Disclaimer: See Part 1.
**************************************
Dawn froze, staring and Angel blinked at her sleepily. His eyes were now their customary warm chocolate color. The young girl couldn't help but wonder if her imagination was running away with her.
"What are you doing?" he whispered, and she took another step back. Angel noticed the camera at her feet and smirked. "Trying for a little sibling blackmail? I wouldn't if I were you."
Dawn scrambled to pick up the camera and backed away again, but Angel made no move to follow her.
"A-are you threatening me?" she asked in a trembling voice, still trying to reconcile what she thought she saw. Angel seemed surprised by the question.
"No, not at all," he said. "I'm just saying, if my sister was the Slayer, I wouldn't want to do anything to piss her off that much."
"Well, you're not me," Dawn sulked. "You don't know what it's like. No one does."
"I guess not," Angel said pensively. "It's been...a long time since I had a family to look after me and care about me. Or even to try to get me into trouble."
"I'm going to bed now," Dawn said uncertainly. Again Angel smirked, and she added, "I know that you probably wouldn't tell me if you were, but are you going to hurt us? I mean Buffy?"
"No. I swear to you I'm not," Angel said with such sincerity that Dawn nodded, just about convinced. She must have imagined it, she decided.
"Good. Don't. Or I'll be pissed off, and you'll be in big trouble, because I can be just as dangerous as Buffy...no, twice as dangerous!" Dawn finished with false bravado. Angel smiled indulgently.
"Night, Dawn."
Dawn slowly retreated back to her bedroom and crawled back under the covers, still troubled...she had to have imagined it...but it seemed real...but Buffy would *know*, wouldn't she? She was the Slayer, she'd know if she had a vampire sleeping by her bed...
Reassured by that final bit of logic, Dawn finally drifted off to a night filled with nightmare visions of demon babysitters and vampire boyfriends. She finally awoke just before daylight and felt compelled to head back to Buffy's room. The comforter was folded neatly on the edge of her sister's bed. Her sister's head lolled to the side at an awkward angle. Dawn felt her heart suddenly run cold.
"No..." she moaned, moving to Buffy's side, visions of Angel creeping up on her in the night and biting her playing through her mind. "Buffy, I'm sorry, I didn't...I should have...no..." She placed her hand on Buffy's face, meaning to tilt her head to the other side so she could see the bite marks, and her sister's eyes snapped open.
"Gah!" both Summers girls screamed simultaneously as Dawn fell back and Buffy sat up, pulling the covers demurely to her neck.
"What the hell were you doing?" Buffy hollered.
"You're a vampire!" Dawn shrieked.
"What? What are you talking about?" Buffy demanded, and Dawn faltered. The sunlight was falling on her sister, causing her hair to look like a halo...
"Angel," she blurted out, and was gratified at her sister's blush. Her sister's eyes darted around the room anxiously, then narrowed as she turned them back on Dawn.
"What about Angel?"
"He's not here. He's gone...left...and you're alive..."
"He left? He...but...okay you little brat, how did you know he was here?"
"We talked...and I thought..." Dawn trailed off. Her sister was obviously fine, and she hadn't been sure...she couldn't tell her about Angel now. She'd just have to keep an eye on him.
"Whatever you thought, you were wrong..." Buffy said in a menacing tone. "And if you even so much as think of telling Mom..."
"You'll what? You can't slay me, Mom said."
"I'm not so sure. I'm having Giles call the Council. Slayers are supposed to work alone...there might be a bratty sister loophole or something."
"Mom!" Dawn shrieked, running out of the room. "Buffy's trying to slay me!"
"I was not! But I am now!" Buffy hollered after. Dawn ran shrieking down the hall, but her sister didn't follow. She skidded to a stop, half-turned indecisively as she wondered if she should go back and check on why. Her mother calling her down to breakfast settled the matter, and Buffy said nothing more about it other than a few death glares sent Dawn's way when their mother wasn't looking. As a whole, it was a quiet affair, each Summers' woman keeping her own counsel. So it was that Buffy's suspiciously flushed cheeks aroused no notice from their mother. Dawn put it down to her sister's burgeoning anger, and felt a shiver of fear and anticipation over what revenge Buffy might be plotting that caused her to knock over her juice. By the time the orange flood had been dealt with, her sister was gone.
