A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. This chapter turned out insanely long! I think you'll enjoy it. Thank you so much for the lovely reviews for chapter 5! Let me try to answer some of your questions. Don't worry, the apartment won't turn into Buffy's house season 7. Dawn and Connor have a hard enough time trying to be alone as it is! I'm not quite that evil. I am so glad you guys liked the part with Connor and the little girl, I added that in totally on a whim and I'm glad it worked so well. Thanks for the compliments on my "broken English," wasn't sure if it was believable or not, feel much better now :-) And yes, many subplots will come from Connor's job, one that I have in mind in particular, that a lot of you probably won't like at first. But I don't really want to keep this completely pure fluff...you always need a little bit of drama. Okay, done rambling now, have fun reading, and don't forget to review again! I love reading your reviews.

> > > > >

Chapter 6: A Productive Day

"What if I don't wanna?" Dawn complained from her position on top of Connor.

"Well then I guess your sister is going to walk in on us then," Connor replied. "We had our fun, we really should get up."

A slow smile spread across her face. "That was by far the most fun I've had since we came here."

"I definitely agree. Now come on, she could be home any minute," Connor said, gently moving her off of him.

Dawn sighed, but pulled her robe on anyway. "How long do you think it will be before we get to be alone again?"

"Too long," Connor said, as he pulled on his boxers and blew out the candles in the room. He looked up as he heard a key turning in the lock. "Perfect timing," he said as he rushed to put on the rest of his clothes.

"This is our apartment," Buffy said a little awkwardly, as she showed Gina through the door. The Italian girl looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"Very nice," she commented politely. She looked up in alarm as Dawn and Connor emerged from their bedroom.

Buffy's eyes narrowed slightly as she observed their appearance: Dawn was wearing only a robe, and her hair was a little ruffled. Connor was more fully dressed, but it was clear from their expressions and the slight smell of candles that had just been extinguished how they had spent their time alone. She was just thankful that they had dragged themselves out of bed when they had, what a welcome that would have been for Gina. "Dawn, Connor, this is Gina," Buffy said politely. "Gina, this is my sister Dawn and her boyfriend Connor."

Gina raised a hand to wave in greeting. "Gina, why don't you let me get you some hot chocolate," Buffy offered, smiling at the younger girl. She nodded appreciatively and Buffy headed over to the kitchen to make some.

"You can sit down over here," Dawn said, gesturing to the couch. Gina took her up on the offer and sat down, still looking a little wary. Dawn sat down next to her. "It's nice to meet you. Buffy is going to help you. We're all going to, but Buffy understands what you're going through."

Connor decided to leave Dawn alone with the other girl. She still looked very hesitant, and maybe she would open up most to someone her own sex and age. He perched on one of the kitchen stools, where Buffy was busy with the hot chocolate. "So, she's a slayer?" he asked quietly.

Buffy nodded. "Took some prompting to get her to come with me, but I think she's coming around." She shook her head. "I feel really bad for her. She's living on her own, left school, she's working in a café to support herself. I think she could really use a friend. And the whole slayer thing can't be helping her situation." She took four new mugs out of the cabinet, peeling the still attached price stickers off.

"Maybe she'll be more comfortable with Dawn. They look about the same age," Connor commented.

Over on the couch, Gina spoke suddenly. "I still very confused. First, get attacked by...vampires, den this girl tell me I am...I am slayer, combattente." As she spoke faster, she started to inadvertently mix English with her much more fluent Italian. "I am just waitress in un caffP, no avuto scopo, nessun destino."

Dawn looked at her sympathetically, thinking carefully before attempting to reply in Italian. "Sta andando essere giusto."

Gina looked at her in surprise. "You...you understand? Comprenda?" Dawn nodded. Gina studied her for a minute before shaking her head almost violently. She tried to speak in English once again. "You may understand language, but you no understand me. You have family."

"Gina, my mother died two years ago, and my father left when Buffy and I were very young. I know how it feels to be alone," Dawn tried.

