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 “Spike!” The door slams after Dawn as she storms back into the hotel after saying a beyond embarrassed good-bye to Connor. “Lil’ bit calm down,” Spike urges. “No! I will not calm down Spike, and don’t try to win me over with my childhood pet name!” Dawn exclaims, “I’m not a little kid anymore!” “What’s going on?” Angel, along with Fred, Lorne, Gunn and Wes walk into the lobby. “I saw that kid practically mauling Dawn on the front porch!” Spike exclaims. “That’s not it!” Dawn exclaims, “that’s Spike’s version of what happened.” “Who is he Dawn?” Fred questions. “He’s just a friend from school, we have a lot of the same classes and we are interested in a lot of the same things.” “Is he a vampire? He might be a vampire. You have a past with vampires. I was just protecting you.” Spike states. “No, God Spike!” Dawn exclaims frustration breaking through her voice. “The first time we met was in broad daylight and I’ve seen him during the day a million times and even if he was a vampire I can defend myself, I’m not a little kid.” “Why don’t we all get some sleep?” Fred suggest, “it’s late and we don’t need to talk about this now.” “I can’t believe he did that.” Dawn sighs when she and Lorne are the only ones left in the lobby. “Spike cares about you Dawnie, and he’s only worried.” “I know,” Dawn sighs, “but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m 19-years-old. Part of the reason I left my sister was because I didn’t want to be treated like I was little anymore, and sometimes it feels like Spike still only seems me as the 15-year-old he promised my sister he’d protect.” “Get some sleep, everything looks better in the morning.” Dawn woke up late the next morning, slightly surprised that the girls hadn’t been in to wake her up at the crack of dawn. With a sigh Dawn sits up in bed and reaches for the phone next to her bed and dials Connor’s apartment number, “hi, Connor? Hi, I’m so, so sorry about last night.” “It’s all right Dawn, don’t worry about it.” Connor responds. “No, it’s not all right, that was Spike he’s like an over-protective father or brother, I’m not exactly sure which, he dated my sister sort of, it’s just kind of a complicated mess. But he won’t bother you again.” “It’s really not a problem Dawn, I understand.” Connor responds, “we can go out again if you want.” “Sure, we can make plans for tonight if you want.” After going downstairs Dawn found that everyone was all ready in the middle of breakfast and then everyone went their separate ways, Dawn, Angel and the kids went downstairs to the sparring area that had been set up for the girls since they had been sparring for as long as they could walk. Dawn stands next to Angel as they both watch the girls fight, “are you going to ignore Spike all day?” Angel questions, “because you know it was kind of funny.” “I’m going out with him again tonight, are you going to embaress me too?” Angel shakes his head, “no. I’ll leave that to Spike.” Dawn can’t help but smile at Angel’s comment and the two turn their attention back to the girls, “Maggie’s really strong Angel,” Dawn comments, “she could be a slayer. We should get Willow here to check it out, the test is really simple, it’s good to know.” Angel nods, “I see it too. I want to wait though. It would be hard for Alyssa if Maggie is a slayer and she isn’t, Maggie would have to leave to train in Cleveland.” Dawn shakes her head, “not if Alyssa trained as a watcher.” “I want them to have normal loves, not the life of a slayer.” “Maybe they won’t have the life of a slayer here, but their lives aren’t going to be normal either.” Dawn comments but she knows that the conversation is dropped and they both focus in on Maggie and Alyssa. Maggie has backed Alyssa into the corner and Angel is about to call her off before Maggie forgets about her strength and hurts Alyssa when Maggie flies away from Alyssa landing several feet away. “Damn,” Angel sighs, “that’s new.” Half an hour later the girls are taking naps, Alyssa is in Dawn’s room and Maggie is in their bedroom, both girls were shaken up and had willingly taken their nap. “What are we going to do?” Spike asks. Angel faces Dawn, “I guess you’ll have to call Buffy and try to get a hold of Willow wherever she is.” Dawn nods, “all right.” She walks over to the telephone and dials her sister’s home number and after a few minutes of conversation she rejoins the group. “Willow just got in from China last night, but she will catch the firs flight home.” “What do we do with them now?” Angel asks. “Wait,” Dawn sighs, “we really don’t have much of a choice.” “What’s your family like?” Dawn asks in the middle of their dinner. “My dad is lawyer,” Connor responds. “My mom stays at home, she does about a million charity functions throughout the month, she’s always doing something. And I have a little sister, nothing really interesting. What’s your family like? You don’t really talk about them, all I really know is that you have a sister.” “It’s nowhere near as traditional as yours is. My parents got divorced when I was nine and my mom, uh, died when I was fourteen and I was raised by my sister, Buffy. But I have a large extended family, it’s taught me that blood isn’t everything.” “You must have had an interesting childhood.” “I learned when I was 14 that my childhood wasn’t everything I thought it was but I got used to the way my life really was.” “I would love to have had such an interesting life,” Connor comments, “do you think I’ll ever meet your family?” “Actually you may get to meet one of them. My sister’s best friend Willow, who lived with us for awhile, is coming out for a short visit. Maybe you’ll get to meet her then, she’s really nice and uber-smart.” “Well I can’t wait to meet her then.” When Connor pulls in front of the Hyperion he questions, “so can I walk you to the door or will Spike throw me out again?” “You can come in,” Dawn responds, “I might be able to introduce you to Angel and Spike who are probably still up.” Walking into the hotel Dawn finds that Angel is pouring over texts. “Hey Angel.” Dawn greets softly. “Hey Dawn,” Angel respond snot bothering to look up from the book he is pouring over. “How was...” Angel finally looks up and his eyes lock onto Connor and he whispers, “Connor.” |
