"So tell me about slayers." Connor was asking Dawn the next day as they sat atop the roof of the Shadyville Daycare Center while they ate their lunch and decided which was the next closest daycare center to the one they were currently watching. It had been an uneventful day in terms of demon hunting, and yet at the same time Dawn was getting to know Connor better and better by the moment. The conversation had briefly drifted back to Buffy, which was most likely what prompted Connor to inquire about the nature of slayers, especially with his father being a vampire.

"It's really simple. In order to protect the world from vampires and other demons, a girl was chosen and given powers to fight them. Once she died another girl was called and that's the way it works. One girl dies and then the next one is called. Over and over again. It doesn't stop."

"Does this mean...do you have any powers like your sister?" Connor's curiosity had gotten the better of him, despite the fact that he had vowed not to trust Buffy Summers, as according to him, she was guilty of his father's crimes simply by association. Dawn wasn't however, and the more time he spent with her, the more he began to like her.

"No," Dawn replied with a self conscious smile. "I don't have powers like Buffy. She's special you know?"

"So are you." The words had come out of Connor's mouth without him even realizing it. As soon as he did, he preyed he could take them back. However, when his eyes met hers, he saw her smile shyly, implying that his compliment had not been unwanted. He pressed on with his questions. "You didn't ever feel..."

"Like Buffy got all the attention and I got ignored?" Dawn finished for him. "Left out because she was the super girl with all the powers and I was just Buffy jr.?"

"Yea," Connor replied smiling a bit self consciously. He couldn't believe he had been that easy to read. "Must have been tough."

"It was." Dawn agreed. "Buffy got all the attention. She was allowed to do way more because she was stronger. She and mom both babied me extra amounts because Buffy couldn't be babied. They protected me twice as hard from everything that Buffy faced nightly. I was resentful for a while."

"And you're not now?" Connor asked her. Dawn shook her head.

"After mom died, Buffy and I got a bit closer. I began to see that although I may have been over protected, I probably had it better, as I was allowed to have a childhood, where Buffy wasn't. She's been fighting for her life since she was fifteen Connor. I've been living the life of a normal kid...well, as normal as it gets in Sunnydale, and she was working to make sure the world didn't end every day." Dawn paused and looked away for a moment, enjoying the warmth that the day's sun provided. "After Buffy died last year I had to be strong. I had to live my life without any of my family at all. When Willow brought her back, well, I guess all that 'being strong' caught up to me and I lashed out. I was angry that she had left me like that. Angry that I had to live for a few months what she had to live for six years."

"Sounds rough." Connor murmured, mesmerized by the truth and honesty that shone through her eyes.

"For a little while it was. After Buffy came back it took us a while before we both got on our feet again. She doesn't try and protect me as much as she used to, although she's not too happy about me being here in LA helping. She didn't expect to run into him though."

"Angel?" Connor guessed. Dawn nodded.

"I think she was avoiding him deliberately."

"He's a vampire though." Connor said stiffly. "And if slayers are everything you say they are, it's her job to kill him."

"She loves him." Dawn said simply. "It's not that simple. If you knew what she had gone through...."

"What she's gone through?" Connor exclaimed, his voice incredulous. "How about what I've gone through? Because of him! Because of the man that claims to be my father! You said she's been fighting for her life for six years? My dad and I fought for our lives for eighteen in a dimension full of demons! We lived in constant fear. We hardly ate or went outside! And it's all his fault. It's that vampire's fault and your sister who is supposed to kill him loves him? This world isn't right. At least Quartoth made sense. It was kill or be killed there. That was it."

"I'm sorry Connor." Dawn said, her smile gone and anger lingering in her eyes. "I'm sorry that you grew up like that. I'm sorry it was so harsh for you and I'm sorry that you think that it's Angel's fault you were put there in the first place. But don't you dare imply that Buffy is somehow responsible for that, or that she should be punished for loving him. Angel may have his faults, but he has never ever tried to harm Buffy or me on purpose. Angelus maybe, but not Angel."

"Dawn I'm sorry, I..."

"No," Dawn said, cutting him off. Her anger was not about to dissipate that quickly and she refused to look at him, for fear of falling prey to his beautiful blue eyes. "This world is harsh Connor, but I can't do anything about that. I don't know anything about Quartoth, but I know that Earth is not a black and white place. Things are complicated and can't be solved by a 'kill or be killed' mindset. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you'll be able to forgive your father I think."

Dawn stood up and began to head towards the ladder that they had climbed up to get to the roof. Connor stood and followed her, but Dawn stopped him with a hand against his chest as soon as he got within range.

"I'm going back to the hotel. If you want to quit and go back to your loft feel free. I'm sure Buffy can find someone else to patrol the daycares."

"I'm not going to quit." Connor stated. Dawn barely nodded.

"You're not as selfish as I thought then."

And then she left.