Title: Provocative

Author: Christine

E-mail: Buffygirl43@hotmail.com

Spoilers: Buffy - 'The Killer in Me' / Angel the Series: 'Calvary'

Pairing: Angelus/Dawn, Xander/Dawn

Rating: R for adult situations, language and sexual content. Don't read if you're not mature enough please. :)

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Prologue

As she glanced out the window she could see the sun slowly fading beyond the horizon, its rays becoming more faint as the seconds ticked on by. Dawn let the heavy curtains fall back into place as she got up off the couch. Nightfall came so fast recently and she couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed being outside during the day. Sighing, she made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of iced tea. This was the first time in a while she had the house to herself; she closed her eyes and reveled in the silence. Buffy, Spike and Giles had taken the SIT's out for another round of training and Willow, Xander, Andrew and Anya were over at Xander's apartment getting some much needed sleep. Buffy didn't want to leave Dawn by herself but she reassured her that she would be fine; she would get some rest too.

The truth of it was that she just wanted to be alone. The only person that she had gotten along with these past few months was Xander; they just had this bond together that she didn't have with anyone else in the house. The SIT's were nice but the only one she really talked to was Amanda because they knew each other before the whole Slayer deal came into play. She used to be able to go to Spike to talk just about anything with but he was so wrapped up in pleasing Buffy that he never noticed her anymore. Willow on the other hand she just avoided completely ever since she went to the dark side last year. She still couldn't completely forgive her for trying to turn her into her original form. She missed Tara too but couldn't understand how Willow could've done those things to everyone. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be thinking of things that were in the past.

Dawn grabbed her glass and went back into the living room. She picked up one of the only remaining books that focused on the First Evil and started flipping through it again; maybe there was something she had missed before. Just as she began reading the second page, the doorbell rang, the chime echoing in the stillness of the house. Dawn jumped at the sound of it and put the book down as she walked over to the front door. She went to peer through the peephole but remembered that the new door that they had replaced the old one with didn't have one. She unlocked the doorknob and top lock and opened up the door. There she stood staring into the face of an old friend.

"Angel?"