hangs head in shame Well, it really has been a long time. And I'm soooooo sorry, but I can't even promise the next one will be much quicker. It'll be posted when it's done, whenever that may be. Thank you for everyone who reviewed and especially to a certain emailer who gave me a good old kick up the proverbial and got me to write this chapter!
CHAPTER THREE: THE STORM
The first morning, much to Angel and Spike's surprise, went without hitch. That was probably because Harry had magical jet lag and slept until two, but still…
Although Harry awoke at two, he didn't surface from his room until three thirty and, for once, the muggle clothes he was wearing actually fit him! He wandered the corridors of Wolfram and Hart looking for someone he knew, but within twenty minutes he could freely admit that he was totally and utterly lost.
Harry continued walking, past what looked like an overgrown house elf which made him grip his wand firmly, but he was under strict instruction by Dawn and Angel not to attack anything unless it attacked him first. The next demon he passed was a lime green one talking on a mobile.
"Lorne?" Harry called a bit tentatively.
The demon beamed at him. "Listen hot stuff, I'll have to call you back- but we'll definitely work something out, toodles! Hey sweetcheeks, how's it going?"
It took Harry a moment to realize that Lorne was talking to him. "Oh, em, fine, thanks. Do you know where Dawn is?"
"The little bit? She's working in the book room with Angelcakes I think, excuse me," Lorne gestured further down the hall as his tiny mobile phone started ringing obnoxiously. "Talk to me! No, no, no. I said no piñatas!" He said into the phone.
Harry was left standing alone in the corridor; Lone had gone before he could get directions. Harry shrugged and headed in the direction Lorne had pointed out. If he kept going, he would probably find the 'book room' sooner or later.
Luck had been on Harry's side that day as before he got completely lost in the maze of corridors that was Wolfram and Hart, he'd come across Wesley who was also going to the 'book room'. Well, he called it a library but it was all the same thing really.
They heard Dawn's raised voice before they'd entered the library.
"No way!"
Her exclamation was followed by a second persons muffled speaking.
"No, Angel! I won't be kept locked up for the rest of the summer!"
More muffled speaking.
"I don't care!"
It was then Wesley decided to make his presence known. "Is everything ok?"
"Fine." Dawn said shortly, glaring at Angel.
"What's wrong?" Harry demanded.
"Someone tried to take a hit out on Dawn." Angel revealed. "They obviously didn't do their research very well and asked Wolfram and Hart to organise it."
Harry tried to catch Dawn's eye, but she was steadily glaring at Angel. "Who?"
"We don't know. They used the English branch and they've picked now to stick to the confidentiality rules so it could be anyone."
"Anyone in England, a whole continent away." Dawn said firmly. "There's no reason to think that anyone even knows I'm in LA."
"There's still someone trying to kill you." Angel persisted.
Dawn shrugged. "So what else is new?"
"I didn't want to have to resort to this, but Dawn, you're grounded." Angel said leaning back in the black leather chair he was sitting in and folding his arms across his chest.
"What!" Dawn shrieked. "You can't do that!"
"I can. I'll tell the guards not to let you out under any circumstances and put a lock on your magic if I have to. It's for your own good, Dawn." Angel said softly but with an edge in his voice that let Dawn know there was no wriggle room in his mind.
Dawn whipped round to face Harry. "Why aren't you sticking up for me?"
Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I agree with Angel."
"You are kidding me?" Dawn said, her voice taking a dangerously low note. "Your life's in danger just as much as mine is-"
"Don't turn this on me!" Harry and Dawn became so involved in their argument that they forgot about everyone else in the room.
"Oh of course the great Harry Potter is far too superior to everyone else to even worry about little things like his safety!"
"What about you, little miss superhero? You think you're so powerful that no-one can touch you, you don't even think about what I'd do if anything ever happened to you!"
"Nothing's going to happen to me- I'm not helpless!" Their voices were getting louder and louder.
"Yeah, try telling that to someone who hasn't watched you die!"