"No. No you don't. You have sister, and boyfriend! I have no one. Just me. Me and you..." she shook her head again. "Not alike. You live here, nice, new. Lavoro appena dieci giorni di ora per pagare l'affitto sull'un appartamento della stanza!" she rushed, her voice growing louder as she switched back to her native tongue. She took a breath. "You no understand me. Stop treating me like little girl."

Dawn sat there in silent shock as Buffy and Connor remained frozen in place in the kitchen. None of them had expected such an outburst. "I...I'm sorry," Dawn muttered. "I'll just...go." She stood up quickly and walked into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Buffy looked at Connor and nodded as he got up and followed her, entering the room and closing the door yet again.

Buffy filled two mugs with hot cocoa, leaving the other two empty for now. She slowly approached the couch. She handed Gina one of the mugs. The other girl nodded slightly, sipping from it eagerly, her eyes not leaving the floor.

Buffy carefully sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "Dawn was just trying to be nice. I think you upset her."

Gina shook her head. "She tries to pretend she understand...she don't. No one understand."

"Well maybe if you tried letting someone in they could come to understand," Buffy suggested. "You don't always have to go at it alone. I want to help you, Dawn and Connor want to help you. But we can't if you don't let us."

She finally let her eyes meet Buffy's. "How can you help me?"

Buffy set her mug down on the coffee table. "Well, I can train you. Help you so that you won't feel so scared the next time you see vampires. I may not understand a lot of things, but one thing I am damn good at is fighting vampires."

Gina smiled a little at that. "I have little time. I work all day."

"Well then we can train at night then. We don't have to push it, how often we meet is completely up to you. All I ask is that you give me a chance. You will be glad you did."

Gina nodded, placing her empty mug on the coffee table. "I should go. I work early next day."

Buffy stood up with her. "Okay, I can walk home with you."

Gina shook her head. "I be fine. I walk every night."

"Not from here you don't. I would feel awful if I sent you out alone at night in a strange part of town and something happened to you...please just let me walk with you," Buffy said.

Gina considered that a moment before nodding. "Okay. But I am not little girl. I take care of myself."

Buffy smiled. "I can see that. Now come on, let's go. We can talk about when we're going to start your training."

> > > > >

Connor quietly slipped inside the bedroom. "Baby? Are you okay?"

Dawn was sitting on the bed facing the wall, hugging her robe tightly around herself. She spoke very softly. "I didn't mean to upset her. I was just trying to be nice."

He sat down next to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. "I know. She's just...sensitive."

"No, she was right," Dawn said with a sigh. "This girl is all alone in the world. She's like my age, and she's living by herself, working as a waitress just to make ends meet. And now she finds out that her destiny was...well, predestined. And I am all oh, I understand," she said, using a sarcastic tone on the last part. "I really don't." She turned to look at him. "I don't really think about how good I really have it. I mean, I guess in a way I do know how she feels. Two years ago, I had the worst summer of my life. I found out what it felt like to be alone. But even then I had Willow and Tara, and the Buffybot..." She noticed Connor's confused look. "Long story. But anyway, now, look at me. I'm here, in Italy, in a nice new apartment, with an annoying yet loving sister and the best boyfriend a girl could ask for. I really don't know what it's like to be so alone."

Connor pulled her into a hug. "It's sad, it's sad that there are people like Gina who are so alone. I know she feels, because it's how I felt until the day a certain brown haired girl walked into my father's hotel." She smiled at him. "But you don't need to beat yourself up over it. You only tried to be a friend to her. She just isn't used to that, so she overreacted."

"How is it that you can always make me feel better?" she said with a small smile.

He smiled back. "I love you. It's my job."

She collapsed against his chest as they hugged tightly. "You know, Buffy didn't even say anything. About how we obviously spent our alone time," she said wryly.

"Maybe she's coming around," he said, pulling back so he could see her face. He pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

"I hope so. Because that was...well I could definitely go with some alone time that amazing in our schedule every day," she said with a grin.

"I definitely agree." He kissed her forehead. They heard the door close. "Sounds like they left."

Dawn nodded. She slowly turned to look at Connor. "Will you hold me?"

