"Connor's Sunnydale Vacation" - Chapter 2
by Bonnie
Disclaimers: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, etc.
Dawn is annoyed at having to Connor-sit for a whole day but finds some common ground. My altered facts about the end of Season 3 Angel, where Connor doesn't quite send Angel to the bottom of the sea, are sketchily explained. Also, I looked up skateboarding terminology on the net but probably misused it terribly - forgive me.
********
"Please Dawn, don't give me crap about this. I have to work today. You know I have to work, and we can't just leave him sitting around the house all day. I promised Angel he'd have a real vacation."
"Well what am I supposed to do with him? Take him to the mall and get him a haircut?"
"Yes. The mall. That's fine. Anywhere." Buffy grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and dumped it in her lunch bag. She grabbed Dawn by the shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Thank you! Gotta go. I can't be late again."
"And did Daddy Angel leave money to treat his boy to a super-sized Sunnydale vacation?" Dawn asked dryly.
Buffy rummaged through her purse. "Here's twenty bucks. Go to lunch and a movie or something."
Dawn sighed and snatched the bill from her sister's hand. "Yeah, like this is gonna buy two tickets and a meal."
"Well I figured you could pay for yourself," Buffy said sweetly. "You did say you wanted to be treated like a grown up. That's what your job is for, to give you spending money."
"Me' being the key word there. My spending money to use the way I want. I was going to buy a new pair of shoes this week."
"Great. Then Connor can watch you try on shoes."
And that was creepy on so many levels that Dawn didn't even touch it.
"Later." Buffy waved over her shoulder as she went out the back kitchen door.
Dawn took her time pouring a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice. She shuffled toward the living room in her fuzzy slippers. There Connor sat like an out of place statue that someone else had chosen to decorate their home.
He was dressed exactly the same as the day before except the T and overshirt were in shades of gray instead of brown. Like father, like son, Dawn thought, lords of the monochromatic wardrobe. There was a good-sized bruise blooming on his forehead at the hairline, proof that he and Buffy had seen some action on patrol last night, and the wording of that thought almost set Dawn giggling.
She plopped her glass on the table and her ass on her favorite chair and clicked on morning cartoons. Connor sat and watched. The silence grew increasingly awkward.
Dawn finally remembered her duties as host. "Did you get some breakfast?"
"Yes."
"Good." Pause. "Well, I thought I'd show you around Sunnydale today."
"The Slayer already did last night."
"Yeah. But I'll show you the actual fun parts of town. It's not all cemeteries and abandoned buildings."
He didn't reply and Dawn abandoned her hostly duties and concentrated on Spongebob.
*********
As they entered the Espresso Pump later that morning, Dawn took a last look around to make sure no one she knew was there. She really didn't want to have to explain Connor's presence or worse yet have him open his mouth and say something eccentric.
They sat at a table in the corner away from the street and Dawn ordered a mint mocha for herself and a plain coffee for Connor because he seemed incapable of making a decision. A slight grimace crossed his face when he tasted the strong brew but he didn't complain.
"You know you can add cream and sugar." Dawn pushed them toward him and watched in amusement as he poured a stream of sugar into the cup, tasted it again then pushed the cup away.
"Here. Try this," she said and offered her mint mocha.
"Summers!" a familiar voice called. Dawn cringed in her seat before turning with a big smile toward Janice, who approached them while gushing, "I've missed you! What have you been doing with yourself?"
Janice pulled an extra stool up to the table and, eyeing Connor, sat down.
"Not a lot," Dawn said. "I have a job now, but other than that I've just been, you know, hanging around. How 'bout you?"
"I went to visit my dad in Florida and that was.less than thrilling. New girlfriend. And basically I just got back. But I did get your message about your birthday next week and I'll be there. It'll be like old times." She looked significantly at Connor. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh right. This is my cousin, Connor. He's visiting from Wyoming." Dawn spewed out her pre-rehearsed lines.
"Cowboy, eh?" Janice examined him some more. "Where's your hat?"
"He doesn't talk much," Dawn answered at the same time that Connor said, "What?"
"Cowboy. Hat." Janice repeated and he looked at her blankly.
"Not from a ranch. His dad owns a hardware store," Dawn continued to weave a story that made him sound as uninteresting as possible, because boys plus Janice equaled trouble. "And," she embellished. "He goes to a 'special' school."
"Oh." Janice's interest instantly evaporated. She turned her attention back to Dawn. "So, what guys have you invited to your party?"
"Tim. Alex. And Ryan and Bryan from where I work." Then, even though Janice hadn't asked, she added, "Also Marie, she's new, and Amber, Trina and Sue."
