Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and Angel are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and the WB. Not mine, please don't sue.

Chapter 4: The Magic Box

Dawn grew steadily nervous as Connor drove the jeep down familiar streets towards the Magic Box. After Willow had nearly ended the world in her time line, it had been shut down. Any thought of reopening it had been squelched by the appearance of the First. Connor pulled up to the front of the store, and put the jeep into park. He looked at Dawn out of the corner of his eye. She looked a little freaked.

Another thought struck Dawn as she was getting out of the jeep. The intensity of it caused her to stumble and if Connor hadn't come around to help her down in the first place, she'd have been face first on the pavement. As Connor held her in his arms after catching her mid fall, one thought reverberated through Dawn's mind. What if Anya was still alive? What if in this weird, alternate time line where Sunnydale was not destroyed in the final battle against the First, Anya didn't die? That would definitely explain why the Magic Box was open, and why they went there everyday after school.

Dawn was trembling, and Connor had no idea why. Going to the Magic Box was something they did every day. Angel helped Anya run the place, and Connor used the training room in the back to stay in fighting shape. Since his dad's Shanshu, Angel would help, but Connor could beat him up now, so it seemed a little unfair to use his dad as a punching bag. Dawn usually spent the time doing her homework until Buffy would arrive. Then Xander would show up, fresh from the construction site he was currently working on, and take Anya home. Their recent marriage had been a relief to everyone. Buffy and his dad would close up the shop, and the four of them would make their way home. Willow and Lindsey came for dinner several times a week, even though his dad and Lindsey didn't get along very well.

"What's wrong, Dawn?" Connor asked her, concerned by her extremely physical reaction. Trying to calm her shaking, Dawn stepped out of his embrace.

"It's nothing." Dawn replied, trying very hard to play it off like she was fine.

"It's obviously not 'nothing'." Connor disagreed.

"I said I was fine, Connor. Drop it." Dawn snapped at him. He watched as the brunette slung her backpack on her shoulder and stalked into the Magic Box like she owned the place. Technically, he supposed she did. He shook his head and followed.

When Connor entered the shop, Dawn was no where in sight. He spotted his dad, though, and walked over to him.

"Hey Dad." Connor greeted Angel, where the former vampire was shelving books. Angel smiled at him. "Where's Dawn?" He wanted to know, handing his father a book from the pile on the table.

"She disappeared into the back." Angel answered, setting the book on the shelf. "Is she feeling all right?" He asked.

"I think her stomach might be upset." Connor covered for Dawn's weird behavior.

"That explains why Anya thought she looked a little green." Angel replied. "All though, Anya's reason for her color was...well, you're not old enough to know." His dad went on, flashing him a grin. Connor smiled back, knowing how the former vengeance demon could be about certain topics. "How was your day?" Angel questioned his son, picking up the last book from the table and setting it in its place on the shelf.

"It was fine." Connor told him. "Dawn let me drop her off at school and pick her up." He continued. Angel just stared at him.

"Buffy's been trying to get her to do that for months." Angel said, clearly shocked. "She's not suffering from side effects after that spell yesterday, is she?" Even though Connor was sure his dad was joking, his bitterness at the way Dawn usually treated him spilled out.

"Because that's the only way she'd entertain spending any time with me, right Dad?" Connor snarled. Angel's face lost its smile.

"You know that's not what I meant, Connor." He reassured his son. Connor sighed, his anger ebbing slightly.

"I know." Connor admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I'm gonna go check on her, ok?" Connor turned and walked away from Angel, who just stared after him.

*

Dawn hit the punching bag viciously, and followed it with an equally nasty kick. She hated this. It wasn't so much the changes, she supposed. She was actually pretty happy that Angel and Buffy had found someway to be together. Granted, she missed Spike. Dawn was planning on asking Connor what happened to him. She prayed that he was alive...well, undead, somewhere. She was happy that Anya was alive. She hoped that Xander had come to his senses and married her, but again Dawn would have to ask Connor. That's what this whole thing boiled down too. It was the not knowing.