Whatever response Dawn was about to make, most likely another argument about how she could handle herself, was cut off by a tentative knocking on the office door.
Dawn turned her back on her glaring boyfriend and flounced over to the other side of the room as Wes opened the office door.
Jade practically ran into the room followed by Flick. "Heya Dawn."
Dawn sat up straighter, worry lines creasing her forehead. "What's wrong?"
There seemed to be some silent communication between the two before Flick spoke up. "Can you come back with us?"
"To England?"
"No." Harry blurted out.
"Harry-"
"You're not going."
"What's going on?" Flick asked confused.
"Nothing- it's not fully resolved."
"Like hell it's not." Harry growled.
"We are not doing this now!" Dawn almost shouted, stunning the whole room into silence. It was then that things got too much for her and she ran out the room.
Flick shot a questioning glance at the remaining people in the room, most notably the stony faced Harry, before running after her friend.
Harry, still with a face like thunder, stormed out of the library, slamming the door behind him.
Jaden let out a low whistle. "When did they turn into a bitter married couple?"
Angel shrugged. "They have issues. Thank God I've never acted like that."
"Oh please, I was only in Sunnydale for six months or so and even I saw how you and Buffy over-dramatised everything. They're just like the two of you were." Wes snorted, much to Angel's irritation.
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It didn't take Flick long to catch up with Dawn, even with the head start she'd had.
"Sorry about that." Dawn said sheepishly.
Flick shrugged it off. "What was it all about?"
"Just a minor disagreement. Why are you guys here, not that it's not great to see you…"
Flick sighed. "It's Skye. She's getting hurt, like, a lot. We tried to call but you were out so Jade thought we should just drop round."
Dawn nodded slowly. "So should we pull her out?"
"She doesn't want that."
"But if that's what's best for her…" It was at that moment Dawn understood why Angel had grounded her. Not that she thought he was right, she just saw his point. He was still being a pillock (thanks, Spike!). "How is she on one-on-one attacks?"
Flick thought back. "Fine. Mainly it's only when it's three or four to one she has problems."
"Could you cope without her?"
Flick nodded, feeling guilty for betraying her friend. "We always take portkeys out so we can get away if necessary."
"What about putting her on restricted duties?"
"Which are what?"
"Something Giles told one of the new watchers to put his slayer on." Dawn replied. "How about training only for a week until she's at full strength and then she has to promise to get out of the battle zone quicker when she starts feeling outmatched."
"She won't like it." Flick warned.
"Giles is in England at the moment, I'll ask him to keep an eye on her."
"You're not coming back then." Flick said somewhat disappointed.
"What you walked in on earlier, that was a result of Angel grounding me. Someone wants me less than living so he decided that it would be safer for me to spend the summer within the Wolfram and Hart's grounds. It's not as if this is the safest place in the world." Dawn muttered, still not happy about it.
Flick wisely stayed quiet and changed the subject. "We better be going. We didn't exactly tell Skye where we were going so…"
"You wanna be back before she realises you skipped the country? I'll call tonight." Dawn promised.
"And talk to Skye?"
Dawn nodded. "So kill anything good lately?"
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"Hey Wes."
"Hi Dawn." Wes replied. "Angel was worried you might do something stupid."
"Like what? Step outside into the big bad world and get killed?"
Wes smirked slightly. "Something like that. Have Felicity and Jaden left?"
"Yeah." Dawn sighed.
Wes rolled his eyes. Over the time he'd had to know Dawn he'd realised that sometimes getting information out of her was like getting blood from a stone. "What did they want?"
She didn't speak for a moment. "Skye's getting hurt. She can't hack it."
"Ah, I see."
"That's it? Don't you have any sage words of wisdom to impart or anything?"
"Stop her from patrolling?" Wes suggested.
"I don't think I could. Urgg, Giles never had this problem!"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Wes questioned.
"Okay, I have no idea what I'm doing here. At first it was easy I just copied whatever you and Giles did or did the opposite if it didn't work. But now…"
"They have their own problems?" Wes finished.