He nodded, reaching out and taking her in his arms. He slowly leaned back so he was lying down on the bed, gently pulling her with him. She relaxed against him as he stroked her hair. They lied there in peaceful silence until they both fell asleep.

> > > > >

Buffy and Gina walked quickly through the dark streets of Rome. It was pretty quiet at this hour, but as they crossed into Gina's neighborhood there were more people on the streets. "I can go from here alone," Gina said quickly when they reached the alley where they had met earlier that night.

Buffy thought about this. Finally she nodded. She understood that Gina was probably somewhat embarrassed of where she lived, although it probably, hopefully wasn't that bad. They were almost strangers after all, and she had probably already intruded enough. "Okay. When can I see you again? We can maybe go out on patrol, go over some basics."

Gina looked slightly confused, she didn't know what a 'patrol' was. But she figured it had something to do with slaying, so she nodded. "Tomorrow. I stop work at ten. We can go then," she said.

Buffy nodded. "That would be great. Want me to just meet you at your work?"

Gina considered this before nodding. "Perfetto Café. Three blocks that way," she said, pointing down the alley.

Buffy smiled. "I'll be there. Good night Gina." She turned and started to walk away before Gina called after her.

"Tell your sister that I don't mean upset her," Gina said quietly.

Buffy nodded. "I will." With that they parted ways and headed to their respective homes.

> > > > >

Buffy walked in the door to the apartment a short while later. It was quiet and dark. She slowly opened the door to Dawn and Connor's room. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of them wrapped in each others' arms, sound asleep. She closed the door softly before entering her own room. She quickly changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. But unlike her sister and Connor, it took her a very long time to fall asleep.

> > > > >

The next day, Dawn and Buffy were sitting at the kitchen counter, eating Buffy's breakfast specialty, cereal. They both looked surprised when Connor emerged from the bedroom dressed in his best clothes, the ones that Dawn had to convince him to buy. "Come on baby, every guy needs a nice outfit for special occasions!" she had argued. Eventually he had caved, but Dawn was still surprised to see him actually wearing the navy blue dress pants and white button down shirt. "What's the occasion?" she asked in surprise.

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, a little uncomfortable. "Remember that flier? The one for the moving company? Well, I called the number and the guy told me I could go in for an interview today. Do these pants make me look fat?" he asked self consciously. He wasn't used to putting effort into his appearance.

Dawn smiled, getting up to go over to him. "No, you look very handsome. See, I told you these clothes would come in handy." She adjusted his collar. "Your first interview! I'm so proud of you. Where do you have to go?"

Connor fidgeted. "Company headquarters, about five miles away. I'll probably get a taxi."

"Do you know what you're going to say?" Buffy chimed in.

Connor blanked. "Say? Besides, 'Hi, I'm Connor, nice to meet you?'"

Dawn laughed. "Don't worry about it. They'll probably just ask you about like experience and references and stuff."

Connor looked alarmed. "Are you forgetting that I don't have any references? Or experience?"

"I'm sure you'll win them over. All their employees combined probably aren't as strong as you," Dawn assured him. "You just have to be yourself."

Connor ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess I should go."

"Don't you want some breakfast?" Buffy asked. "I made cereal."

Connor shook his head. "I'm too nervous to eat." He bent down slightly in order to check out his reflection in the toaster.

Dawn laughed. "You're so cute. Don't worry about it, really." She leaned over and kissed him slowly. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Connor said. He turned and headed out the door. Dawn rejoined Buffy at the counter.

"You do know that the whole no experience or references thing could actually be a problem," Buffy said.

Dawn shrugged. "Wasn't what he needed to hear. Anyway, I have complete faith in him."

> > > > >

Twenty minutes later, Connor sat in the waiting room of a small office, staring blankly at a job application form. Name, address, phone number, those had been no problem. But, social security number? He was fairly certain that he didn't even have one of those. Technically he had only even been alive for less than two years in this dimension, and a few months of that had been spent in a hell dimension, where time moved much faster, and through all of that he hadn't exactly found the time to apply for social security. Finally he just wrote random numbers inside the little boxes. He filled out some more information rather easily, shaking his head when he realized he had to think about when his birthday was. Then he remembered when Cordelia had told him: November 19, 2001. And here it was June 2003...yeah, by this dimension's standards he was definitely too young for heavy labor. He changed the year to 1984. That's better. He blanched when he read the next two questions: Describe your work experience and List your references. He wasn't sure how long he stared at it before a door opened, and a man called out to him. He jumped out of his seat.

