There isn't enough Dott fan-fiction to my satisfaction, so I decided to write one.

Connecting With You

Chapter 2

oooOOOooo

Last night, was the first night I stayed at this town. Despite my decision to first check out the shelter and help out, I found a place to reside until my mission was complete. Scott was kind enough to let me stay. Yes, you heard right. Scott, the evil soul from my time at the island. That same Scott approached me and offered a room at his apartment. When we got there, I found myself at a Chinese restaurant. I looked back at Scott as he pointed toward a door next to the restaurant. He opened it with his key and gestured me to enter. I did, and was taken back by the long staircase before me. He closed the door behind as we walked up the stairs. At the top, there was four rooms. The one closest to the stairs was a room. It was unoccupied for the most part. The room next to it was almost like a closet, though it could serve as a minor room. After that, was the bathroom. It has the bare basics; sink, shower stall, and toilet. The very last room, the one farthest from the stairs was Scott's room.

"Does this place have a kitchen?"

"Sorry moonbeam, afraid not. But, I well acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Cheng, and they are more than happy to let me use their kitchen between 9am to 7pm."

I smiled at the old pet name. During my stay at the island, Scott developed the habit of calling me "moonbeam". I never understood why, though I figured it was his way of getting into my mind. The chance to win a million dollars meant that just about anyone would do just about anything to get that; even psychological attacks. Normally, it would bother me, but now, I welcomed it. After all, there was no million dollars to win this time.

"So which room will I be staying?"

Scott shrugged his shoulder as he spoke. "Pick and choose. After all, you'll be staying there for who knows how long."

"How nice of you...then I pick..." I viewed each rooms. Out of the two unoccupied rooms, only one has a window. It was decided; I preferred a room with a window so I could gaze at what nature had for me. "This one..." I pointed to the room farthest from Scott's.

"Then it settled..." He helped moved my luggage inside and left me to my own device. He said that he was going out to buy some dinner for tonight. With him now gone, I could focus on putting my things away. They weren't much, I like to carry what I truly need. As I arranged my stuff around the room, my mind began to wander. To think, I would be staying with Scott. What would everyone else think? Even with my best efforts, his aura was pretty masked. No, that wasn't it. It was more like tangled with multiple emotions and memories. You see, aura carried more than feelings. I could see glimpse of what the person experienced in the past. Part of what made a person were their memories and experiences that they had. Usually, I didn't have a problem reading them, but with Scott, it wasn't simple. It was an utter mess, intentionally distorted for someone like me, who could read auras, not to understand what was there in front.

Why was that? What could Scott be hiding? No, I shook my head. I shouldn't get too caught up in understanding him. My prime concern was protecting that animal shelter. The universe must have good reasons to bring Scott to my life once again. I simply had to trust in her judgement and allow it to guidance my journey to victory. After a few minutes, I resorted to using deep meditation to reform any lingering thoughts. I positioned myself on the floor. Taking a few deep breath, I entered into a trance; a self-induced trance.

oooOOOooo

A little past half an hour, Scott returned with two bags; one in each hand. When he finally got up the stairs, he knocked on Dawn's door. "Hey, I got dinner for tonight."

No answer. He knocked a bit harder, though realized the door was left unlocked when he tried to turn the knob. Opening the door, he nearly dropped the bags upon seeing Dawn. She was letting out a barely audible series of hums as she mediated. He walked over there and began poking at her forehead. Nothing. He even tried calling out to her. No reactions. He let out a sigh, and was planning to set aside her share though not before getting compensation. After all, it was her fault for being so defenseless in front of him; it could have been more of a crime not to do something.

By the time Dawn returned from the trance, she noticed the aroma of something delicious swirling around. It surprised her how easily she failed to notice the smell until the very moment she released herself of the trance. She looked down and saw a plate filled with food; rice, meat and a side of vegetables. There was even a bottle of orange juice. Dawn smiled as she took the plate and ate the meal presented to her. With plate in hand, she leaned back and expected to touch the hard wall. Instead, she felt something soft behind her. Turning around, she saw a plush blanket, in the form of a pillow, behind her. It didn't belong to her, and it seemed new; like someone just purchased it. Scott. Once she was done, she took the plate and fork to Scott. His room was opened completely as she saw Scott reading. In his room, he had a twin size bed, a small desk, book shelves that was mounted on the wall along with a window.

"So you finally return to us...how was the food?"

"It was good..." Dawn said as she looked toward the side. Truth to be told, she wanted to say more. "Um...Scott, t-thank you."

Scott turned to her, moving his attention from the book. "Well... I felt like buying take-outs today." He returned his attention to his book once more.

"Well, I should turn in for the night. Goodnight and thank you." Dawn said as she was about to leave.

"You don't have to thank me twice." Scott stated, putting down the book.

"Yes I do. One for the food, and the second one for that blanket." Dawn stated.

Scott said nothing right away, but then spoke up. "Alright, but be sure to wash up."

That stopped Dawn. "What? Do I have something on my face?" Going to the bathroom, she checked herself on the mirror. There was no food bits at all; though there was indeed something on her.

