shop,” Willow said as she opened the car door.

•••

“Two.”

Willow peered into the box. Buffy was right; there were only two crystals left. “Where are the other two?” She asked.

“Wesley might have one of them,” Tara said. “He was studying them very closely.”

“We still don’t know that she actually tried to use one,” Buffy stated. “I’m going to check back at home again. She might have just played hooky for a few days.”

“We’ll go with you,” Willow offered.

Unfortunately Dawn wasn’t at home. Buffy looked everywhere, as did Tara and Willow. Still they turned up no sign of Dawn. “Anything?” Willow asked Tara as they reconvened in the kitchen.

“No,” She replied.

“Maybe,” Buffy said from the doorway. She looked frighteningly pale. “Some of her clothes are missing, as well as blankets and her stash of junk food. And that stupid duffle bag Spike gave her.”

“She ran away?” Willow murmured.

Tara frowned. “She’s not the type to run.”

“You really think she went after Xander?” Buffy asked the blonde.

“It’s just that she was very unhappy about his disappearance, and how we were handling it. She wanted to go find him, remember?” Tara replied.

“She did ask why we didn’t just use the crystal,” Willow added.

Buffy sank down in a chair. “Great. My sister has sent herself to another dimension. How do we get her back?”

“Wesley might know,” Tara said.

“But we can’t find him. The hotel manager said that he had abandoned his room,” Willow said. She’d called the hotel on the way to Buffy’s house, only to find out that Wesley had skipped out without paying—on Saturday. That didn’t bode well for them at all.

“Without him we don’t know how to get back here,” Buffy groaned. “And Giles is still way out of touch. This is a mess.”

“We should go back to the shop. All our books are there,” Willow replied. “We’ll find out where she is, Buffy. I promise.”

•••

“Damn it!” Willow cursed as she threw another book on the floor. It had been almost a week since Dawn’s disappearance and they were no closer to figuring out how to get her back. The only way to the dimension was the crystals, and there was no feasible reversal of the spell.

“We will find a way,” Tara reassured her. “It hasn’t been that long.”

“She’s stuck over there,” Willow cried. “All alone. I mean, with only Xander there.”

“He’ll take care of her,” Tara promised.

“How do you know?” Willow got up, pacing. “She’s just a kid, she doesn’t know how to protect herself.” The redhead picked up one of the cursed crystals. “We can’t leave her over there. I can’t do it, Tara.”

Tara got up and walked over to Willow. She was concerned about the way Willow was staring at the crystal. “We have to keep researching. It’s the only way.”

Willow looked up. “No, it’s not. I can go over there and get her. I can find a way back and we’ll be fine.” She started looking around the shop, picking out supplies.

“Willow! You can’t do that!” Tara exclaimed, putting things back on their shelves. “It’s risky and foolish.”

“Is it?” Willow hissed, suddenly very angry at her overcautious lover. “She’s a little girl, all alone. We can’t just let her stay over there. What if it’s not as wonderful as Wesley makes it out to be?”

“Then we work faster,” Tara reasoned. “But this isn’t the way.”

Willow snarled and stepped away. “It is the only way!” She yelled. Tara moved forward and grabbed at the crystal. Willow tried to get away, but the blonde managed to snag the thing. “Give it back!” She screamed, reaching for Tara’s hand.

“Ow!” Tara yelped. She opened her hand, revealing a blood-covered crystal. “Willow?” She moaned, her eyes tearing up. Willow stared at Tara.

“Not you… goddess, Tara…” She reached for the now-glowing crystal. Instead of taking it, though, she forced her hand down hard, breaking the skin.

“Willow? Tara?” Buffy called as she walked into the Magic Box. “Sorry I’m late.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of light surrounding the two girls. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, they were gone. “This is so not happening,” She whispered as she slid to the floor.