The guy was dressed in a suit and tie, making Connor feel underdressed. He had broad shoulders and looked like a former football player. He held his hand out. "You must be Connor. I'm Steve, Steven Goldberg. I'm the manager of Rome Movers and Co.."

Connor shook his hand. "Hi. I'm Connor."

Steve stood back to let him enter his office, closing the door behind them. "I see you're an American."

Connor nodded as he sat down awkwardly in the chair across from the desk. "Yeah, I just moved her a couple weeks ago, from California."

Steve nodded. "I moved here myself ten years ago, right out of college. Started my own company. It's quiet today, the guys are out on a job. Let me explain our operation. People that are moving to the area call or stop in. Therese deals with most of them. She's fluent in four languages. She sets up the time, the place, we send a crew out to do the job."

Connor nodded. "Do you ever go out...uh, in the field?"

"Used to, back when this place was just getting off it's feet. But now we have a guy who is in charge of operations. I'm just here to supervise. Place has become a real success," Steve boasted. Connor could already tell one thing about Steve: he liked to talk, especially about himself and his success.

"I see that. I saw the flier, didn't expect it to be quite so...professional," Connor admitted. He had been surprised to see a quiet yet immaculate office building, he had been expecting more a few guys in a garage type deal.

Steve nodded proudly. "We pride ourselves on professionalism. Now tell me Connor, why do you want to join our team?" He glanced over his application. "I see you didn't list any references or past experience."

Connor stared at him. "Well, I don't exactly have any. This is kind of my first official job. Except I did work for my father's private investigation service in LA. I did a lot of muscle work," he said, half telling the truth. "Look, I just moved here with my girlfriend and her sister, we're trying to get our life off the ground. I need a job, and I know I can do the work," he said honestly.

Steve considered that. "Well, we haven't exactly had the applicants rolling in lately. Business is booming, but we are a little shorthanded. Do you speak Italian?"

Connor shook his head. "But I'm learning."

Steve cocked his head. "Well as it said in the flier it's not required. I myself am fluent in both English and Italian. But I understand that not everyone is." He paused. "How about I show you the heart of our operation."

Connor followed him out of the office and into an elevator. After a short ride, they emerged in a garage, what appeared to be underground. Connor couldn't help but smile. This was what he had imagined. It was a large garage, with two moving trucks parked in spaces, another three spots empty. Boxes and equipment were everywhere, and there were clipboards hanging on the walls, listing what appeared to be assignments and hours. There was a row of lockers against one wall.

"This is where employees report to work, find out where they're working that day, punch in, punch out, all that stuff. Do you drive?" Steve asked Connor.

"Yes," he lied. He hadn't really driven too much in his lifetime, but he was sure he could figure it out. Buffy could teach him! On the other hand, maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. He remembered the story Dawn had told him about her sister's run in with a mailbox and a lamp post her first time on the road and winced. No, this particular skill might be better self taught. He hesitated. "So, what do you think? Can I have the job?" Steven studied him as he considered that.

> > > > >

"Connor I am so proud of you!" Dawn squealed for about the fifteenth time that day as the three of them celebrated at a nearby pizza place.

Connor grinned. "I know it's not the greatest job, but the pay is actually better than I expected. And I know the work will be good."

"I think it's a great start," Buffy pitched in as she finished off another slice of pizza. "You know, I'm really proud of us. We've only been here for a little less than two weeks and we already have a great start on a new life."

"To a new life," Dawn said, holding up her glass of soda. The three of them clinked glasses and drank.

Buffy glanced at the clock. "Wow, I had better get going. Gina gets off work in twenty minutes. I got sidetracked with the celebration." She stood up and started to pull on her coat, leaving some money on the table. "You guys can just finish up and head back home. I don't know exactly how long I'll be."