It was so hard not to tell Connor the whole truth. That she remembered nothing from this life, starting from that day up on the tower. Was Tara still dead? Had Willow gone all black magic? Tears threatened to fall as Dawn hit the punching bag again. How could she ask about these things without giving her secret away? It would be really hard to pass some of these questions off as side effects of the spell. The spell she didn't even remember doing.

That was how Connor found her, hitting the punching bag with all she possessed, and tears flowing freely down her face. He moved to stop her, fearing that she would hurt herself. Startled and angry, Dawn turned on him the minute his hands touched hers. She struggled violently to get away from him, to hit him, but he held fast. After a few minutes of treating him as her punching bag, Dawn found herself in his arms for the second time that day, and the third time since last night, crying her eyes out.

"Shhh..." He soothed, as they sank to the floor. He rubbed her back with one hand, smoothed back her hair with the other. After a couple of seconds of crying, she pulled out of his embrace and wiped her eyes. "Feel better?" Connor wanted to know.

"A little." She smiled tentatively at him. "I didn't mean to go all psycho on you." Dawn apologized. Connor shrugged, and gave her a small smile.

"Just remind me never to piss you off, ok?" He told her. Dawn grinned, her tears forgotten for the moment, and nodded.

"Deal." She said, but then reality set back in and her smile faded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Connor asked, hesitating. He wasn't sure she would want to talk to him. Of course, since only he and Kit knew about her memory loss, her choice of talking partners was severely limited. She shrugged in reply. "Well, when you're ready, I'll be here." He told her, and stood up. He walked over to where he'd set his bag, and pulled out his bottle of water. Turning his back on her, he pulled his shirt up over his head. He was wearing a tank top underneath, but Dawn couldn't help staring at him.

He was...perfect. Muscled, but not in a gross kind of way. Connor bent to put his shirt in the bag, and as he stood up he nearly froze. He could feel Dawn's eyes on him, but the shocking part was that her heart was beating faster. He could hear it. Did that mean...could she really...Connor didn't even bother to finish the thought. Even though she'd lost part of her memories, Dawn would never feel anything more for than friendship.

"You're quiet." He observed, turning around to look at her. He took great satisfaction in that fact that he'd visibly startled her by talking. He began throwing light punches at the bag, and was surprised when Dawn came over to hold it still for him.

"Are we friends?" She asked, her voice so quiet that if he didn't have his nifty supernatural hearing, he would never have heard her over the sound of his hands hitting the bag. Crap, he thought. The secret is out. Now she'll go back to the way things were before, I just know it.

"Not exactly." Connor answered her.

"Do I even like you?" She wanted to know, not meeting his gaze. Connor stopped punching, and looked at her.

"My existence sort of cramps your style." He told her, not without a little bitterness in his tone.

"What?" Dawn gasped. How could she be like that?

"It's embarrassing and complicated trying to explain me to other people, so you don't explain me at all." Connor informed her, and he was surprised to see her look horrified.

"Goddess, Connor. I'm really sorry." Dawn apologized, reaching out and taking hold of his hand. He was so shocked at her apology that he almost missed what she said. Goddess. The Dawn he'd been living with the last couple of years never said Goddess. The Dawn he'd made a portal jump with had said it all the time. He squinted at Dawn, and she suddenly got self-conscious, letting go of his hand. "What? Do I have something on me?" She asked him, sounding panicked. He shook his head. It was probably nothing anyway. "Good." Dawn said, as Connor resumed hitting the punching bag. "Oh, by the way." She went on. "I kinda need another favor." He looked up at her.

"What kind of favor?" He wanted to know.

"I convinced Buffy to let me take Driver's Ed." Dawn answered him.

"Ok, but what does that have to do with me?" Connor asked her, taking a sip from his water bottle.

"I kinda told her that you'd help me practice, in your jeep." Dawn finished, waiting for his answer.