"Right."
"Trust yourself, Dawn. You've been trained for this, you know what to do. You're older and more experienced than they are. You've been around slayers for years, but they're still coming to terms with it. Put yourself in their shoes and fix their problems."
"Could you get any more clichéd?" Dawn muttered.
"You wanted sage words of wisdom." The older watcher retorted.
Dawn ignored his comment. "Should I phone Skye?"
Wes' answer was to push the phone towards her and offer an encouraging smile before he left.
Dawn took a deep breath and picked up the phone. "Hey Skye? It's Dawn…I'm good thanks. Listen, I saw the other guys today and- no, they were just worried…I think they're right. Sorry Skye, but you're not going out for a few days."
Dawn held the receiver away from her ear as an angry slayer started shouting down it. Oh yeah, Skylar was definitely not happy. She was just glad there was an ocean separating them.
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Dawn hesitated before knocking on Harry's door. Her phone call to Skye hadn't gone very well. Skye had hung up and was now refusing to talk to anyone. She didn't want to be not talking to Harry.
She rapped sharply twice on the door. There was no answer. "Harry?"
The moment she spoke there was a rustling from behind the door. "One minute."
When the door opened to reveal a weary looking Harry, complete with bed hair and squiffy glasses, but it was the fact that he was still in his nightwear which consisted of a pair of tracksuit bottoms that really caught her attention. She smiled nervously. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"What do you want, Dawn?" He asked tiredly. "'Cause I'm really not in the mood for another slanging match."
She kicked an invisible spot on the floor with her foot. "Neither am I." She raised her eyes to his. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to have a go at you, I was just mad at Angel."
Harry grinned slightly. "I got that." He moved away from the doorframe allowing her to enter the room. "Angel came and spoke to me this afternoon. It looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together, inside Wolfram and Hart of course."
Dawn laughed. "He got you too, huh?"
"He said we better be safe than sorry." Harry pouted.
Dawn grinned. "At least we have each other. To be honest the only time I have gone out since I got here was when Angel let me help out with whatever baddie was about. And now you're here I can think of better things to do." Dawn bit her lip nervously. The only time they had been intimate was with the threat of almost certain death over their heads and now that had been removed, for the moment anyway; Dawn couldn't be sure how he felt.
All the blood in Harry's head moved south at his girlfriends thinly veiled suggestion. He suddenly felt a lot less tired as he captured her lips with his and pushed her gently back to the bed.
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"Ohhhhhh pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile, tee hee hee. While there's a lucifer to light your fag, tee hee hee."
That was just some of the nonsense coming from the platinum blond vampire as he staggered up the corridors of Wolfram and Hart.
Angel suddenly appeared from nowhere, in that way that he does. "Spike, you're drunk!"
"No, no, I'm not." The blond vampire slurred loudly. "Really- I swear to drunk I'm not God!"
Angel raised one eyebrow. "Yes, very convincing."
"Ah bugger it. I am drunk. And you, poofter, are very veeery stupid, but at least I'll be sober in the morning."
Angel wasn't listening. He sniffed the air. "They wouldn't." He muttered.
"Who wouldn't what?"
Angel looked mildly irritated at his childe. He drew back his hand and punched Spike, not very hard but it had the desired effect.
"Bloody 'ell, Peaches! That- Do I smell sex?"
Angel nodded grimly.
"Isn't that wand boy's room?"
Another nod.
"I'll kill 'im!"
With that Spike rushed forward and threw the door open…and stopped dead in his tracks.
The room looked like a bomb had hit it. The bedside cabinet had been upturned and the glass of water that once stood on it shattered over the carpet. The little plastic bottles that had been standing on the dresser were scattered over the floor along with the bed sheets and feathers from one of the pillows which had apparently burst. There was a large blood stain on another of the pillows and a crimson handprint was dragged down one of the walls. A trail of blood led over to the door where Spike was standing aghast.
Dawn and Harry were gone.
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Dum dum dummmmmm!
Please review and Merry Christmas!