Janice digested the fact that none of her current friends were coming but that was outweighed by the fact that there would be new boys to meet. She nodded then changed the subject. "Did you hear that the new school might not be ready by fall? I am going to be so pissed if we have to spend another year at Bennington. I can't get on the varsity cheer squad there because to them we'll always be outsiders. We NEED our own school."
"Yeah, I guess there've been some.delays in construction." Dawn thought of the Rafiki demons that had rampaged through the work area a few weeks ago, destroying newly erected walls and causing Buffy and Xander several nights' slaying. "But Xander, you remember him, is head of construction and he's says everything is almost back on schedule now.
Janice heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Well, that's good because I don't think my social life could take another year at Bennington."
Silence fell. Janice glanced at Connor to see if he was drooling or exhibiting any other 'special' behaviors. She found him staring back at her with piercing blue eyes that made her feel exposed and just.creepy.
"All right then." She jumped off her stool. "I've got to go. Nona is meeting me at La Boutique for facials. But I'll see you next week if not before." She leaned in and gave Dawn a sudden, sincere hug. "I really have missed you. We used to have great times."
Dawn smiled. "Remember when we tied our Kens to the spokes of our bikes and rode up and down the street 'torturing' them until the Barbies came to the rescue?"
"Or when we decided Mrs. Brown was too mean to own a dog so we stole hers and kept it hidden in my room for two days. Even though our moms made us apologize, she never stopped giving us the evil eye every time we passed her house."
The girls laughed, then awkward silence fell.
"See ya." Janice gave a little wave goodbye, avoiding eye contact with Connor and left.
He continued to watch her out the door then turned back to Dawn. "That's your friend?"
His tone sounded dismissive so Dawn replied aggressively. "Yeah. Why?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"No. You started it. What?"
"She doesn't.seem like a friend."
"What do you know? You just got to this world. How many friends do you have?" she demanded belligerently.
"None," he answered. "But I've seen how my fa.Angel and Fred and Gunn are together. And how they've never given up looking for Cordelia week after week whenever they're not on another case, even though they don't have any clues.."
"Hold up! Cordy's missing? Nobody told me this," Dawn interrupted. A sudden vivid faux memory of Buffy's occasional friend braiding her hair one evening when she was thirteen flashed in her mind. "When did this happen?"
"Two months ago. The same night I captured Angel."
"God. No one tells me anything? You did what with Angel?"
Connor's voice was as hard as concrete and emotionless as the Terminator as he explained what he had planned for Angel and how Holtz' accomplice, Justine had broken at the last minute and spilled the truth about Angel's total non-involvement in Holtz' death. Connor said he'd come close to killing her right then but Angel had talked him down.
Dawn was silent, digesting Connor's Soprano-like story of revenge. She remembered how betrayed she had felt when she discovered Buffy and her mom were withholding the truth about her Keyness and considered that raising an innocent child to be the tool of your vengeance was a hundred times worse. Unable to express everything she was thinking, Dawn condensed it into two words dripping with all the venom she possessed, "Lying sucks!"
Connor nodded and another of those ghostly almost-smiles touched his lips at her vehemence. For just an instant Dawn thought that maybe she was wrong about him being unattractive. She shook off the thought and turned the conversation to safer channels.
"So.Janice. Yeah, she's not my best friend anymore but she's still a friend. There are levels," she explained to friendless Connor. "There are people who'd lay down their life for you. And there are people you just hang out and do fun stuff with. Then there are old friends like Janice, who you don't spend time with anymore but who used to know you like a sister." She thought of what Xander and Willow were to Buffy. "And if you're really lucky, you'll find someone who can be all three."
Connor remained silent, watching her.
"It takes time to make a good friend. "You'll find somebody eventually," she counseled.
Starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, Dawn looked around the room.
"Hey, foosball table's free. Come on." She led him to the game in the opposite corner of the coffee shop.
"See, you're red and I'm blue. You grab these handles and try to kick the ball in the slot at the opposite end. That one's your goal."
"Why?"
"What why? Because it's fun! It's a game, Connor. You're supposed to pit your skill and reflexes against the other person."
"But I already know I'm faster than you," he stated coolly. "There's no competition!"
"Reaally?" Dawn smiled evilly, lining her little men up the way she liked them. "Who's been playing foosball since she was eight and who's been chopping things up with big hefty axes? It's all about fine motor control my friend."
She dropped the ball and spun her players.
*********
Emerging from the Espresso Pump an hour later, overheated and laughing, Dawn was crowing her victory.
"You don't mess with the Foosball Queen, baby," she said gleefully.
Connor followed, frowning, in her wake. "It's a pointless game. It doesn't mean anything."
"No it doesn't, so it must not bother you that I WON five straight games. Hah. Take that Mr. Perfect Reflexes."