******
A particularly challenging day of school kept Dawn from even thinking about the Angel situation until later that afternoon, when she got home from school. Her mother was downstairs working on dinner, and she was heading to her room to start her homework when she saw the door to Buffy's room standing open, and her diary just sitting there. It wanted to be read, Dawn decided. She took a step, then another, and was in the room before she knew it. She took a quick look around before picking up the book with eager fingers and pulling it open
"You shouldn't do that."
Dawn let loose a little shriek and slammed the diary shut, clutching it to her chest in fright. She looked around, her heart pounding, but saw nothing...
"I-is someone in h-here?" she whispered. There was no response. Dawn frowned. "This isn't very funny, Xander," she tried. Nothing. "I know you're in here...you better come out."
"Dawn?"
"Mom!"
"Is Buffy home? I didn't see her...what are you doing?" Dawn looked down at the book in her hands as if it had suddenly grown there, then looked back at her mother's grim face with wide eyes.
"I...no, no," she stammered gracelessly, "it's not what it...what it looks like..."
"Hand that over right now, please." Her mother's tone was clipped, and Dawn knew that this was not the time to make excuses. She handed the diary to her mother meekly and waited. Her mother's eyes narrowed and Dawn gulped. "Explain this to me in a way that won't have you grounded for a month."
"I thought...I think there's someone in the house...I heard a noise in Buffy's room..." Joyce waived her hand in a cutting off gesture and Dawn hung her head.
"Cut to the part where you have your sister's diary. And make it good."
"I needed something to protect myself with, in case, you know, burglar," Dawn said. "And I thought, book! So I...for protection..."
"In Buffy's room? Which is chock full of weapons...?" Joyce said with open skepticism.
"That I'm not supposed to touch," Dawn reminded her.
"I don't think you want to get into a discussion of things you're not supposed to touch right now," Joyce said drily. "Why didn't you call for me?"
"I don't know...I panicked?" Dawn offered hopefully. Joyce's eyes narrowed.
"Dawn..." Her mother warned.
"There is someone else in here, Mom! Really! They spoke to me!"
"Okay...what did they say?" Dawn opened her mouth, then closed it guiltily. Her mother sighed, and Dawn knew that sigh. "If you were me, would you buy this?"
"No," the young girl replied sullenly. "Am I grounded?"
"What do you think?" Dawn hung her head and her mother sighed again. "Go to your room, Dawn. Straight home, no TV, no phone for two weeks. Got it?"
"Yeah...are you gonna tell Buffy?" Her mother frowned indecisively, and Dawn pressed, "Please don't tell her...I mean, I'm already being punished, right?"
"Go. To your room. We'll talk about this later."
Dawn knew better than to press her mother. Two weeks could easily become two months at this point. She slunk off, looking back nervously as her mother set the diary down.
"Now, Dawn!"
Dawn picked up her pace, running to her room and flinging herself face down on the bed. This was all Buffy's fault. She didn't know exactly how, but she was sure that it was...and she would tell her mother that Buffy had a boy sleep over. As soon as the time was right.
******
Dinner that evening at the Summers' house was an oddly quiet affair. Dawn was alternating between hurt puppy looks at her mother and sullen glares at Buffy, both of whom were ignoring her. Buffy seemed a bit jumpier than usual, pushing her food around her plate more than eating it, though her mom seemed to notice nothing out of the ordinary. Dawn stared at her plate without eating for a while, hoping a little hunger strike would better express her pain. Finally she sighed, deep with suffering.
"May I be excused?" she whimpered. Her mother nodded.
"Bring your plate to the kitchen and go straight to your room...and there won't be any trips down for snacks later, understood?"
"Yes," Dawn sniffed, trudging tragically to the kitchen to leave her plate. She grabbed a box of raisins from the cupboard as quietly as she could.