"We can start tomorrow." He told her. Her face lit up.

"Really?" Dawn couldn't believe it. Of course, she already knew how to drive. Unfortunately, in this reality, she lacked a license. She'd already scoured her purse looking for one.

"Really." Connor smiled at her enthusiasm. "...and all that other stuff earlier - it's forgiven." He said. Dawn's bright smile was his response.

*

When Buffy walked –

Waddled, she thought as she opened the front door to the Magic box – into the store that night, she was surprised at how calm it was. There were one or two customers looking around, but Anya was the only one on the sales floor. She heard some thumps from the training room, and she hoped that Connor was taking it easy on Angel, assuming he was back there with him. Glancing around, she headed to the counter to set down her bag, and then settled herself down in a chair. Truthfully, every since she'd gotten pregnant, it was harder and harder to get up in the morning, and by the end of the night, she was exhausted. Buffy watched through heavy-lidded eyes as Anya made her way over to her.

"Hi, Anya." Buffy greeted her.

"Back hurting?" Anya said, noticing Buffy's pained expression. She nodded in reply. "I've got an herb you can take to help with the pain." Anya offered.

"I'll have to check with my doctor." Buffy told her.

"It's on sale for $9.95 this week, so I'd ask him soon." Anya replied, the idea of giving her friend a bottle for free not even entering her mind.

"I'll do that." Buffy smiled at her friend. She felt someone drop a kiss on her forehead. Looking up, she met Angel's gaze.

"Hi." He said, reaching out and putting a hand on her swelling belly. Buffy's breathe caught in her throat as she watched the amazed look on his face. She scrunched up her face in confusion as a thought occurred to her.

"If you're out here, who's in the back training with Connor?" Buffy asked. Angel smiled, and kissed her before answering.

"Dawn." He told his wife, waiting for a reaction.

"Dawn?" Buffy repeated

"Yes. Dawn." Angel replied, before moving to help a customer. Buffy stared at the closed training room door in wonder.

*

Dawn groaned as she hit the training mat for the third time in ten minutes. Connor stood above her, smirking.

"How do you keep doing that?" Dawn demanded to know, taking the hand he held out. He helped her up, smirk still in place.

"I can show you." He offered. She nodded. "Look, stand like this." He instructed, moving into a stance. Dawn did as he asked. "Not quite." Connor corrected, and then put his hand on her thigh to move her leg forward. She tried not to inhale sharply at his closeness, but she knew with his abilities he'd be able to hear her heart beat speed up. Nothing she could do about that. "Better." He said, turning to so that he faced her. Connor went on with his instructions. "Now I'm going to move like this..." He began, placing his foot near hers. "Then you put your foot here." He moved her leg directly next to his, between his spread legs. Off balance by Connor suddenly shifting her, Dawn's other foot slipped on the training mat, and pair tumbled to the floor, a tangled mass of arms and legs.

Dawn burst into giggles as she hit the mat, Connor managing to brace himself with his arms so he didn't crush her. He laughed too.

"Ooops." Dawn looked sheepish as she stared up at his face. Before she could stop herself, Dawn reached up and moved a lock of his hair out of the corner of his eye. Her fingertips brushed against his forehead, and Connor closed his eyes. Leaning on his elbow, Connor covered her hand with his, pressing it against his cheek. He curled his fingers around her hand, and brought it slowly to his mouth. He placed a delicate kiss in her palm, and then opened his eyes to see her reaction.

Dawn was breathing heavily. This Connor clearly wanted her as much as the other Connor she'd known. Goddess, she wanted him just as much. She slid her free arm around his neck, wrapping her fingers in his hair. It was shorter, but there was still enough for her hand to get tangled in. Slowly she brought his face down to meet hers. Their lips were inches apart, with only the whispers of breathing between them. Their gazes were locked on each other as they tried to come to some kind of grips with their emotions. Just as their lips were about to touch, a loud sound from the doorway startled them.