Connor continued pouting as they entered the park, passing the skateboarding area. His attention was caught by the swooping, flying kids on their boards, hollering to one another as they soared like birds or crashed and burned.
"Pretty cool, huh," Dawn said, coming to stand by him and seeing the exhibition through a newcomer's eyes. "You know, you'd probably be good at that." She turned and saw his eyes were alight and riveted on the action.
"Hey, I know that guy from school," she said, pointing. "I bet he'd let you give it a try if I asked."
Connor shook his head, but Dawn was already calling out. "Alex. Hey!"
A dreadlocked boy in an oversize sweatshirt rolled over to them and stopped with a flip of his board, which he caught neatly in one hand. "Hey," he responded.
"So, are you coming to my party next week or what?" she asked. "Sue will be there."
"Yeah?" His studiously laid-back manner slipped and a shard of interest showed through. "That's cool."
"Look, this is my cousin Connor from Wyoming. They don't do skateboarding there, but I think he'd like to give it a try if you could give him a few pointers and let him use your board for a couple of minutes."
Alex looked the other youth up and down, obviously not thrilled about lending his board to a stranger, but he shrugged and handed it over. "Yeah. All right."
Dawn found a place to sit and watched Connor moving from straight boarding to kickflips and tailslides all within fifteen minutes. She had to admit the kid had balance.
"Dawn!" a strident voice stole her attention from the skateboarders.
"Anya! Hey, how are you? You look great." Dawn hung back from giving the former-but-now-reinstated vengeance demon a big hug. She wasn't quite sure where the Scoobies stood on the subject of Anya right now.
"I know," Anya replied, smiling brightly and smoothing her hands over her lovely tailored suit. "I'm a Mary Kay consultant, which is a surprisingly profitable business as well as giving me access to plenty of new vengeance clients."
"Oh," Dawn was nonplussed. Was this the kind of information she should rush straight back to Buffy? A vengeance demon, even one as charming as Anya, was nothing to take lightly.
"And what about you?" Anya continued looking toward the skate park. "Do you have a new boyfriend or just a crush on one of the skateboarding 'dudes'." Her nose wrinkled in amusement at her correct usage of teen slang.
"Skate dude? No," Dawn stammered. "I'm here with my, uh, cousin Connor." She gestured to the boy, who was swooping up into a grind like he'd been doing it his whole life.. She decided it was easier to make Connor her cousin than to explain the whole Angel connection.
"Ah, I see. And how is.everyone else," Anya's smile dimmed as she asked after the welfare of the rest of the gang.
"You mean, how's Xander?" Dawn decided to break through the bullshit since Anya usually respected that. "You should ask him yourself. You've gotta know he misses you."
Anya shrugged and said dryly, "I haven't heard it from him."
"Well, trust me, he does," Dawn continued. She spread her hands palms out. "But hey.that's for you guys to work out." She changed the subject. "As for Buffy, she's working a lot of hours and keeping busy with the slaying. And Willow.."
"Yes, how IS Willow," Anya's tone grew even more acidic. "Still on vacation in England?"
"Anya, you know it's not a vacation. She's in recovery."
"Right. Because the Slayer only kills vampires and demons but not evil witches who ruin stores, hurt their friends, then try to destroy the whole world. Maybe all 'evil things' just need to be in a substance abuse program. What do you think?"
"Could you be any more bitter?" Dawn crossed her arms defensively, feeling like she should say something on Buffy's behalf but finding nothing.
"Yes. I believe I could be if I worked on it, but this is the new me. I'm all about moving on and forgetting I ever knew Xander Harris or any of his friends."
"Okaay," Dawn frowned. "Then why are you talking to me?"
"I.Uh.I don't know," Anya admitted. "But it was a beautiful sunny day, and there you were, and I thought, 'Oh, someone I know to run into at the park. How pleasant.'"
Dawn gave her a solemn look. "You miss us. Not just Xander but hanging out with all of us. Being a vengeance demon doesn't really get you friends, does it?"
"You are an annoyingly direct little girl with delusions of being a psychotherapist," Anya huffed, frowning. "So.go back to your skateboard watching and forget I stopped to say 'hello'!" She stalked off with a furl of pink skirt and clicking high heels.
Dawn didn't know whether to smile or frown. Just then Connor came panting up next to her, sweating and grinning broadly.
"You liked the skateboarding?" she stated the obvious. "Thought you would."
Connor's eyes were sparkling, and Dawn thought, 'So that's what they mean when they say someone's eyes are dancing.' She couldn't help but smile back and tease a little. "You'll have to ask Daddy to buy you a skateboard when you get home."