Connor's eyes met Dawn's, both of them thinking exactly the same thing. "Sure! Please, take your time," Dawn said nonchalantly.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you two." She waved her goodbyes as she left the restaurant.

Dawn reached across the table and took Connor's hand. "What do you say we hurry home and have a little celebration of our own?"

Connor grinned. "Sounds good to me." They gathered their things and hurried out of the restaurant down the street, hand in hand.

> > > > >

Several minutes later the two of them hurried down the hall to their apartment, Dawn giggling giddily. They paused outside the door. They both looked at the door, then at each other. A look of disbelief spread over their faces.

"No."

"No way."

"I can't believe this!"

"We don't have a key."

They stood there in defeat as they remembered that currently they only had one key to the apartment. They had thought several times about getting a copy made but it had never gotten done. And right now the one key was with Buffy. Dawn moaned angrily as she slumped against the wall until she was sitting. "This sucks! All this alone time, completely wasted."

Connor sat down next to her and sighed. "Do you think she knew all along that we were going to be locked out?"

Dawn briefly considered that before shaking her head. "No. I don't think Buffy would do that to us. She seems...I don't know, a little more open to our relationship. In fact she hasn't even mentioned it."

They sat there in silence for a few seconds. Connor turned to look at her. "So much for our celebration. You know that I'd make love to you right here in this hallway if I could."

Dawn smiled, turning to face him so that she was balanced on her knees. "Why can't you?" She ran her fingers down his chest.

He smiled back. "Because we all like this apartment, and being evicted for having sex in the hallways isn't really on the agenda right now."

Dawn pouted. "You're right." She sighed. "Oh well. Hopefully soon Buffy will find a job and we can have lots of time to ourselves." Connor nodded in agreement. They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

"You know that I really am so proud of you," Dawn said suddenly. She looked at him. "I don't care if it's at the top of the corporate ladder. I just care that you love me so much that you would go out there and get your first job."

He reached out and took her hand. "I want to be able to be a good boyfriend. I want to be able to take you out somewhere nice, give you everything you want. And I know, you're going to say that I don't need money to do that, but it is nice to have. And maybe someday down the line we'll have our own family, and we will be glad that I started learning how to provide for the people that I love."

Dawn felt tears come to her eyes. They had never really discussed, or even mentioned, the prospect of having kids someday. Connor really did love her more than anything. She realized just then how truly lucky she was. "You know, that day last fall when I went to Angel's hotel, I thought I would just be spending a few days bored out of my mind while Buffy went off and slayed stuff in Europe. I didn't think that those were going to be the days that changed my life."

"Neither did I," he said softly. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly. She relaxed in his arms and they both just sat there in silence. Finally Dawn spoke.

"I Spy or Twenty Questions?"

> > > > >

Buffy walked into Perfetto Café at exactly ten pm. It was actually a pretty nice little place. Modern decor, a fairly extensive looking menu, several people sitting at the little tables drinking coffee, all speaking quickly in Italian to each other. Behind the counter Gina was ringing up a customer. She spotted Buffy and gave her a small smile and a wave. Buffy approached the counter and waited until the customer left before stepping up. "Hi Gina. Are you almost ready?" she asked.

Gina looked frazzled. "I'm sorry, it will be couple minute. Girl...not show up," she said, struggling with her words.

Buffy nodded in understanding. "You're shorthanded. Okay, I can wait." She glanced around. While she stood there another waitress came out of the back, balancing what looked like a very heavy tray filled with what looked like cake and mugs of coffee on one hand. Buffy straightened up as she noticed that the tray was starting to slant to the right, unbeknownst to the waitress. Just as it started to tip, Buffy shot her arms out and caught the side of the tray, slowly tipping it upright again.

The waitress glanced at her with wide eyes. "L'OH mio! Grazie, quello sarebbe stato un tal mess!" She took the tray in both hands as she delivered it to the waiting patrons.

