"OK, I've got the sage, the birch bark, and the....what did you say this was again?"
"Eye of Racknor demon." Cordelia replied with a grimace. "Why is it that Willow's spells always have eyes in the ingredients? Is this a thing with her or something?"
"I'll mention it to her when I get back to Sunnydale." Dawn said with a laugh.
"Do you know when that will be?" Cordelia wondered, trying her best to sound casual.
"Buffy has no idea when this will be over." Dawn replied, noticing the anxious look on Cordelia's face. "Believe me, she isn't leaving until this is all over. Is everything OK? I mean, we're not cramping your style or anything are we?"
"Of course not Dawn," Cordelia assured her. "It's just....I worry about Angel when she's around. He doesn't always think straight."
"That's not Buffy's fault." Dawn said, immediately jumping to her sister's defense. The antagonism towards her here in LA was starting to really get to Dawn. "And I don't think that Angel's mind is being manipulated. He's just trying to help."
"I know you want to defend her Dawn," Cordelia said patiently, as if speaking to a four year old, "but you didn't see everything that happened in Sunnydale. You can't see what's happening here!"
"Maybe I wasn't always around when you guys were hanging out at the Bronze, or angst-ing things up all the time, but don't think that I can't see what's going on." Dawn fixed Cordelia with a steady, unwavering gaze. "You're jealous of her aren't you?"
"You don't know what you're talking about." Cordelia said, shaking her head. "I'm worried about Angel. I don't think Buffy is above manipulating him to get what she wants, that's all."
"Would you listen to yourself?" Dawn exclaimed, unable to believe what Cordelia was saying. "I know you and Buffy didn't really get along all the time, but you of all people can't deny that they loved each other. Don't you think that anything he does for her now is a result of that? Even if they aren't together, even if they have indeed moved on with their lives and moved on to different people, don't you think that Angel wouldn't do this anyway, simply because he respects her?"
"There's more than simple respect there and we both know it." Cordelia exclaimed angrily. "She says jump and he says how high! It's like she's..."
"She's the slayer!" Dawn yelled. "Her job is to protect the world from evil here and you're acting like some immature jealous..."
"I don't need to hear this from a child!" Cordelia seethed, turning away from Dawn, trying to ignore the small voice inside her that told her she was acting like more of a child than Dawn.
"Well I think you need to hear it from someone." Dawn said, taking a calming breath and trying to keep from losing her temper. "My sister came here looking for a demon. She didn't come here with the intention to disrupt or inconvenience your life and I'm sorry if you haven't changed enough to recognize that. She didn't ask for Angel's help, but he offered it. Whatever reasons he had for doing that don't really matter right now when you stop to consider the larger picture. That's the fact that we are doing good. We're helping people. That's Buffy's job and that's Angel's job. I thought it was yours too."
Cordelia felt her cheeks automatically flush red with embarrassment as she realized that the sixteen year old sitting in front of her was right. Turning away, she found herself ashamed at the way she had acted, realizing that Dawn hit the nail right on the head when she accused her of being jealous. It hurt that she was seemingly losing Angel, and what hurt more was knowing that she couldn't do anything about it. Eventually the silence of the room got to be too much for her and she turned back to look at Dawn who was busy readying the spell to enchant the weapon, purposefully ignoring Cordelia.
"Dawn, I'm sorry, I..."
"Let's just do the spell OK?"