Instantly the smile was extinguished from his face like an eraser passing over a chalkboard. His eyes went from bright and blue to narrow and dark as if they'd been shuttered. Dawn's heart clenched, feeling like she'd kicked a baby squirrel or something. Father issues obviously abounded in Connor's head. She backpedaled, trying to save the situation.
"I mean, you're really good at it, and I'm, uh, sure Angel would like you to take a break from killing things and have a little fun." She breezed on since there was nothing else to do. "Anyway, we can come back to the park tomorrow and rollerblade. You'll probably like that too."
Connor walked beside her in silence. Dawn fished around in her head for something else a boy would like to do. All she could come up with was a memory of her little friend Greg, back when she was six, who was obsessed with Bob the Builder. The kid had played exclusively with toy dump trucks, front-end loaders, and every other possible type of earthmoving or building equipment.
"I have an idea. We'll go see Xander at work," she declared, and led Connor out of the park and through downtown Sunnydale. She pointed out the ruins of the Magic Box and explained some of what had transpired last spring. They paused at the display window of the retro shop where the cool boots Dawn wanted were still unpurchased, thank God. They passed the Doublemeat Palace where Buffy was slaving away; the newly renovated hotel where Glory had once resided; the Sunnydale U. campus where Dawn explained about the Initiative caves that ran beneath.
Finally, after a good forty-five minute walk they reached the construction site for the new high school. Hard-hatted workers swarmed over the mostly finished building while crews with everything ranging from bulldozers to hand shovels worked feverishly on the landscaping. A chain link fence had been erected to keep would-be juvenile delinquents and 'gangs on PCP' from invading the site at night and making it their playground. Dawn had just decided that coming here was a stupid idea since they couldn't enter the work area and she had no idea how to contact Xander, when she caught sight of him walking across the broken soil of what would eventually be the front lawn of the school.
"Hey!" she screeched, waving an arm wildly. "Over here!"
Xander's face broke into a smile as he saw them. "Dawnie, what brings you to school in the middle of summer vacation?" he said as he approached.
Dawn gestured at Connor. "I thought he might be interested in how things are built. Guys dig that kind of stuff, right?"
Xander paused and checked his watch. "Sure. What the heck. I can give you a quick tour." He motioned them toward an opening in the fence.
Connor managed to look neither interested nor bored, just kind of blank, as he obediently followed Dawn and Xander. But as Xander led them around and pointed out all sorts of details of structure and building process, which sounded to Dawn like 'blah-diddy-blah-supports-blah-underlayment-blah', Connor began to come alive again. Tuning out Xander's monologue, Dawn watched those really quite amazing blue eyes examine everything Xander pointed to, head nodding in comprehension and amazement at man's ingenuity.
About the time Dawn decided she was going to start crying if she had to look at one more vaulted whatever, Xander declared that he had to get back to work and sent them off.
"You stopping by for dinner?" Dawn asked, knowing the answer. Xander had been a regular guest all summer long. Dawn figured he dreaded going home to an empty apartment because he usually stayed late into the evening.
"Yeah, I'll be there," he acknowledged and waved goodbye.
As they walked toward home, Connor was silent, which wasn't such a big surprise. But Dawn was beginning to be able to differentiate between his various types of silence and this one bespoke gears turning in his head.
"What?" she finally asked.
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"No. Something. I can tell. So spill."
"I just wondered if.... Is Xander in love with the Slayer?" he asked, casting her a sideways look.
"What?!" Dawn exploded.
"He comes by your house often, doesn't he?"
"Well, yeah, but he's like our brother. He doesn't.... It's not like that!"
"I see," Connor shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I was just curious."
"Besides," Dawn surged on. "Even if he felt something, which he doesn't. Buffy's already in love with...." She could hardly say 'your father', which would open a whole cafeteria sized can of worms. Besides Dawn didn't even know if it was true anymore - not after that night she came home and caught her sister sitting by the front hall closet with Spike's duster in her lap, crying. Buffy's heart was a whole world of weird, beyond Dawn's fathoming, but she was pretty sure Xander only occupied a brother-shaped space in it. "Someone else," she concluded, lamely.
"Okay," he agreed amiably.
She started to walk faster as if trying to physically leave the topic behind. "Come on. I have to get home and clean up the house before Buffy gets back. Then we can start dinner. You're good at cutting things up, right? Big ogres? Little carrots 'n'onions?"
She looked over and Connor favored her with an almost-smile again. "Yes," he said. "I can chop."
"Good. Then maybe you can clean, too." Dawn was beginning to see possibilities in having a houseguest.
"Dawn?" Connor interrupted the silence after a bit.
"Huh?" She was startled to hear him actually use her name.
"What is a cousin?" He frowned, then added, "And where is Wyoming?"
To be continued....