"What's with Dawn?" she heard Buffy ask, and her mother sighed.
"Your sister's being punished."
"What for?" Buffy asked with sudden interest, and Dawn froze, holding her breath.
*Bet she set up that voice thing to trap me or something,* the youngest Summers thought bitterly.
"That's between me and your sister," her mother said after only a slight hesitation, then smoothly changed the subject. "Are you going out tonight?"
"Actually, I thought I'd stay in," Buffy said, a bit too brightly. "Homework's apparently being measured by the pound now."
Dawn rolled her eyes, but her mother seemed to accept that wholly unbelievable explanation.
"I'm glad you're taking such an interest in your studies," she said mildly. "I'm sure your new tutor being so attractive isn't a factor at all." Dawn heard her sister start to cough violently, and grinned as her mother continued. "And you'd better get upstairs and stop eavesdropping in the kitchen unless you'd like a more permanent house arrest, Dawn Summers."
Dawn grabbed her raisins and ran to her room, knowing that her mother was serious even as she didn't know how she'd known Dawn was there. It was seriously creepy how her mother did that. She'd asked Buffy once if that was some kind of Hellmouth thing, but Buffy said it was just a mom thing. She opened the raisins and grabbed a handful before settling into her math homework. Absorbed in her figures, she'd pretty much put Buffy and the mysterious voice out of her mind until her mother came in to check on her.
"Ready for bed?" Joyce asked. Dawn looked at her balefully, and Joyce chuckled. "Please, you would think I'd come here to cut off your feet."
"You might as well, I won't be needing them," Dawn pouted in return. Joyce sighed and came over the bed, smoothing her youngest daughter's hair comfortingly.
"Sweetheart...I'm sorry you're unhappy, but you were wrong to go in your sister's room."
"I know...but I really did hear someone in there, Mom."
"Dawn..."
"I know I shouldn't have been reading her diary, but I heard something! Maybe there's somebody in the house..."
"Dawn..." her mother said again, this time with a note of real anger. Dawn was starting to get upset herself, and might have ended up grounded until her high school graduation if Buffy hadn't screamed.
"Stay here!" Joyce ordered as she ran from the room.
Dawn ran to the doorway, knowing that poking her head out of the room would meet her mother's criteria of staying put. She watched her mother run into Buffy's room; their voices, though muffled, were totally understandable to an eavesdropper of Dawn's skills.
"Buffy, what happened?"
"I...I thought...there was..."
Dawn crept into the hall. Her sister's voice sounded so strange; frightened, shaken, not like Dawn was accustomed to hearing her at all. Her mother leapt to the logical conclusion.
"A vampire?" Joyce asked sharply.
"I...I didn't-I mean I don't...think so."
"But you saw something? Outside?" Joyce pressed.
"It was probably a shadow," Buffy said, sounding almost desperate. There was a pause where Dawn knew her mother was looking out the window. Finally she heard her mother sigh.
"Oh..."
"Everything's okay, mom. Sorry I scared you," Buffy said, sounding calmer but still not quite herself.
"Just as long as you're okay," Joyce replied.
"I'm fine," Buffy said listlessly, and Dawn crept back into her room, the memory of Angel's yellow eyes coming together in a horrible realization.
"Angel is a vampire! I knew it! I knew it," Dawn whispered to herself. "And he's been invited in here."
She waited until her mother had left, until she heard Joyce's bedroom door close, and then she waited a few minutes more for good measure before going to Buffy's room. Her sister turned red-rimmed eyes towards her for a moment, then looked away as if she couldn't be bothered.
"Go to bed, Dawn."
The younger girl's fists clenched in fury at the dismissal. Bitterly she asked, "Did he try to bite you?" Buffy jumped to her feet, letting out a startled gasp.
"What?" the Slayer asked, desperately trying to recover, and Dawn pressed forward with her knowledge.
"Angel. He's a vampire, isn't he?" Buffy gaped at her for a moment, and Dawn asked again, her tone more strident, "Isn't he?"