"SCCCOOTTTT!"

Aside from the scream, there was also the sound of laughter as Scott's composure disappeared. When Scott found that Dawn was meditating and was not aware of her surroundings, he could not help himself as he took out a black sharpie pen from his pocket. On her forehead, he wrote the word "idiot" and left, though not before taking a photograph with his cellular phone. Unfortunately, Dawn was not aware that such a photograph existed. While she tried to wash off the mark, Scott took out his phone. He personally made said photo his wallpaper. A smile could be seen, though whether it was out of pure amusement or something else, would be better left for the reader to decipher.

oooOOOooo

"So I guess something happened last night?" Kate asked as she held a sheepish smile.

"No, what gave you that idea?" Scott asked as he casually began his work. Dawn, who arrived a bit earlier than required, began to do her work as well. The difference, was the face she had. When Kate mentioned Scott's name, she saw Dawn flinched. Her hatred was evident to just about anyone.

"Never mind. What you guys do outside of work is not my business." Kate said as she walked away.

Dawn actually thought that Scott finally became a decent person. She was wrong. He was still the sneaky and awful person like in the island. What bothered her the most was how happy she was in seeing him again. She saw what happened to him in the All-Stars season, and the aftermath. Despite his efforts, he continued to fail. It got to him pretty bad that he refused to sign up for another season or any other television offers that appeared before him. That was what Zoey said when they talked the last few times by phone.

"Hey."

Dawn yelped, surprised by the sudden intrusion as she quickly turned around. Scott was there, with a clipboard in his hand.

"What do you want?"

"I simply want to give you this. Hope you can understand..."

Scott presented a sheet from his clipboard. Dawn had her eyes on his face, then at the paper, back to Scott. As expected, she couldn't read his aura; his intentions still eluded her. She took the piece of paper and began to read. All she saw was a bunch of chores to do, ranging from cleaning the cages of each animal to brushing their fur.

"What is this?"

"As supervisor, I felt it would be more convenient and productive if I gave you a list of chores for you to do."

"You don't expect me to do these all in one day?"

Scott let out a chuckle. "Of course not. That's the list for this week. Good luck." As he walked away, Dawn return her yes to the list. It did seem like a lot to do, but considering that it was to be done in a week, it was fair.

"Oh, there's something written on the back."

I'm sorry, but to be honest, I couldn't help myself.

Dawn read it a few more times after the first. To think that Scott could actually apologize and to her. She folded the paper a few times and kept it in her pocket. Scott was one of those that continued to surprise her; the other being television commercials.

By the time it was noon, Dawn decided to see how Scott was faring; it was more like what he was doing while she was working. When she went to the front counter, she found Kate there attending to an old couple.

"Dawn, how are things in the back."

"Good. Do you know where Scott is right now?"

"Yeah, he should be in my office."

"In your office?" Dawn asked.

"Yep." Kate said before returning her attention to the old couple. They recently retired together and were hoping to get a dog or cat to liven their days. Dawn excused herself politely before returning to the back of the building. She saw Kate's office and how it was partly ajar. She was about to walk right in when she heard a voice, his voice.

"Hello, is this Juan Gonzalez? My name is Scott and I'm calling from the local animal shelter in town. I was hoping I could take, but a small portion of your time to ask you a few questions. Do you love animals? We are the very last animal shelter/adopt a pet center in this town and we are facing a pressing issue. Our own mayor is trying to tear down this animal shelter in favor for something "productive" as he claimed. All we ask is your support and if possible, a small donation to keep this animal shelter running. Can we count on you? We can? Great...no, thank you. Have a nice day."

Scott placed the phone down and then marked off a check next to a name. A name that resided with hundreds more. From Dawn's spot, she could tell that Scott marked off more than 20 and that was on the second page. She also noticed a pile of sheet that had both profit and expenses. At the bottom, it gave a clear indication on whether the budget was balance or not. It seemed that Scott did all the calculation himself.

He let out a sigh as he leaned back and pressed his nose. Perhaps he had been doing this since he got there. Dawn wanted to enter, but didn't want to interrupt him. So she decided to go back.

"You can come in... I know you're there."

How did he... Dawn walked past the door and notice how exhausted Scott seemed. Calling so many people must be both consuming and exhausting.

"Is there something you need?"

"Oh, no...not really. I wanted to see how you were doing... so, calling for support?"

"Yeah... those idiots at city hall hardly give this place a fair fund, especially when it's a non-for profit."

Dawn walked over to Scott, though stopped when she stood behind him. Her eyes scattered, checking out the room before glancing at Scott's back. "You're really hard to understand."

oooOOOOoo

-To be continued...

Author's Note:

I hoped to have posted this story the first week of March, but something came and distracted me. Even now, my mind is not quite free because it is still occupied by the lost of my first and oldest dog. I had her for over 15 years. The last few stories I did post were completed stories that simply needed a quick revision (editing) before posting them. Anyway, I hope you liked this story; please leave a review on how I'm doing so far with this story. Dott forever! Until next time! -sorrowXdarkness