Disclaimers: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, etc.
Dawn is annoyed at having to Connor-sit for a whole day but finds some common ground. My altered facts about the end of Season 3 Angel, where Connor doesn't quite send Angel to the bottom of the sea, are sketchily explained. Also, I looked up skateboarding terminology on the net but probably misused it terribly - forgive me.
********
"Please Dawn, don't give me crap about this. I have to work today. You know I have to work, and we can't just leave him sitting around the house all day. I promised Angel he'd have a real vacation."
"Well what am I supposed to do with him? Take him to the mall and get him a haircut?"
"Yes. The mall. That's fine. Anywhere." Buffy grabbed a yogurt from the fridge and dumped it in her lunch bag. She grabbed Dawn by the shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Thank you! Gotta go. I can't be late again."
"And did Daddy Angel leave money to treat his boy to a super-sized Sunnydale vacation?" Dawn asked dryly.
Buffy rummaged through her purse. "Here's twenty bucks. Go to lunch and a movie or something."
Dawn sighed and snatched the bill from her sister's hand. "Yeah, like this is gonna buy two tickets and a meal."
"Well I figured you could pay for yourself," Buffy said sweetly. "You did say you wanted to be treated like a grown up. That's what your job is for, to give you spending money."
"Me' being the key word there. My spending money to use the way I want. I was going to buy a new pair of shoes this week."
"Great. Then Connor can watch you try on shoes."
And that was creepy on so many levels that Dawn didn't even touch it.
"Later." Buffy waved over her shoulder as she went out the back kitchen door.
Dawn took her time pouring a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice. She shuffled toward the living room in her fuzzy slippers. There Connor sat like an out of place statue that someone else had chosen to decorate their home.
He was dressed exactly the same as the day before except the T and overshirt were in shades of gray instead of brown. Like father, like son, Dawn thought, lords of the monochromatic wardrobe. There was a good-sized bruise blooming on his forehead at the hairline, proof that he and Buffy had seen some action on patrol last night, and the wording of that thought almost set Dawn giggling.
She plopped her glass on the table and her ass on her favorite chair and clicked on morning cartoons. Connor sat and watched. The silence grew increasingly awkward.
Dawn finally remembered her duties as host. "Did you get some breakfast?"
"Yes."
"Good." Pause. "Well, I thought I'd show you around Sunnydale today."
"The Slayer already did last night."
"Yeah. But I'll show you the actual fun parts of town. It's not all cemeteries and abandoned buildings."
He didn't reply and Dawn abandoned her hostly duties and concentrated on Spongebob.
*********
As they entered the Espresso Pump later that morning, Dawn took a last look around to make sure no one she knew was there. She really didn't want to have to explain Connor's presence or worse yet have him open his mouth and say something eccentric.
They sat at a table in the corner away from the street and Dawn ordered a mint mocha for herself and a plain coffee for Connor because he seemed incapable of making a decision. A slight grimace crossed his face when he tasted the strong brew but he didn't complain.
"You know you can add cream and sugar." Dawn pushed them toward him and watched in amusement as he poured a stream of sugar into the cup, tasted it again then pushed the cup away.
"Here. Try this," she said and offered her mint mocha.
"Summers!" a familiar voice called. Dawn cringed in her seat before turning with a big smile toward Janice, who approached them while gushing, "I've missed you! What have you been doing with yourself?"
Janice pulled an extra stool up to the table and, eyeing Connor, sat down.
"Not a lot," Dawn said. "I have a job now, but other than that I've just been, you know, hanging around. How 'bout you?"
"I went to visit my dad in Florida and that was.less than thrilling. New girlfriend. And basically I just got back. But I did get your message about your birthday next week and I'll be there. It'll be like old times." She looked significantly at Connor. "Who's your friend?"
"Oh right. This is my cousin, Connor. He's visiting from Wyoming." Dawn spewed out her pre-rehearsed lines.
"Cowboy, eh?" Janice examined him some more. "Where's your hat?"
"He doesn't talk much," Dawn answered at the same time that Connor said, "What?"
"Cowboy. Hat." Janice repeated and he looked at her blankly.
"Not from a ranch. His dad owns a hardware store," Dawn continued to weave a story that made him sound as uninteresting as possible, because boys plus Janice equaled trouble. "And," she embellished. "He goes to a 'special' school."
"Oh." Janice's interest instantly evaporated. She turned her attention back to Dawn. "So, what guys have you invited to your party?"
"Tim. Alex. And Ryan and Bryan from where I work." Then, even though Janice hadn't asked, she added, "Also Marie, she's new, and Amber, Trina and Sue."
