Giles, Angel and Adanar were sitting at the dining room table when the others came in, Dawn in the lead. The strong scent of liniment hung over the vamp and the Ganaru and she wrinkled her nose and asked Angel,
"So how goes the whole healing Ganaru voodoo thing?"
He answered with a cheerful smile,
"Terrific! Adanar had me on my feet tonight and I'm getting around on the crutches."
"Oh goody, maybe you can take me dancing next Saturday? He never takes me out anymore."
Spike complained to Buffy, earning a scowl from his Sire when he ruffled Angel's hair on his way past him.
"Maybe he's ashamed to be seen with you in public. Now shut up and let Dawnie explain what just happened out there and why we need to get the Slayers back to England and Will to L.A."
Buffy was short with him, plainly concerned for the safety of the Slayers and their few remaining Watchers.
"What happened? How are the girls in danger?"
Giles wanted to know.
Spike had his head in the cupboard that served as the bar when he answered and his voice had an odd echoing effect.
"Dawn found a lone Kidjatori who was as drunk as a lord and enticed him into an alley so she could give us an object lesson in how to pound the buggers to pulp but somehow talked him into kneeling down patiently until she got tired of the conversation and cut his throat. Ah there you are you lovely thing you!"
He lovingly cradled a bottle of bourbon as he returned to the table and commented,
"It was the damnedest thing I ever saw! Bloody well had him so scared he pissed himself and just let her damn near decapitate him!"
As Spike twisted the top off the bottle and took a long swallow, Buffy sat across from Dawn and demanded,
"What was all that 'Dawn' stuff anyway? And what do you mean about the warlock being out trying to capture a Slayer?"
"He is. You have to trust me on this thing and phone those girls closest to L.A. now and tell them to get to an airport and get to New York or England or the North Pole or wherever but do it fast! He hasn't got a portal device but he can teleport. That I do know! I just don't know how far or how much of his strength it takes."
Dawn glared at Spike, took the bottle from him and got up to fetch glasses from the kitchen, bringing back a bowl of ice cubes as well.
Giles thought for half a minute before telling Buffy, as he pulled out his cell phone,
"You call Willow; I'll call Faith in Mexico City and Ambrose St. John in Cleveland. Oh, and tell Willow to leave Kennedy in Rio until we know what is happening here. Even the more experienced girls are still undergoing their training and a warlock is something they've not come up against as yet. Dawn's right; we can't take a chance on inter-dimensional slavers finding out that the Slayers are an attractive, potentially valuable proposition. It's a threat we don't want hanging over us continually if it is at all possible to avoid."
For the next few minutes there were four conversations going on; the two phone calls, Spike telling Angel about Dawn's encounter with the Kridjatori and Adanar questioning Dawn in Kridjatori, although the latter sounded more like an interrogation tending towards an argument. Finally, calls made and things set in motion, every one turned expectantly to Dawn.
"Ok. But first .. What I did out there was way juvenile; trying to impress Buffy was plain stupid and dangerous. I made a total idiot of myself because I've been saying how dangerous these guys are and then I go and act so dumb."
Dawn was contrite as she looked at Adanar and explained,
"The idiot was so drunk, way over confident and bouncing off the walls because he was totally not adjusted to the gravity that I couldn't resist stirring him up first. No excuse, I know."
Adanar shook his head and gave her a disappointed look,
"It was stupid, Dawn. If you had misjudged and Buffy and Spike had to rescue you then they may have been injured needlessly. You know your fighting abilities are good but you must remember that the strength and speed you have are temporary and decreasing daily; all the training with weights you do can not maintain the levels you had when we first arrived."
She was subdued as she returned to the subject of the dead Kridjatori,
"Kidjatori are unbelievably superstitious and they have this thing about names having all kinds of significance and mine sounds just like their Dorhn; who is this mythic demi-goddess they're terrified of. They would never let me use my own name, especially in the Death Ring and one of the other slaves taught me this whole chant-poem routine that always made them jumpy."
She shook her head, plainly perplexed,
"He totally went into this weird terror state! I did the 'I am Dorhn; She who slays the last dark of night' and all that gibberish and he just started to babble; it was way strange Adanar. But one thing he told me was that Strega and Hadretz had heard of all these superwomen 'Slayers' and wanted to capture some to see if the story was true. Hadretz cast a locate spell and left to look for one at the closest place, which must be Mexico City, mustn't it Giles?"
"Yes, it is. Faith is there with Robin. She's the only Slayer closer than Cleveland. She offered to come up and help but she's still a fugitive in the States so she has agreed to go to Rio and link up with Kennedy until Willow returns. What did Willow say, Buffy?"
"She's catching the next plane to L.A. and will let us know what time she lands."
Buffy watched Dawn carefully as she said,
"She was stunned to know that you were back and I tried to explain that you're my not-so-little sister anymore. Will didn't ask why we hadn't let her know but she sounded relieved, worried and guilty all at once. What happens when she gets here, Dawnie?"
Dawn stared at the floor for long, silent minutes. She finally straightened and spoke, carefully choosing her words.
"I'm not about to kill her, if that's what you're worried about. She's the only one capable of dealing with Hadretz and who can work with all of us. But I can't promise that I'm gonna be able to bite my tongue the entire time she's around. Look, I can accept and excuse what she did intellectually and I know it was Warren's fault I got stuck between Will and Hell. Trouble is .. if she's nearby after one of my classic scream the place down nightmares? Well .. I'll probably use a lot of words mom would have fed me soap for a week for saying."
Angel broke the silence that followed, leaning forward to pour him self another shot of bourbon he told Dawn,
"That works for me. I think Willow will find that a generous attitude for you to take, don't you Giles?"
"Oh, yes. As you say Dawn, the intellectual is quite separate from the emotional and much harder to control. I am sure Willow does not expect you to welcome her with unconditional love and forgiveness."
Buffy smiled at Dawn gratefully,
"She'll just be relieved and happy that you're here to call her any name you want to. Thanks Dawnie, I know how hard seeing Will is going to be for you. And the showing off thing? You've got nothing to prove to me or anyone; I'm not sure I could have survived the way you did and still been sane! I'm just proud to be your sister and I think you're gonna be way hard to live up to!"