"Keep it down," Buffy admonished softly. "How did you...you knew...that`s why you thought I was a vamp this morning! My God, Dawn! Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wasn't sure!" Dawn countered defensively. "His eyes, they glowed, but...I thought it was a dream." Pausing, Dawn returned to the more pressing matter at hand. "Buffy, what are we gonna do? You have to tell Mom."
"No!" Buffy said sharply, and then clamped her hand over her own mouth for a moment, listening for any sounds of her mother stirring. "No," she repeated more quietly. "Dawn, you can't tell anyone about this. Especially Mom."
"But he can come in here, Buffy!" Dawn protested, moving over to the bed to better look her sister in the eye. Buffy met her gaze solemnly.
"I know. And I'll take care of it. Mom doesn't need to know."
"But-"
"Promise me, Dawn," Buffy said firmly, her tone brooking no further argument. "Promise you won't tell."
"Buffy-"
"Promise!" Buffy repeated. Dawn's further protests died when her sister's voice suddenly broke. "Please, Dawnie. Please." The shine of tears in Buffy's eyes made Dawn sigh wearily.
"You won't let him hurt us?" she said. It wasn't quite a question, but Buffy sagged in relief and answered it just the same, surprising her sister by reaching out and pulling her into a hug.
"I won't. I'll never let anything hurt you or Mom, Dawnie. Never."
"Are you going to dust Angel?" Dawn asked curiously, and she felt her sister flinch. Buffy released her and Dawn slowly pulled back. Buffy tried to smile reassuringly at her, but it came out as more of a grimace.
"I...I'll what I have to," the Slayer answered. "I...gotta talk to Giles. He'll know what to do."
********
After another long, troubled day, her mother had finally picked her up from school, meaning that Dawn wouldn't be spending her usual after school at the Sunnydale High library. Normally this meant heavy duty slayage on Buffy's part, and she wouldn't even be home. Which meant that she and her mother would be at the house unprotected. Dawn swallowed hard as she laid her homework out on the table, arranging pencils, textbooks and note paper nervously, trying to reassure herself that Buffy wouldn't leave them intentionally in danger. And it was still hours before nightfall. Her mother shook her head, raising an ironic eyebrow.
"I don't spend this much time setting up some of my exhibits," she chided. Dawn looked up at her with a guilty start. Joyce chuckled. "Enough stalling, honey. Get cracking so we can get this table cleared for supper. Although I'm not sure it's worth setting the table for just the two of us," she added more to herself than to Dawn.
"Buffy's not coming home for dinner?" Dawn asked, trying for casual but unable to avoid a whiny tone.
"Buffy's studying at the library with Willow. She's got a big history test coming up," A troubled frown marred Joyce's attractive features. "Slayer or no, she's got to try harder or she'll...anyway, no, she won't be joining us. She'll be home later."
"How much later?" Dawn wondered aloud worriedly. Joyce stared at her younger daughter, puzzled.
"Since when are you so anxious to see your sister. Not that the idea of sibling bonding doesn't warm the cockles of your mother's heart..."
"I...um...she borrowed my sweater!" Dawn fumbled awkwardly. "Just don't want her to take it slaying. She'll get blood or guts or some other kind of mucus-y yuck-"
"I get the picture," Joyce interrupted wryly. "I think your sweater is safe for tonight. Studying seems to be the only thing on Buffy's agenda."
"Good," Dawn muttered unconvincingly, returning to staring blankly at the pages of her own history text book. *The only thing that better be history tonight is Angel,* she thought darkly to herself.
*******
Hours later Dawn stared out at the darkness gloomily from her bedroom window. It had been completely dark for about an hour, but still no sign of her sister. On the plus side, though, no sign of Angel either. Dawn turned away from the window with a sigh. Her sister had said to trust her. Dawn made a face. She would just have to make sure they were taken care of herself.