Janice digested the fact that none of her current friends were coming but that was outweighed by the fact that there would be new boys to meet. She nodded then changed the subject. "Did you hear that the new school might not be ready by fall? I am going to be so pissed if we have to spend another year at Bennington. I can't get on the varsity cheer squad there because to them we'll always be outsiders. We NEED our own school."
"Yeah, I guess there've been some.delays in construction." Dawn thought of the Rafiki demons that had rampaged through the work area a few weeks ago, destroying newly erected walls and causing Buffy and Xander several nights' slaying. "But Xander, you remember him, is head of construction and he's says everything is almost back on schedule now.
Janice heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Well, that's good because I don't think my social life could take another year at Bennington."
Silence fell. Janice glanced at Connor to see if he was drooling or exhibiting any other 'special' behaviors. She found him staring back at her with piercing blue eyes that made her feel exposed and just.creepy.
"All right then." She jumped off her stool. "I've got to go. Nona is meeting me at La Boutique for facials. But I'll see you next week if not before." She leaned in and gave Dawn a sudden, sincere hug. "I really have missed you. We used to have great times."
Dawn smiled. "Remember when we tied our Kens to the spokes of our bikes and rode up and down the street 'torturing' them until the Barbies came to the rescue?"
"Or when we decided Mrs. Brown was too mean to own a dog so we stole hers and kept it hidden in my room for two days. Even though our moms made us apologize, she never stopped giving us the evil eye every time we passed her house."
The girls laughed, then awkward silence fell.
"See ya." Janice gave a little wave goodbye, avoiding eye contact with Connor and left.
He continued to watch her out the door then turned back to Dawn. "That's your friend?"
His tone sounded dismissive so Dawn replied aggressively. "Yeah. Why?"
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"No. You started it. What?"
"She doesn't.seem like a friend."
"What do you know? You just got to this world. How many friends do you have?" she demanded belligerently.
"None," he answered. "But I've seen how my fa.Angel and Fred and Gunn are together. And how they've never given up looking for Cordelia week after week whenever they're not on another case, even though they don't have any clues.."
"Hold up! Cordy's missing? Nobody told me this," Dawn interrupted. A sudden vivid faux memory of Buffy's occasional friend braiding her hair one evening when she was thirteen flashed in her mind. "When did this happen?"
"Two months ago. The same night I captured Angel."
"God. No one tells me anything? You did what with Angel?"
Connor's voice was as hard as concrete and emotionless as the Terminator as he explained what he had planned for Angel and how Holtz' accomplice, Justine had broken at the last minute and spilled the truth about Angel's total non-involvement in Holtz' death. Connor said he'd come close to killing her right then but Angel had talked him down.
Dawn was silent, digesting Connor's Soprano-like story of revenge. She remembered how betrayed she had felt when she discovered Buffy and her mom were withholding the truth about her Keyness and considered that raising an innocent child to be the tool of your vengeance was a hundred times worse. Unable to express everything she was thinking, Dawn condensed it into two words dripping with all the venom she possessed, "Lying sucks!"
Connor nodded and another of those ghostly almost-smiles touched his lips at her vehemence. For just an instant Dawn thought that maybe she was wrong about him being unattractive. She shook off the thought and turned the conversation to safer channels.
"So.Janice. Yeah, she's not my best friend anymore but she's still a friend. There are levels," she explained to friendless Connor. "There are people who'd lay down their life for you. And there are people you just hang out and do fun stuff with. Then there are old friends like Janice, who you don't spend time with anymore but who used to know you like a sister." She thought of what Xander and Willow were to Buffy. "And if you're really lucky, you'll find someone who can be all three."
Connor remained silent, watching her.
"It takes time to make a good friend. "You'll find somebody eventually," she counseled.
Starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, Dawn looked around the room.
"Hey, foosball table's free. Come on." She led him to the game in the opposite corner of the coffee shop.
"See, you're red and I'm blue. You grab these handles and try to kick the ball in the slot at the opposite end. That one's your goal."
"Why?"
"What why? Because it's fun! It's a game, Connor. You're supposed to pit your skill and reflexes against the other person."
"But I already know I'm faster than you," he stated coolly. "There's no competition!"
"Reaally?" Dawn smiled evilly, lining her little men up the way she liked them. "Who's been playing foosball since she was eight and who's been chopping things up with big hefty axes? It's all about fine motor control my friend."
She dropped the ball and spun her players.
*********
Emerging from the Espresso Pump an hour later, overheated and laughing, Dawn was crowing her victory.
"You don't mess with the Foosball Queen, baby," she said gleefully.
Connor followed, frowning, in her wake. "It's a pointless game. It doesn't mean anything."
"No it doesn't, so it must not bother you that I WON five straight games. Hah. Take that Mr. Perfect Reflexes."