Buffy tried to ignore the stares she was getting from everyone. She couldn't help it that she had slightly superhuman reflexes. She jumped when a voice sounded from behind her. "Quello era abbastanza impressionante. Siete molto buoni sui vostri

piedi!" She spun around to see a large Italian man standing behind her wearing an apron.

She smiled. "Um, parlate Inglese?"

The man laughed. "Yes. I was telling you how impressive that was. Great...reflexes," he said, taking a moment to think of the word.

Buffy laughed. "Thanks. It's kind of natural."

He looked her up and down. "Have you ever been a waitress, miss..."

"Summers. Buffy Summers. I'm a friend of Gina's. And yes, actually, for a short time in LA once," Buffy said, sadly remembering those dark months in her life.

"Hello Miss Summers. I am Ricardo, I own dis place. I don't know if Gina told you, but we are currently shorthanded. Two of our best girls quit unexpectedly last week. From that impressive save with ze tray, I think you would be perfect to work here," Ricardo said with a big smile and thick Italian accent.

Buffy was a little taken aback by this sudden job offer. "Are you asking me to work here?"

He nodded. "We busy, lots of tips. Pay is what you will find anywhere else in de city. I think you would be perfetto for de job!" he said enthusiastically.

Buffy laughed a little as she considered that. At first she was ready to say no, but then she thought: what could it hurt? She needed a job. And she did have some waitressing experience. Besides, it would be a good way to stick close to Gina, who still seemed a little on guard around her. It didn't have to be forever, but for the time being it seemed...quite 'perfetto' actually. "I think I'll take it," she said with a smile.

Ricardo clapped his hands together loudly. "Meraviglioso! When do you start?" he asked in excitement.

Buffy laughed. Ricardo was very animated and entertaining. "As soon as possible I guess."

He beamed, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You start tomorrow. I'm sure our lovely Gina can help you get started. Welcome Miss Summers!"

"Thank you," Buffy said, shaking his hand. "I appreciate it."

"I must get back to de kitchen. But I see you tomorrow!" he said happily as he hurried into the back, leaving Buffy to stand there as she tried to fully absorb what had just happened.

Gina hurried over to her, pulling her coat on over her apron. "Did Ricardo just give you job?" she asked in amazement.

Buffy nodded. "Yeah! I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other now." She couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw happiness on Gina's face when she said that. She smiled at her. "So what do you say we go kill some vampires?"

> > > > >

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with...L."

"Lamp. Connor, you've done that one three times."

Connor laughed. "I'm sorry. I'm not really that good at this game."

"So I've noticed. But you have many other talents, so I can forgive you," she said, giving him a sly smile.

Connor glanced at his watch. "We've been sitting here for over two hours. We could have been having so much fun..."

"Speaking of fun, Buffy's home," Dawn said wryly. The two of them stood up as Buffy came down the hall, looking quite smug. She froze as she saw them standing there, then realization dawned on her.

"Oh my God, you didn't have a key! I'm so sorry," she said. She couldn't help but laugh. They had to have been so excited at the prospect of having some time alone. She could just picture the looks on their faces when they had discovered they were locked out. "Well, on a brighter note, guess who has a job? Besides Connor, I mean."

Dawn's eyes widened. "You got a job? Good for you!"

"I am the newest waitress at Perfetto Café," Buffy said proudly. She unlocked the door and the three of them stepped inside.

"Hey, isn't that where Gina works?" Connor asked.

Buffy nodded, taking off her jacket. "Yes. Which makes it even better. I think she's starting to warm up to me though. We went on patrol tonight. I managed to find a nearby cemetery!"

"How did she do?" Dawn asked.

"Pretty good for her first time out. She was a little freaked when vampire started coming at her, but she got the hang of it. Even dusted one herself towards the end. And let me tell you, Italian vampires are totally nothing compared to American ones. Must have been the Hellmouth," she commented.

"That's great. So I would say today was a pretty productive day," Connor said. He was interrupted when Buffy suddenly burst out laughing. He looked offended. "What's so funny?"

Buffy stared at them. "You do realize that you could have just gone down to the landlord's apartment and he could have let you in?" Dawn and Connor looked at each other in disbelief before the three of them starting cracking up.

> > > > >

TBC!

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