After watching carefully for any signs of her mother, Dawn crept into Buffy's room yet again. A flutter near the bed made her gasp, nearly scream. She sagged with relief at seeing it was only the curtain fluttering, then felt a rush of panic. The window was open. Angel could be in here with her right now! Dawn slammed the window shut, her fear lending her strength but not caution. Breathing heavily, she made her way to Buffy's weapons chest, opening it and pulling out a large cross, a vial of holy water and, after a moment's consideration, a stake. She'd never used one before, but if Angel was in the house maybe she could catch him by surprise. She snuck over to the closet door, pulling it open with a war cry on her lips that died when she saw it was empty.
"Huh," Dawn said, looking around the room. "Well, good!" A quick surreptitious search of her own closets and her mother's revealed no sign of hiding vampires, either. Dawn sat on her bed, sagging in relief, her weapons still clutched close to her chest. She was ready. She would defend the house until her wayward Slayer sister returned. No vamp was getting in on her watch...
***********
Joyce smiled warmly at the blonde girl at the door, stepping aside to allow her in.
"Would you like to come in and wait?" she asked, the girl smiling widely in return.
"It's very nice of you to invite me into your home," Darla said, stepping past Joyce and ducking her head so the Slayer's mother couldn't see her predatory grin. Joyce frowned, her skin prickling into goosebumps. She racked her brain to see if Buffy had ever mentioned this girl, but could come up with nothing. The girl looked harmless, innocent, but still...
Joyce had invited her in. She mentally kicked herself. The girl could be a vampire...
"Ummm...I was just going to make myself a little snack." she said, letting her fingers casually walk along the counter, reaching for the cross Buffy had her keep there for emergencies. "Would you like something to eat?"
"Yes, I would," Darla drawled, following closely behind. Joyce's fingers closed around the cross, and suddenly steel fingers clamped around her wrist, squeezing. Joyce cried out in pain as the blonde whirled her around, sinking her teeth into her neck before she could make another sound.
***********
Dawn awoke with a start when she heard the crash. For a moment she blinked into the darkness, disoriented, vaguely hearing voices raised argumentatively downstairs. Flashbacks of her mother and father during the ending days of their marriage confused her momentarily, but then she looked down at the cross in her hand and remembered her vigil. Fear made her practically fly down the stairs, and when she got there she froze. Her worst fears were being realized. Angel whirled around to face her, his game face in a grimace as he cradled Joyce's limp body. Dawn could see nothing but her mother's still form, the blood oozing out of the two fine puncture marks in her neck.
"Dawn," Angel said in a low voice, but the girl heard nothing. She raised her hands, her left holding a cross, her right a stake. Angel recoiled but held his ground.
"Let go of her," Dawn whispered, blinking back her tears. Angel stood like a statue, and Dawn screamed, "Let go of my mother!" Angel dropped Joyce's body as if burned. Dawn felt as if her body were about to burn up, she was so consumed with hate. "I'm going to kill you," she told her sister's boyfriend in a surprisingly steady voice.
"Mom? Dawn?" Buffy called out just before entering the kitchen. She froze, taking in the scene, her eyes wide with horror and disbelief. Angel snarled at her, and Dawn turned to her accusingly.
"Look what you did! He killed her!" Angel broke and ran, and Buffy still stood frozen, not even sure her heart was beating any longer.
"No..." Buffy moaned. "Mom!" She dropped to her knees beside Joyce's prone form and felt for a pulse, breathing only when her prayers were answered. "Oh, thank God. You're gonna be okay, Mom. I swear, you're gonna be all right..."
The next half hour was a blur for Dawn. After Buffy's prompting - and one good (unnecessary) shake - she'd called 911 and reported an accident, while Buffy used a kitchen towel to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding.
"You're gonna be okay, Mom," Buffy said loudly as the paramedics wheeled the gurney from the house towards the waiting ambulance. "She's going to be okay," she repeated to herself as she and Dawn followed the men outside. Buffy quickly scoured the area for Angel or other vampires before looking down at her sister. Dawn's arms were folded tight across her chest, her eyes blazing as she met her sister's pleading gaze. Buffy broke off eye contact, shaking her head. "I'll call you from the hospital."