Connor continued pouting as they entered the park, passing the skateboarding area. His attention was caught by the swooping, flying kids on their boards, hollering to one another as they soared like birds or crashed and burned.
"Pretty cool, huh," Dawn said, coming to stand by him and seeing the exhibition through a newcomer's eyes. "You know, you'd probably be good at that." She turned and saw his eyes were alight and riveted on the action.
"Hey, I know that guy from school," she said, pointing. "I bet he'd let you give it a try if I asked."
Connor shook his head, but Dawn was already calling out. "Alex. Hey!"
A dreadlocked boy in an oversize sweatshirt rolled over to them and stopped with a flip of his board, which he caught neatly in one hand. "Hey," he responded.
"So, are you coming to my party next week or what?" she asked. "Sue will be there."
"Yeah?" His studiously laid-back manner slipped and a shard of interest showed through. "That's cool."
"Look, this is my cousin Connor from Wyoming. They don't do skateboarding there, but I think he'd like to give it a try if you could give him a few pointers and let him use your board for a couple of minutes."
Alex looked the other youth up and down, obviously not thrilled about lending his board to a stranger, but he shrugged and handed it over. "Yeah. All right."
Dawn found a place to sit and watched Connor moving from straight boarding to kickflips and tailslides all within fifteen minutes. She had to admit the kid had balance.
"Dawn!" a strident voice stole her attention from the skateboarders.
"Anya! Hey, how are you? You look great." Dawn hung back from giving the former-but-now-reinstated vengeance demon a big hug. She wasn't quite sure where the Scoobies stood on the subject of Anya right now.
"I know," Anya replied, smiling brightly and smoothing her hands over her lovely tailored suit. "I'm a Mary Kay consultant, which is a surprisingly profitable business as well as giving me access to plenty of new vengeance clients."
"Oh," Dawn was nonplussed. Was this the kind of information she should rush straight back to Buffy? A vengeance demon, even one as charming as Anya, was nothing to take lightly.
"And what about you?" Anya continued looking toward the skate park. "Do you have a new boyfriend or just a crush on one of the skateboarding 'dudes'." Her nose wrinkled in amusement at her correct usage of teen slang.
"Skate dude? No," Dawn stammered. "I'm here with my, uh, cousin Connor." She gestured to the boy, who was swooping up into a grind like he'd been doing it his whole life.. She decided it was easier to make Connor her cousin than to explain the whole Angel connection.
"Ah, I see. And how is.everyone else," Anya's smile dimmed as she asked after the welfare of the rest of the gang.
"You mean, how's Xander?" Dawn decided to break through the bullshit since Anya usually respected that. "You should ask him yourself. You've gotta know he misses you."
Anya shrugged and said dryly, "I haven't heard it from him."
"Well, trust me, he does," Dawn continued. She spread her hands palms out. "But hey.that's for you guys to work out." She changed the subject. "As for Buffy, she's working a lot of hours and keeping busy with the slaying. And Willow.."
"Yes, how IS Willow," Anya's tone grew even more acidic. "Still on vacation in England?"
"Anya, you know it's not a vacation. She's in recovery."
"Right. Because the Slayer only kills vampires and demons but not evil witches who ruin stores, hurt their friends, then try to destroy the whole world. Maybe all 'evil things' just need to be in a substance abuse program. What do you think?"
"Could you be any more bitter?" Dawn crossed her arms defensively, feeling like she should say something on Buffy's behalf but finding nothing.
"Yes. I believe I could be if I worked on it, but this is the new me. I'm all about moving on and forgetting I ever knew Xander Harris or any of his friends."
"Okaay," Dawn frowned. "Then why are you talking to me?"
"I.Uh.I don't know," Anya admitted. "But it was a beautiful sunny day, and there you were, and I thought, 'Oh, someone I know to run into at the park. How pleasant.'"
Dawn gave her a solemn look. "You miss us. Not just Xander but hanging out with all of us. Being a vengeance demon doesn't really get you friends, does it?"
"You are an annoyingly direct little girl with delusions of being a psychotherapist," Anya huffed, frowning. "So.go back to your skateboard watching and forget I stopped to say 'hello'!" She stalked off with a furl of pink skirt and clicking high heels.
Dawn didn't know whether to smile or frown. Just then Connor came panting up next to her, sweating and grinning broadly.
"You liked the skateboarding?" she stated the obvious. "Thought you would."
Connor's eyes were sparkling, and Dawn thought, 'So that's what they mean when they say someone's eyes are dancing.' She couldn't help but smile back and tease a little. "You'll have to ask Daddy to buy you a skateboard when you get home."
