Dawn felt restless with no one to talk to and a hard decision to make. Buffy was back at the hotel attending to Slayer business over the internet; Giles and Adanar were in the study surrounded by piles of books; Spike had gone to spend the evening with Gunn, whom Dawn had collected from hospital and brought to visit with Angel and now Angel had another visitor, a young man he had helped and stayed in touch with afterwards. From where she sat on the wide, vine covered patio at the back of the house Dawn could hear faint laughter drifting from Angel's room; Connor must be amusing company, she thought. Nina visited almost everyday and Angel had been desperate to see Gunn and looking forward to seeing Connor. It was odd to find that Angel had a life that Buffy had no part in. One that seemed to make him a lot more cheerful than the guy she remembered from his Sunnydale days.
Coffee cooled in the untouched mug on the table beside her and a glossy magazine lay opened but unread in front of her. She was so deep in thought that hearing Angel and Connor saying goodbye brought her attention back to the present to find that it was almost dark. She stood up and went into the house to show Connor out. He and Angel were laughing together at some tale of Connor's,
" .. made a complete idiot of myself! I walked straight into the locked glass doors and if that wasn't embarrassing enough, I tripped over the crash cart and got blasted by Dr. Seymour! I think she agreed to go for coffee and something to eat out of pity but hey, it's a start!"
"You'll be fine, just don't take her out for Italian, spaghetti can be murder. If you go for Chinese, leave the chop sticks alone or you could end up with a lap full of fried rice. Actually, I'd play safe and go for pizza, that's usually idiot proof."
Angel advised with a smile.
Connor sighed and muttered,
"Oh please. Mozzarella can stretch for miles you know. I'm up to my ears in assignments this week so I might not get over again until next week sometime, okay? Bye Dawn, nice to meet you."
"You too, Connor. Come by anytime, I think Angel's probably tired of the same old faces all the time."
Dawn closed and locked the front door behind him. Angel hadn't returned to his room and she found him sitting at the patio table, watching the fading colours of sunset. She picked up the mug and pulled a face as she sipped the now cold coffee but couldn't be bothered making another cup. Moving the magazine from her chair to the table, she sat and asked diffidently,
"Can I ask you for some advice Angel? Adanar's been on my case and I'm not sure whether he's right in this particular instance or not."
"I can guess what he's been after. He thinks you should sit everyone down and tell them about your life on Kridjator. I know he's worried about you."
And so am I, he thought, you can't keep it bottled up for much longer.
"He's talked to you? No wonder Ganaru don't need shrinks; they're all little Freud clones!"
She grumbled.
"So what do you think?"
"It might help to cut down on the number of times you scream yourself awake, Dawn. And give us a bit more background information on what to expect from these slavers."
He tried to sound non-committal but he watched her closely. She had a habit of touching the scars on her face when she worried. She was stroking them lightly as she thought over what he said.
"Won't it seem like I'm kicking the witch? Most of it's just awful but .. There are things .. Some things I don't want to, can't talk about. Not just yet; maybe never. You've been to Hell, maybe not one with a civilization but even an organised Hell is …"
"Unspeakably horrendous? Mind numbingly terrifying?"
She nodded and he told her quietly,
"I deserved my stint in hell; and more. You didn't. Neither did Adanar. Nor will any Slayers, ordinary people or even some demons, if the slavers get their hands on them. If hearing the truth of what happened to you hurts, then Willow will just have to bear it. She was responsible for it, even though she will never forgive herself for letting the dark side take over. Buffy needs to hear it so that she can get to know the Dawn who came back. I think talking about it might be good for you too. And that's what matters the most."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Dawn found herself being bitten by mosquitos. Slapping at one she swore softly, uttering Spike's favourite curse,
"Bloody, buggery hell! Now I'm gonna be scratching all night! Do vamps get bitten by mosquitos or fleas or things like that?"
"Only after we've just fed and happen to be hanging about in a swamp for some strange reason."
"Damn! I've got to go in before I lose so much blood that I get Slayers coming after me with stakes."
She slapped another one as Angel laughed and reached for his crutches.
Dawn switched on the light in the large kitchen and Angel settled at the table while she began peeling and chopping vegetables for dinner. She gave him a steady glance and commented,
"You know I don't think I ever heard you laugh in Sunnydale. Come to think of it, you never even seemed to smile all that much! And you've got such a great smile too, it lights up your whole face."
He didn't answer and she took a closer look, breaking into a wide smile of her own.
"Are you embarrassed? You are, aren't you? That's so cute."
He looked horrified, glanced around hastily and warned her,
"If you ever say that in front of other people, especially Spike, I'll have to kill you! A vamp can't be 'cute'! It's … demoralising!"
"Kill me, huh? I haven't lost all of my Kridjator acquired speed and strength. I could dust you with one of your crutches and vacuum away the evidence before anyone even knew you were missing!"
"Just when did you get to be so seriously scary?"
"Might have been about the same time I learned Buffy had stuff she didn't want mom to know and would pay me to keep quiet."
"Ooh, blackmail is such a nasty habit for a sweet little girl to fall into!"
Dawn sounded puzzled,
"I was a sweet little girl? Besides sometimes she would just threaten me with painful ways of dying. Oh, hi Giles. Are you staying to eat? I'm doing chicken stir-fry. Do you think I should talk about what happened on Kridjator? I'm taking a bit of a poll on the subject."
Giles blinked at her slightly chaotic train of thought.
"Oh, I agree. It would do you good to talk out a few of your demons and we could all learn a great deal about how the slavers fight and choose their captives. And yes, I should like to stay for dinner. Er, you have learned how to cook? I seem to remember a certain cake you once baked and insisted we all have a piece. It had a strong taste of baking powder as I recall."
She shrugged and wondered,
"Teaspoon; tablespoon; I thought they were the same thing from the abbreviations."
Angel thought out loud,
"Note to self; watch how much garlic Dawn adds to spaghetti sauce."
She scoffed,
"Yeah. Like you ever actually eat anything! I'd say garlic is a herb that should be used in quantity when sharing a house with a vamp! They say it keeps the blood healthy."
"It definitely keeps the blood in! And it's nothing to do with old vampire lore; the stuff just damn well makes the breath stink enough to keep any creature away."
Angel announced. And learned that Dawn could put enough muscle power into hurling a wet dishcloth to make it both sting and expel a goodly amount of water when it came into contact with a vamp's face. There was nothing too shabby about her aim, either.