"No! I'm coming with you! Buffy!" Dawn whined. Buffy sighed and took her sister aside, looking at her with pity but resolute as only a Slayer could be.
"I asked. They'll only let one of us ride in the ambulance, and neither of us can drive. Be reasonable, Dawnie."
"I'm not the one being unreasonable! And I'm not the one whose boyfriend bit my-muhrh!"
Buffy slapped her hand over her sister's mouth, managing to hide the move from the impatient paramedics by disguising it in a one-armed hug. She put her mouth to her sister's ear and spoke in a soft anguished tone.
"Be mad at me. You should be. Cause I'm mad at me. But do not talk about Angel or what he is or what he's done. It'll only make things more complicated and harder than they already are." Buffy paused removing her hand. Dawn tried to stare daggers at her again but her quivering lip ruined the effect. She burst into tears instead and this time Buffy's hug was pure and real, sister trying to comfort sister. "I swear to you, I'm going to take care of this. I promise."
"Miss, we've got to go!" one of the paramedics called.
Buffy ran towards the ambulance, calling back over her shoulder to Dawn. "I already called Mrs. Hughes, she'll be here any second. She's taking you to her house for now. "
"No way!" Dawn cried. Ignoring her outrage, Buffy accepted the paramedic's help climbing into the back of the ambulance. She paused, locking eyes with her sister meaningfully and this time it was Dawn that had to look away. She knew why she couldn't stay in her own house. Angel could come in and kill her, and it was all Buffy's fault. Dawn sniffed miserably.
"Don't argue. You'll be safe there," Buffy assured her, speaking rapidly over the paramedic's growing impatience. "I talked to Giles, he's meeting me at the hospital and then he'll come get you. I'll call as soon as I know anything."
Dawn stood frozen in disbelief as the ambulance pulled away, siren blaring. Her mother was probably dying. Her sister had abandoned her, probably to get eaten by either her vampire boyfriend or their demon neighbor. Buffy might be the Slayer, but Dawn knew she was the one who needed to take care of this. She was going after Angel, and no one was going to get in her-
"Where do you think you're going?"
Dawn jumped. She hadn't even heard footsteps, but Mrs. Hughes was standing next to her. It was weird; the woman always creaked when she moved. Since when did she become stealthy? Dawn gulped, then faced her babysitter with flashing eyes.
"I'm going to find the man who tried to kill my mother," she said grimly. Mrs. Hughes stared at her, her expression stern and doubtful.
"Your sister said on the phone that your mother fell on a barbeque fork."
"My sister just wants to protect her boyfriend," Dawn retorted bitterly. "He's the one that hurt my mother, and it's payback time."
"The young man I saw your sister with the other day? He...hurt...your mother?" At Dawn's nod, the older woman snorted. "Poppycock. In any case, a young girl can't be off on her own at night looking for vengeance. It's unseemly. And I promised your sister you'd be safe with me, so come."
"No!" Dawn said, stomping her foot. "I won't go with you! I'm going to get rid of Angel. I've got to, don't you see? My family will never be safe as long as he-"
"That's it!" Mrs. Hughes suddenly roared, stunning Dawn into silence. There was something different about her stance, something...younger...and...taller. A weird creaking sound, as if she was somehow...unfolding. Dawn's mouth went dry. "I can't take it anymore. There's no way you're going to listen to your batty old babysitter, but maybe you'll listen to me now." The woman had grown about two feet, and Dawn looked up into the face of a monster.
"You,,,you're...you're a demon!" Dawn stammered. Mrs. Hughes looked down at her with hollow eyes and grinned toothily, clapping a clawed hand over Dawn's mouth before she could let out the building scream.
"You got it in one, but relax, you're not in any danger. Well, not from me at least. Not from Angel either. I got a good whiff of him the other night." Seeing that Dawn's fear had abated and been replaced with confusion, Mrs. Hughes explained, "There's no way Angel attacked your mother. That boy's been framed, and I know by who."
************************
To Be Continued.