Instantly the smile was extinguished from his face like an eraser passing over a chalkboard. His eyes went from bright and blue to narrow and dark as if they'd been shuttered. Dawn's heart clenched, feeling like she'd kicked a baby squirrel or something. Father issues obviously abounded in Connor's head. She backpedaled, trying to save the situation.
"I mean, you're really good at it, and I'm, uh, sure Angel would like you to take a break from killing things and have a little fun." She breezed on since there was nothing else to do. "Anyway, we can come back to the park tomorrow and rollerblade. You'll probably like that too."
Connor walked beside her in silence. Dawn fished around in her head for something else a boy would like to do. All she could come up with was a memory of her little friend Greg, back when she was six, who was obsessed with Bob the Builder. The kid had played exclusively with toy dump trucks, front-end loaders, and every other possible type of earthmoving or building equipment.
"I have an idea. We'll go see Xander at work," she declared, and led Connor out of the park and through downtown Sunnydale. She pointed out the ruins of the Magic Box and explained some of what had transpired last spring. They paused at the display window of the retro shop where the cool boots Dawn wanted were still unpurchased, thank God. They passed the Doublemeat Palace where Buffy was slaving away; the newly renovated hotel where Glory had once resided; the Sunnydale U. campus where Dawn explained about the Initiative caves that ran beneath.
Finally, after a good forty-five minute walk they reached the construction site for the new high school. Hard-hatted workers swarmed over the mostly finished building while crews with everything ranging from bulldozers to hand shovels worked feverishly on the landscaping. A chain link fence had been erected to keep would-be juvenile delinquents and 'gangs on PCP' from invading the site at night and making it their playground. Dawn had just decided that coming here was a stupid idea since they couldn't enter the work area and she had no idea how to contact Xander, when she caught sight of him walking across the broken soil of what would eventually be the front lawn of the school.
"Hey!" she screeched, waving an arm wildly. "Over here!"
Xander's face broke into a smile as he saw them. "Dawnie, what brings you to school in the middle of summer vacation?" he said as he approached.
Dawn gestured at Connor. "I thought he might be interested in how things are built. Guys dig that kind of stuff, right?"
Xander paused and checked his watch. "Sure. What the heck. I can give you a quick tour." He motioned them toward an opening in the fence.
Connor managed to look neither interested nor bored, just kind of blank, as he obediently followed Dawn and Xander. But as Xander led them around and pointed out all sorts of details of structure and building process, which sounded to Dawn like 'blah-diddy-blah-supports-blah-underlayment-blah', Connor began to come alive again. Tuning out Xander's monologue, Dawn watched those really quite amazing blue eyes examine everything Xander pointed to, head nodding in comprehension and amazement at man's ingenuity.
About the time Dawn decided she was going to start crying if she had to look at one more vaulted whatever, Xander declared that he had to get back to work and sent them off.
"You stopping by for dinner?" Dawn asked, knowing the answer. Xander had been a regular guest all summer long. Dawn figured he dreaded going home to an empty apartment because he usually stayed late into the evening.
"Yeah, I'll be there," he acknowledged and waved goodbye.
As they walked toward home, Connor was silent, which wasn't such a big surprise. But Dawn was beginning to be able to differentiate between his various types of silence and this one bespoke gears turning in his head.
"What?" she finally asked.
He shook his head. "Nothing."
"No. Something. I can tell. So spill."
"I just wondered if.... Is Xander in love with the Slayer?" he asked, casting her a sideways look.
"What?!" Dawn exploded.
"He comes by your house often, doesn't he?"
"Well, yeah, but he's like our brother. He doesn't.... It's not like that!"
"I see," Connor shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I was just curious."
"Besides," Dawn surged on. "Even if he felt something, which he doesn't. Buffy's already in love with...." She could hardly say 'your father', which would open a whole cafeteria sized can of worms. Besides Dawn didn't even know if it was true anymore - not after that night she came home and caught her sister sitting by the front hall closet with Spike's duster in her lap, crying. Buffy's heart was a whole world of weird, beyond Dawn's fathoming, but she was pretty sure Xander only occupied a brother-shaped space in it. "Someone else," she concluded, lamely.
"Okay," he agreed amiably.
She started to walk faster as if trying to physically leave the topic behind. "Come on. I have to get home and clean up the house before Buffy gets back. Then we can start dinner. You're good at cutting things up, right? Big ogres? Little carrots 'n'onions?"
She looked over and Connor favored her with an almost-smile again. "Yes," he said. "I can chop."
"Good. Then maybe you can clean, too." Dawn was beginning to see possibilities in having a houseguest.
"Dawn?" Connor interrupted the silence after a bit.
"Huh?" She was startled to hear him actually use her name.
"What is a cousin?" He frowned, then added, "And where is Wyoming?"
To be continued....
