Author's Note: I worked really hard on this chapter, and I'm very proud of it. Please review!

Dedication: To Tara, Darla Rose, CF, cherrygurl1225, and freezyboncoolipants for reviewing Chapter 1! I really appreciate your encouragement!

Chapter 2: Tension and Training

Saturday morning, Los Angeles

"I come bearing food!" Gunn called as he walked into the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel the next morning. He set the box of doughnuts down on the counter. "Not remotely healthy food, but still food," he said, taking a jelly.

"Do I smell doughnuts?" Cordelia said, coming out of the office.

"Make sure we save one for Dawn," Angel said, coming downstairs. Cordelia immediately became quiet and averted her gaze from his. Things had been more than a little awkward since she had gotten her memory back, and his former love's little sister moving in wasn't helping.

"What do you think we are, pigs?" Fred said. She had just come in, and was now helping herself to a Boston creme. Angel opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Dawn coming downstairs. Considering it was only eight in the morning, she was looking pretty good, already showered and dressed.

"Wow Dawnie, you look nice. Where's the party?" Cordelia said with a slightly forced smile.

Dawn shrugged. "I just wanted to look nice in case...." she stopped herself and smiled. "Doughnuts!" She took one and began to eat, blushing at her near slip-up. She had gotten up at 6:30 because there was no way in hell she was going to let Angel's very handsome son catch her with bed hair and morning breath.

Last night, Angel had explained everything to Dawn about how Connor had come to be. Dawn was amazed that he seemed to have had an even stranger childhood than herself. She felt really bad for both Connor and Angel, and still couldn't believe that he had spent a whole summer in a box on the bottom of the ocean. She also knew that Buffy was going to flip when she found out. She didn't tell Angel that. But none of what Angel had said changed the feeling that she had felt when Connor had looked at her. She really hoped that she would see him again today. Her stomach gave a little flip when she thought of the possibility.

By now everyone had finished their doughnuts, except Angel, who hadn't had one, and they were wandering around the lobby, starting their work for the day. Wesley came in at some point, and took the last doughnut.

Then Dawn remembered something. She entered Angel's office, where he was reading the newspaper. She tapped on the door, and he looked up. "Hey Dawn, what's up?"

She entered the office nervously. "I wanted to ask you a favor."

Angel put down the paper and looked at her expectantly. "Sure."

Dawn paused for a minute. "Can you teach me how to fight?" Angel gave her a look.

"Dawn, Buffy would-"

"Well she already started a little! But she never has enough time, and I though that maybe because I'm here a whole week that I can learn something," Dawn said hurriedly.

Angel looked at her sadly. "Dawn, I appreciate you wanting to learn combat, but Buffy would kill me for teaching you. I'm sorry."

"I'll teach her."

Dawn spun around and her stomach did another little flip when she saw Connor standing there, staring at her fixedly. He had a funny sort of half smile expression on his face.

Dawn stood up quickly, smiling at him. "Really? I would love that," she said.

Angel stood up, shocked to see Connor there twice in 24 hours. As he watched the look being exchanged between him and Dawn, he began to understand. "Connor! Hi. That would be great, but Buffy-"

"Doesn't even know I exist," Connor finished. "It'll be okay." He was smiling at Dawn now. He had never seen such a beautiful girl.

"Okay, well just be careful. You can use downstairs if you want," Angel said, smiling at the two of them. He should have expected this, after all she was Buffy's sister, and Connor was his son.

"Do you want to start now?" Connor said.

Dawn was slightly surprised, but thrilled. "Yes!"

Connor looked her up and down appreciatively. "You should probably change. As nice as it is, that's not really fighting clothes," he said with a smirk.

Dawn blushed as she looked down at her tight jeans and top. "Yeah, you're right. I'll be back in a few," she said. With one last smile, she ran upstairs. Was it her imagination, or had Connor said she looked nice?

"I'll go downstairs now," Connor said, not looking at his father. And with that he was gone.

Ten minutes later Dawn came downstairs, changed into a tank top and sweats. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and Connor thought she looked as beautiful as ever.

"So, you've had training before right? I mean your sister's the slayer," Connor said, realizing that he felt very nervous now that he was alone with her.

"A little. But Buffy's Miss Overprotective and she doesn't like taking me out on patrols with her," Dawn said. "At one point she started teaching me to fight a little, but then she kind of stopped." She was about to mention how she wouldn't even take her to England with the others, but she was becoming very glad that she came to LA instead.

Connor was a little surprised. "But you know the basics right? Like which end of a stake is which?" he said with a smirk.

Dawn put her hands on her hips. "Very funny."

He smiled at her. "Okay, so I figure we should start with basic weapons, then move on to combat," he said.

Dawn smiled suggestively. "You think you can take me?"

Connor smiled back. There was just something about her. "I guess we'll have to see." He picked up a crossbow. "So have you ever used one of these before?"

"No," Dawn said. "So do you enjoy this kind of thing Connor?"

He raised his eyebrows. "What kind of thing? Teaching a beautiful girl how to fight, or fighting vampires?"

She was slightly stunned from his use of the word "beautiful," she managed a reply. "Both."

He smiled. "Well training you, I am definitely enjoying."

"Even though we haven't started yet?" Dawn said.

"I am enjoying just being around you," Connor said softly.

Dawn smiled. "Same here." There was a moment of silence.

"So, come here and I'll show you how to use the crossbow," Connor said. Without hesitation she walked over to him. He handed her the crossbow. "You just aim at the target, we can use the wall right there, and pull the string."

Dawn concentrated at aiming the arrow directly ahead at the wall. Then she pulled the string, but her hand slipped and it flew off to the right and penetrated Angel's punching bag.

Connor laughed. "Good try. Here, let me show you." He positioned himself directly behind her, and reached his arms around her body. "Hold your arms like this," he said, gently sliding her hands into the correct position on the weapon. He felt his body tingle all over as he touched her. "Now try," he said, not letting go of her arms. She pulled the trigger, and the arrow hit the wall directly ahead. "Perfect," he whispered. They were both now extremely aware of how close they were. Dawn slowly turned her head so that it was facing his. He leaned in until only an inch was separating their lips....a half an inch...Dawn closed her eyes...

The door to the basement opened and Cordelia's voice rang out. "Dawn, Buffy's on the phone!"

Dawn and Connor froze for a moment. "I should really talk to her," Dawn whispered. After a long moment, Connor released her.

"Okay." With a small smile, she ran upstairs.

Once she was gone, Connor sat down heavily on the floor. Why had Buffy had to call just now? They had been this close to kissing...the attraction was so strong between them, and he knew she felt it too. He groaned. Why had their perfect moment been interrupted?

Dawn walked blindly upstairs. She could kill Buffy right now. Connor had been this close to kissing her! She couldn't believe how comfortable she felt around him, it was like she'd known him forever, when in reality it had been less than 24 hours.

Cordelia was holding out the phone over by the counter. Dawn took it. "Hey Buffy."

"Hi Dawn. How are you?" said her sister's voice.

"I'm good." She thought of Connor and smiled. "Very good actually. Everyone is really nice."

"That's great. We got here a few hours ago, based on Giles's descriptions we are dealing with the First Evil."

Dawn paused, remembering where she'd heard that name before. "Isn't that the thing..."

"That tried to make Angel kill himself, yes. They are here in England, and they have been targeting other Watchers and potential Slayers. We are still figuring out what we're going to do about it."

"Take your time, I'm fine here," Dawn said hurriedly.

Buffy paused for a moment. "Okay. Well I'm glad you're doing well. I'll call tomorrow to check in okay?"

"Okay. Good luck."

"Bye then. I love you."

"Love you too."

They hung up, and Dawn immediately headed back for the basement, but was stopped when Cordelia called her name. She turned around.

"I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we can have a girls' day, you, me and Fred," Cordelia said. "We can go shopping, maybe catch a chick flick."

Dawn smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like fun." It sucked that she probably wouldn't be able to see Connor tomorrow, but Cordelia had been acting really weird lately, and this was the most excited Dawn had seen her since she had arrived. So she just couldn't say no.

"Great! Angel's giving us the day off and everything." She smiled. "You can get back to your training now."

Dawn smiled and hurried back downstairs. Connor jumped up and smiled when he saw her.

"Everything okay in England?" he asked.

"Yup. They think they're dealing with the First Evil," Dawn said.

Connor frowned. "That's pretty heavy stuff."

Dawn shrugged. "I'm sure Buffy can handle it."

"Are you ready to spar a little bit?" Connor asked.

Dawn raised her eyebrows. "Sure, but just to warn you, I've learned a lot from the slayer."

Connor smiled. "Bring it on." They positioned themselves across from each other. "Okay, just pretend I'm a vampire."

Dawn smiled. "If you say so." She threw a punch, which Connor easily blocked.

"So Dawn, I realized that I don't know much about you. I'm guessing you got my life story from Angel, so it's about time you fess up." He easily blocked another punch.

Dawn raised her eyebrows, as she threw another punch, which he dodged easily. "Well you will be surprised to know that my crazy childhood rivals even yours, in the context that I didn't have one," she said. "I am actually only two and a half years old, until then I was a blob of energy called the Key."

Connor looked surprised, and his momentary distraction was enough for Dawn to get in one good punch. He stumbled back slightly. "Wow. Nice punch."

"And there was this crazy hell god named Glory who wanted to put me in a lock and use my energy to get back to her home dimension. Buffy sacrificed herself to save me."

They both stopped fighting for a second. "Cordelia told me about how Buffy died last summer. That must have been really hard for you."

Dawn sat heavily on the floor. "It was. But she's back now. And better than ever."

Connor sat down beside her. "I hear that my father and your sister had quite the relationship," he said.

Dawn sighed. "Boy did they. You got a few hours free, because I'll gladly share the story."

Connor smiled. "It's okay. I'd rather hear more about you."

Dawn smiled back. "I'm not that interesting really."

Connor looked her in the eye. "I find you very interesting."

2 hours later...

"So then we were all trapped in the house for like 40 hours," Dawn said. "All because of me."

Connor laughed. "Well at least you never sent your father to the bottom of the ocean in a box."

Dawn laughed. "I guess you've got me there."

She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh my God! We have been talking for a really long time!"

Connor smiled. "But I enjoyed it. I think I officially know most of what there is to know about you Dawn Summers."

Dawn smiled back. "This was fun. Thanks. For the training, and the conversation."

"Any time. Speaking of times, want to do this again tomorrow?"

Dawn smacked her head. "Tomorrow not so much. I'm going shopping with Cordy and Fred. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow night?" She crossed her fingers, praying he'd say yes.

He smiled, much to Dawn's relief. "I would love that. Maybe I can take you out on patrol, you can test out your new fighting skills."

Dawn grinned. "It's a date."

Just then Fred called downstairs. "Dawn! It's time for lunch!"

Dawn stood up. "I'd better go. You gonna stick around?"

Connor shook his head. "No. It's still...It's not you, I'm just not very comfortable with them." He gestured upstairs.

"I understand. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" Dawn said.

Connor smiled back. "I can't wait." With that she went upstairs, leaving him to bask in his good fortune.